Well, not antique, but just got a 1977 Motobecane Grand Touring (midrange in lineup) in remarkably fine and original condition. A 27 lb. "Ten Speed," heavier by 6 pounds than my racing mountain bike! Still, the frame is really a work of art, the paint is beautiful, and it brings back memories of being eleven and dying for a great road bike, or at least a Schwinn...
Are you going to leave it stock or do a single speed conversion?
Old road bikes are cool. Is the tubing Renyolds or Vitus, or something? I think my Dad might've had a Motobecane once.
I picked up an aluminium/carbon road bike at work the other day, just an entry-level Giant, and realised it weighs considerablly less than the frame alone of my Concorde road bike, (c.~1982.) It amazes me how ridiculously light modern bikes are.
I just sold my single speed, and got this to convert. I dunno. It's just so stinkin' original and perfect, it seems wrong somehow. Maybe I'll leave it alone, stick some new tires and a Selle Italia (originally spec'd, but MIA) saddle on it, and try out some cross-Florida touring this fall. We've got a lot of rail trails, plus part of the cross-state greenway can be ridden on a road bike. Single speeds are fun, but too slow to really cover any distance over a weekend.
And it's got Vitus 172 tubing, helping it to a whopping TWELVE pound weight advantage over a Schwinn Varsity of the same period!
That does bring back memories. While in junior high and high school I worked at a local bike shop, and we were a Motobecane dealer. We also carried some Puch and Astro Daimler. I know, odd names to hear today. We were also an early Cannondale dealer, and I still have a bike from their first year of production. For BMX we did a lot of GT and Diamondback. Good times.
My first good bike, the one that damned me to a life of road cycling was a 1972 Gitane Tour De France. Simplex Criterium derailleurs, Stronglight cranks, Campy Tipo high flange hub, Reynolds 531 double butted top, down and seat tubes. French gas pipe for the fork and stays though. I still have most of it in the basement w/ the Reparto Corsa Bianchi and Team Ti Raleigh, both w/ Campy Record.
I worked in shops more on than off from '77 to '96.
I have a friend who used to own a bike shop and before that did a lot of racing in Europe (including some Tour de France). He always mentions the Motobecanes. He has a LOT of old racing parts for these bikes and is interested in selling them. Does anyone here have an idea where he should start looking for people who are into these old European racing bike parts? He even has some old Tour racing jerseys (although I really don't think he should sell those).
I have seen one of his "keepers" which I think is a Motobecane. It's orange-ish in color and has the picture of the guy that rode it on the front of it (a little wierd, but I guess that is what they used to do). Don't know the guys name, but I guess he was a big racer back in the day.
i have a mid-'70s Mirella ten-speed that i really like. it's got campy drivetrain and hubs, simplex rear derailleur, and i don't remember the name on the stem and bars. broke another spoke in the rear wheel, though, so i'm going to have the whole thing relaced. it had two broken spokes when i got it about a year ago.
I have an early 70's Garlatti that I got for nothing. It's patina'd because it was left outside for a year, but the frameset would make such a neat singlespeed.
At some point, I'll do it. Other financial obligations keep coming up. 
I ride an Alex Singer frame that my dad bought in the late 60s I think, and had built up with all the trick parts at the time (cinelli quick change hubs, etc). I think it is probably worth alot of money, the only one i saw for sale was in way worse shape and sold for like $1300.
I love my old Peugeot... Needs a bit of work after some garage damage occured last year, though. 
Nice!
I've got late-70s/early-80s Grand Jubilee waiting for some restoration love. Very comfortable bike that I've ridden thousands of miles (got it in '82-ish).
On the other hand, my dad had a Le Champion that I also rode a lot. One day, while barely out of the seat for a minor uphill grind, I snapped the seat tube just above the crank. Bummer, especially since I used to ride the thing down a local hill @ 40+ mph...
I just got my dad's old Gitane. Dunno model name or anything. Needs a pretty full resto of cables and such - can anybody point me to sources for parts?
I've been restoring a '71 Schwinn Supersport for a while. I want to get a Brooks saddle for it, but a new one just isn't in my price range. I picked the bike up for pretty cheap, put on new cables, trued the wheels, and installed new brake pads and have been enjoying the crap out of it. Everyone needs a good bike nowadays, and I'm glad I found a nice one. Cool to be riding something so old and original.
Well, I played hookey from work today and spent most of my time on the bike. I'll tell you what, it is far and away more comfortable than the modern, road/race bike it replaces! Stable, roomy, and that old steel frame and 27X1.25 tires absorb bumps like a two-wheeled cadillac.
Now I want to ride it in the Tour de Cape in Cape Coral, but wearing cut-offs and aviator sunglasses!
alex wrote: I just got my dad's old Gitane. Dunno model name or anything. Needs a pretty full resto of cables and such - can anybody point me to sources for parts?
http://yellowjersey.org/
I used to work here for a minute. Talk to Andy or Tim, they have the biggest collection of old, obscure NOS parts ever. Vintage Italian and French is their specialty.
zoomx2 wrote:alex wrote: I just got my dad's old Gitane. Dunno model name or anything. Needs a pretty full resto of cables and such - can anybody point me to sources for parts?http://yellowjersey.org/ I used to work here for a minute. Talk to Andy or Tim, they have the biggest collection of old, obscure NOS parts ever. Vintage Italian and French is their specialty.
there's a couple paragraphs in the latest Bicycling magazine about this shop. sounds like a great place to learn a thing or two.
AngryCorvair wrote: there's a couple paragraphs in the latest Bicycling magazine about this shop. sounds like a great place to learn a thing or two. Absolutely. After I left a previous job I worked here to kill time. Now mind you I am not a road bike guy but a BMX'er, not really my kind of place, but I wanted to build frames and learned quite a bit about brazing and frame construction from these guys. Ended up leaving after finding a job that could pay the bills again.
I was very happy to score a 70's Motobecane Mirage for free a few weeks ago. An older gentleman had just put it out with a free sign about 25 seconds before I drove by an locked em up.
The thing is nothing special and heavy, but it has class that I couln't get with a new bike. It was also free and gets me to campus and back much better than the Kona Scrap mtn bike.
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