Re: [CR](speaking of)....Motobecane Grand Record

(Example: Bike Shops)

Date: Thu, 03 Aug 2006 10:01:14 -0700
From: "Rich Pinder" <rpinder@usc.edu>
Subject: Re: [CR](speaking of)....Motobecane Grand Record
In-reply-to: <9315FFC7-0520-4A54-9E2A-1786C2120191@charter.net>
To: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
References: <20060803141552.92498.qmail@web82203.mail.mud.yahoo.com> <p06230910c0f7d1b09546@[10.0.1.11]>


Just to be clear. This ended Ebay listing (it ended cuz didnt meet minimum) is JUST LIKE the frame I'm asking about. Same color, same graphics...etc. I have a bare frame already.... and am only asking these questions to figure out more of what i've got !! thx r

Steve Leitgen wrote:
> Something to check out on this bike. I didn't think you should be able
> to see the chain all the way thru the front derailleur. That would
> mean the front has at least half of the outer cage gone or it was a
> poor cut and paste to put a Campy derailleur in the picture.
>
> Steve Leitgen
> La Crosse, WI
>
>
> On Aug 3, 2006, at 11:20 AM, Sheldon Brown wrote:
>
>> Jerry Elizabeth Moos wrote:
>>> Rich, the graphics on this bike look early to mid-70's, although
>>> I've never seen this color scheme before. As far as I'm aware,
>>> Grand Records in that era were Reynolds 531 DB (metric gauge) AND
>>> 531 forks. I always found this strange, because it meant only the
>>> rear stays were not 531 (probably Vitus). Marketing-wise it would
>>> have made more sense to just make it all 531 DB, and it couldn't
>>> have cost much more.
>>
>> In the mid-70s all kinds of bike stuff was in very short supply, and
>> it's quite possible that they couldn't get the Reynolds stays, but
>> had a stockpile of metric main tubes.
>>
>>> Metric gauge 531 was lighter than English gauge 531 or Columbus, so
>>> I would expect the frame to be a bit lighter than a Paramount of the
>>> same era.
>>> In this era, French frames that were 531 DB throughout typically
>>> had half-chromed forks and stays.
>>
>> In the big Energy Crunch (I always thought that would be a GREAT name
>> for a breakfast cereal...) of 1974, the use of chrome plating was
>> abandoned by many builders because of the high cost of electric power
>> required for the process.
>>
>> The presence of he crummy Nervar crankset also suggests that this
>> bike was made during the great Bike Boom era of shortages.
>>>
>>> http://tinyurl.com/mtf29
>>
>> Sheldon "Guessing '74 Or '75" Brown
>> +---------------------------------------------------------------------+
>> | It is amazing how much "mature wisdom" resembles being too tired. |
>> | --Robert A. Heinlein |
>> +---------------------------------------------------------------------+
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>> Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
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