French Thread on '82 Motobecane?

My wife has a 1982 Motobecane model "Grand Touring," and has started
riding again after a few years off the bike. I cleaned it up, replaced
the brakes, cables, and housings, and it's riding pretty well.

It has a nice lugged frame (Vitus 888 straight gauge) with generous
clearance and wheelbase. I'm thinking of upgrading it further, but am
not sure if it has French or English threads. (My 1981 Motobecane had
French thread, but I think they switched to English shortly
thereafter.)

Anyone know for sure if the '82 Motobecanes had French thread?

I can live with the fact that the bike was designed for 27" wheels and
normal reach brakes. But French thread might be a show stopper.

Couple of other questions:

1) Could I install a different crankset (like Veloce, Sora, or Alivio)
on the existing BB? It currently has a Stronglight 99 crankset
(52/47/36).

2) Are the rear dropouts on these old French bikes compatible with
modern derailleurs? The stock der is a Huret Duopar Eco.

Thanks,
Art Harris

Quoth Art Harris:

My wife has a 1982 Motobecane model "Grand Touring," and has started
riding again after a few years off the bike. I cleaned it up, replaced
the brakes, cables, and housings, and it's riding pretty well.

It has a nice lugged frame (Vitus 888 straight gauge) with generous
clearance and wheelbase. I'm thinking of upgrading it further, but am
not sure if it has French or English threads. (My 1981 Motobecane had
French thread, but I think they switched to English shortly
thereafter.)

Anyone know for sure if the '82 Motobecanes had French thread?

Most '80s Motos were Swiss thread, which is the same as French except
that the fixed cup of the BB is left hand threaded.

1) Could I install a different crankset (like Veloce, Sora, or Alivio)
on the existing BB? It currently has a Stronglight 99 crankset
(52/47/36).

Yes, but the chainline may be a bit far out. We commonly replace the BB
spindle when doing this sort of upgrade, but us the original cups if
they're not toasted.

2) Are the rear dropouts on these old French bikes compatible with
modern derailleurs? The stock der is a Huret Duopar Eco.

If the hanger has a threaded hole, yes. If not, it can be modified to fit.

See: http://sheldonbrown.com/velos.html

Sheldon "Filetage Suisse" Brown
+----------------------------------------+
| Lottery: the closest thing we have |
| to a tax on stupidity. |
+----------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

???????

i have a moto Grand Touring vintage about 1977 or so and I thought it had
english threads....

q2: any idea if it's worth anything?

rocky


"Sheldon Brown" wrote in message
...
Quoth Art Harris:

My wife has a 1982 Motobecane model "Grand Touring," and has started
riding again after a few years off the bike. I cleaned it up, replaced
the brakes, cables, and housings, and it's riding pretty well.

It has a nice lugged frame (Vitus 888 straight gauge) with generous
clearance and wheelbase. I'm thinking of upgrading it further, but am
not sure if it has French or English threads. (My 1981 Motobecane had
French thread, but I think they switched to English shortly
thereafter.)

Anyone know for sure if the '82 Motobecanes had French thread?

Most '80s Motos were Swiss thread, which is the same as French except
that the fixed cup of the BB is left hand threaded.

1) Could I install a different crankset (like Veloce, Sora, or Alivio)
on the existing BB? It currently has a Stronglight 99 crankset
(52/47/36).

Yes, but the chainline may be a bit far out. We commonly replace the BB
spindle when doing this sort of upgrade, but us the original cups if
they're not toasted.

2) Are the rear dropouts on these old French bikes compatible with
modern derailleurs? The stock der is a Huret Duopar Eco.

If the hanger has a threaded hole, yes. If not, it can be modified to
fit.

See: http://sheldonbrown.com/velos.html

Sheldon "Filetage Suisse" Brown
+----------------------------------------+
| Lottery: the closest thing we have |
| to a tax on stupidity. |
+----------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com