Motobecane Super Mirage...Just Got It

[HARPO]

Picked this up today on a whim...and because it was cheap. 😁

I'm figuring around 1980 because of the down tube shifters, but if someone knows for sure, please let me know. Looking at it, the fork...saddle...and rear wheel have been changed out. Pretty filthy (as you'll see) and needing work, but since I finished the '51 Panther I'll needed another project to keep me busy. Quite a mixture of components on this one, all factory original from the looks of it.

I have a matching set of wheels that I might swap out depending on how this turns out. 🧐

 

[HARPO]

And a few more...

 

[juvela]

-----

Howdy mute one.

Kitting and details line up pretty closely with the SM of seventy-eight, seventy-nine, eighty

catalogue page of seventy-eight:

seventy-nine:

eighty:

catalogue pages for all three years specify a machine with a MAEDA gear ensemble yet cycle exhibits a mixed one of MAEDA rear paired with Yoshi front and shift levers

you should be able to find date marking on spots such as backside of crank arms or hub barrel, or gear block, or portion of stem down inside steerer, or right end of handlebar

possible downtube controls may be the result of parts changes

pedals appear they may be the seldom encountered Lyotard Ref. 53, catalogue specifies the Atom model 440, perchance a factory substitution due to parts shortage...

perhaps you will be able to read marking on endcap
Eclair brand might be another possibility...

you will have the machine looking showroom in no time 😉


-----

 

[HARPO]

@juvela Once again, thanks for the info! I'm going to start cleaning it today, and boy does it need it!

The bike I have, that does not appear on any of the catalog pages, are down tube shifters. First year I saw with them was '81 (attached), but then the crank, brake levers, front derailleur, bar wrapping (which I think was solid rubber) are different. 😕

 

[freddy]

Nice clean it up n ride it
i just pick this one up

 

[Jesper]

Possible fork replacement?

 

[HARPO]

Possible fork replacement?

Definite fork replacement...🙂...and I'm sure the rear wheel, also.

 

[juvela]

-----


hello again speechless one,

doona thimk ye shall ere espy a catalogue match for your example

suspect best which can be said is that she be "transitional" betwixt model years

if she were a domestic model for example her round things would be 700's instead of 27's

if she were something done for the maple leaf market she would have had to have been badged as Dynamax for legal reasons

catalogues/brochures frequently have a fine print disclaimer at the bottom of the page, or on the back cover, stating something to the effect of "Specifications Subject To Change Without Notification."

one simple check you can make as you proceed with the lavandation is to closely examine stem for markings from a shift lever clamp and similarly examine downtube for markings from a housing stop clamp

we shall expect completion by saturday 😜


-----

 

[HARPO]

@juvela Thanks, and I'll figure it as a transitional model...except for the obvious changed out parts. Again, it was cheap...$35...so I didn't want to pass it up. 😄

Not "speechlessI", lol, I've been doing/buying more of the heavyweight type bikes lately. I bought that Mother-load not to long ago (check out my recent Posts) that kept me busy for a while and still does. Sold some off, kept a few to work on. I always need to keep busy. That's why dummy here keeps looking and then complaining I have to many. 🤪

 

[juvela]

-----

the machine's arrestor levers with their orange-gold anodised bits could have only issued from an Arnie product

evidently someone wanted extension levers and substituted these for the originals

curious as to pedals; please let me know if you are able to read marking on endcaps



-----