Originally Published June 6, 2025
The Motobecane Grand Record as I bought it
A few months ago, I got an email from a guy down in Shokopee about an old Motobecane frame he'd rescued from a scrapper. I think he'd found my previous post about restoring an old Moto and figured I'd be the best buyer for what he'd found. Well, he wasn't wrong.
It turned out to be a 1974 Grand Record, made in France. Like my 1971 Peugeot PX10, it's a sport touring frame made from lightweight Reynolds 531 steel. I had no choice but to bring it back to life.
Nitto Stem and Bars
Unlike Peugeot, which used purely French components until the late 80's, Motobecane was much more internationalist. The Grand Record features a lovely Pearl stem & bars by Nitto and a Seatpost by Sakae Ringyo, all made in Japan. This was one of the first instances of Japanese components used on a high end European bicycle.
From France, the Motobecane originally had a TA crankl and bottom bracket, Huret cable clamps, and a Stronglight headset. And it featured Campagnolo Nuovo Record derailleurs from Italy. The saddle was a very worn Brooks Competetion from England. Unlike most of my other projects, I decided to restore this Moto with as many original parts as possible. Many parts were missing tho, so I had some shopping to do. And plenty of repair work.
A very old Brooks Competition saddle with a long rip between lacing holes
At first, I didn't think I could save the saddle. The leather was extremely dry and long rips had formed between the lacing holes on both sides. To fix this, I glued some leather scraps to the inside of the saddle with rubber cement. Then, I turned my attention to restoring the leather and the rusted steel frame.
Repairing the ripped saddle
 Reconditioning the saddle leather |
 Removing rust from the saddle frame |
I committed the cardinal sin of using something other than Brooks Proofhide to recondition the leather. I had some butcher block wax which is very similar to Proofhide but uses beeswax with coconut oil instead of tallow. It was a little stiffer than proofhide but the end result was comparable.
 The restored saddle top |
 The restored saddle from underneath |
The next step was to clean & treat the frame for rust. Then, I began the delicate process of touching up the paint, which was chipped up with 50 years of use and abuse. I bought a teeny tiny can of Humbrol enamel, which was invented for this exact purpose. Somehow being just a little bit high helped this process.
Touching up the paint
 Touching up the red paint |
 Repainting the gold pinstripes |
 Finished pinstripes |
 Touched up lettering |
I used some red fingernail polish to touch up the red bits and a gold paint pen for the lettering and gold highlights. Back in the 70s, pinstriping and logos were all hand painted, not decals. The letters turned out ok but the texture of the underlying paint around the C & A is pretty uneven.
Polishing the frame
After the paint dried, I polished the frame, which really cleaned it up and removed a lot of my brush strokes from the touchup paint. The chrome fork blades were covered with flaking varnish. I used mineral spirits to soften the varnish, then scrubbed with a brass brush and aluminum foil. Then, I waxed the entire frame.
 Chrome fork blades with flaking varnish |
 Blades cleaned and polished |
I traded a Stonglight crankset that I took off an old Peugeot to my friend Jonathan for this TA Specialtiés Professional 3-Arm set. I may eventually regret the trade because 3-bolt chainrings are hard to find. But then again these look really neat and would have been original on the Grand Record.
TA crankset
All the small parts got a sonic bath, a good scrubbing, and a polishing. They turned out pretty nice.
Small parts cleaned
The seatpost is an SR copy of a Campy design. It requires reaching under the saddle to tighten the 2 bolts. The whole thing's held together by friction--without the saddle, the clamps just fall off. The advantage is it's fairly easy to set the pitch of the saddle by adjusting the bolts.
Stem and bars cleaned and polished
The Nitto Pearl stem and Universiade bars cleaned up nicely, too. I learned that isopropyl alcohol takes old bar tape gunk really well. I love the etched designs on vintage drop bars. Not sure why that tradition was abandoned.
Sunnynolo barcons
The one big deviation from the Grand Record's original build is the shifters. Originally, it had Campagnolo shifters mounted on the downtube. On a tall bike like this, that's a pretty long reach, so I use bar end shifters instead. I biked to Northeast Minneapolis to buy some used Campy barcons, which aren't nearly as nice as Suntour barcons but I figured I'd give them a try. As it turned out, though, these are actually Suntour shifters that someone modified to look like Campy. They even gave them Campy hoods. I guess they wanted Campy bling with Suntour performance. We'll call them Sunnynolo.
Rear hub and freewheel
My friend Jonathan also traded me a lovely set of Maillard high flange hubs laced to Mavic rims. They're labeled "Peugeot" but I think that's ok. Had to measure threads to learn that they're threaded for British, not French, which is good news. I found a nice Sachs 6 speed freewheel in my magic box 'o freewheels. After making sure the dropouts were aligned and the derailleur hanger was straight, I installed the wheels. The rear wheel is bolt-on, which is odd. Some previous owner must've swapped out the quick release axle. It spins so smoothly tho, I'm loathe to redo it. Bolts are better for a city bike anyway.
 Rebuilding the headset |
 Headset, stem, and fork installed |
Next, I installed the headset with fresh bearings and grease. Stronglight headsets are tricky to install but they seem to stay tight and can take a lot of abuse.
Weinmann brakes
Adding another country to Modebecane's global sourcing, these are Swiss Weinmann Vainqueur 999 centerpull brakes. Along with identical Dia-Compe brakes from Japan, these were ubiquitous on 70's road bikes of all kinds. Super strong, super reliable. I purchased these at Mr Michaels Recycles Bicycles for $5. After cleaning and polishing, I realized that they're too long, so I had to find a shorter set at Recovery Bike Shop.
In case you're wondering: "Vainqueur" in French means "Winner", as in "Vainqueur vainqueur, dîner de poulet".
SR SP-11 touring pedals
I'd been trying to sell these SR SP-11 touring pedals on ebsy with no success, but realized they'd be a great for the Moto. They're a copy of a French Lyotard design (except the dustcaps don't fall off). They should fit my big feet nicely. Cleaned & ready for rebuild.
Motobecane 1974 catalog
Interlude: Let us ponder the fashion sense of this young French cyclist from the early 70's.
Campy Nuovo Record derailleurs
My wife Millie bought me derailleurs for xmas. These Campy Nuovo Records are what this Moto originally came with. In 1974, both Suntour and Shimano had built better functioning mechs, but nothing can beat Campy's looks. Plus, I've never worked with Campy mechs before and I wanted to learn something new.
Campy Nuovo Record derailleur
Both derailleurs got a full rebuild and a thorough cleaning. The rear mech, however, is limited to only 5 speeds with a maximum low gear of only 26 teeth. So, I had to swap out the Sachs freewheel I'd installed for a 5 speed Suntour with a lower range. Climbing hills in Saint Paul is going to be a little harsher than I had planned.
Replacement decals for the TA crankset
With everything bolted on, it was time to turn my attention to a few details. I had ordered new decals for the TA crankset from Cyclomondo in Australia, which really tied the whole crankset together.
I also got a leather handlebar kit from my folks for Christmas. I'd always wanted to give leather bar wraps a try and this kit, made by Walnut Studio, was everything I'd hoped for.
I'm hardly an accomplished sewer, but this kit's instructions were easy to follow. The first side took me about 1 1/4 hours. Basically you start by wetting the leather, then loosely stitching it in place. I used a baseball stitch, which is super simple. Then you go back and pull everything tight. I think I did pretty ok.
The left side took about an hour and went a little better than the right. Honestly, this was an enjoyable & calming project.
I thought perhaps that the leather wraps would feel harsh and require padded gloves. But really, they're quite comfortable and grippy. And they look sharp as hell. 10/10, would definitely recommend.
With everything built, all I had left was to install the tires. I chose some 32mm Panaracer Gravel Kings, which are very attractive, supple, and reliable tires. But let me tell you, they did not play nicely with the Mavic rims. I think I destroyed three tubes before I bought myself a Kool Stop Tire Bead Jack and taught those tires a lesson: You don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger and you don't mess around with Jack.
I'm glad I stuck with the wider tires, though. Paired with the 531 steel frame, the Moto feels like it's floating down bumpy city streets. And yes its classy looks make me feel like a distinguished gentleman. It rides fast and responsive, an absolute joy. But mostly, I love being able to experience a refined machine that was nearly crushed for scrap, rediscovering its unique spirit after years of disuse.
Sewing on bar wraps
Completed bar wraps
The final build