Hi all: I am doing my best to date a Motobecane Pro Light bike made with Vitus 979 aluminum tubing that included dinner and a movie (kidding) along with a serial number of A007410 and the number 1852 on the bottom bracket shell (bottom of it of course). There is a lower cable routing brazed on the chain stay but has interesting Shimano Dura Ace AX derailleurs on front and rear where the cable has to be routed on top of the chain stay (thinking that there was a different derailluer that came stock on this bike ...my guess is some type of Simplex). Does anyone have a handle on deciphering the serial number? You don't have to rip me a new one for not checking the archives since I did that already.
I am super impressed with the quality of this bike and it seems rather unusual for the construction since it leans away from the lugged steel that we are all so accustomed to by using brazed aluminum lugs and tubes. This bike even has stainless steel cable routes on the top tube and a removable (may even be an adjustable) rear brake bridge. There is a Motobecane emblem on the side pull brakes but I am guessing that they are Weinmann's since the levers are but I can not recall seeing Weinmann side pulls before. There is a very nice Belleri handle bar and stem on this bike with the Motobecane as a raised lettering embroidered on the top tube that appear to be glued on. The rest on the frame is clear save the announcement of the Vitus tubing along with a decal that appears to say "A" fine on both sides of the seat tube and just about right in the center of the length. The head tube badge is rectangular glued on (no rivets). There is a number 58 stamped in a circle on one side of the head tube.
The wheels are 700c's (the brake reach is reduced to the maximum wheel diameter telling me that if the brakes are stock and the appear to be that the original wheel diameter was actually 27") with what look like top of the line Ofmega hubs since they have the grease ports covered by the black clips on them. First look says that the hubs are actually sealed but with the grease ports, makes little sense and I have not pulled anything apart on this bike yet to find out for sure. The color is a cool and clean silver anodized and the fork is a Vitus 979 single crown and the head set is Ofmega.
The mystery here is that the derailleur is rated for a 7 speed freewheel and this bike has a 6 speed configuartion in back and the the crank set is a 54/42 Ofmega.......HELP????? My guess is a 1984 but the catalog that I found says that this was only available in an anodized blue and the diagram in the catalog shows horizontal dropouts and the bike that I have are vertical drops.....WTF??? Seeya and thanks in advance for your help.
Jim Abt
Wausau, Wi. USA