Motobecane went into bankruptcy in the late 80's or early 90's. They emerged as MBK. The Motobecane name and trademarks had been sold off to a US investor of rather dubious reputation who had owned the now defunct World Cycles chain of shops. I believe he is currently involved in the chain of shops called Cycle Spectrum. This chain now sells Taiwan-made, TIG-welded "Motobecanes" with the classic Motobecane headbadge and using many of the old Motobecane model names. Recently, they seem to have acquired the rights to the Mercier name as well, and have begun to sell Taiwan or China made "Merciers" very similar to the Taiwan "Motobecanes".
Meanwhile, the reorganized French company has been selling bikes under the MBK name in Europe. Mostly aluminum framed models now, like the other high volume European manufacturers. I don't believe they have yet been acquired by the large European cycle company which now own Bianchi, Crescent, Monark, Peugeot and Gitane, but I could be wrong about that. MBK has recently supplied bikes to one of the top tier French teams, Cofidis I believe.
The bike you have sounds like something made around 1990, probably just after MBK emerged from bankruptcy. Super Mirage was one of the less expensive models in the old Motobecane line, about equivalent to a Raleigh Grand Prix or Peugeot U-08. Don't know how the MBK Super Mirage compares.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Good day,
Does anyone here have any knowledge of a bike branded MBK, Super Mirage? I just bought one for $10.
It is made from Columbus Inexternal Cro-Mo tubing with what appears to be Columbus dropouts. It is fillet brazed throughout, with a decal proclaiming "Made in France" with a rooster next to the words. It has a second decal with "Reseau" over a big "M". The same "M" is stamped into the drop bars fitted to an ATAX stem. It has through cable routing in the top tube, pump braze-on on head tube. There are provisions for 2 water bottle, but the braze-on are flush with the surface of the tubes. Just above the rear dropout on the cluster side there is a little chain hanger brazed on. The brakes are non-aero Weinmann 570 "Top". The down tube shifters and derailleurs are Sachs Huret Pilot. It has a Nervar crankset with Maillard CXC pedals. The crankset, shifters, brakes, derailers were all painted white to match the paint of the frame. The wheels definitely are not original, as they are 27" and the brakes can barely be adjusted to accommodate the extra diameter. It has a Brooks saddle which is plastic with a vinyl cover!
Any clues?
P. Lynn Miller
Sydney, Australia