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- Thursday, March 28, 2024

Road Message Board

 motobecane mirage
Does anyone know about this company? I just bought the bike from a guy who is moving. He said that he paid $300 20 years ago for the bike. It hasn't been ridden in years, but is cleaning up very nicely. I haven't ever heard of the company, and just wondering if anyone had any info on the company or knew of a web site that could give me some general info. The only sites that I have found were either in french or just had pictures...no history to be found. Thanks in advance...
Posted by Maa139 a 31 year old Weekend Rider riding a Motobecane Mirage from West Chester PA on 7/09/00

Responses: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) Post Reply

  •  Re: motobecane mirage
    Yes, 20 years ago they made great bikes. Sometime in the 80's they went broke. They have returned in the last couple of years, http://www.motobecane.com. However, they won't honor any warranties on the older bikes.

    I have a grand jubilee with upgraded Campy hubs and bottom bracket. I recently replaced it with a Bianchi custom. I always enjoyed my motobecane, but you can't easliy add updated shifters, hubs, or derailers to these old bikes.

    Hope you enjoy it

    Louis


    Posted by Louisd@hearingoffice.com on 7/17/00


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    •  Re: motobecane mirage
      Thanks for the info Louis. I guess that I will just keep it as a 10 speed. Most of my riding is done in the woods on my mountain bike. I just wanted to get a road bike to start commuting to work. If the 10 speed isn't working, I guess that I'll just start a french bicycle museum in my garage and get something a bit more recent. Since the mirage is from the 80's, maybe I'll move up to a bike from the 90's! Thanks.
      Posted by Maa139 a 31 year old Weekend Rider riding a motobecane mirage from west chester on 7/18/00

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    •  Re: motobecane mirage
      I am curious why you say that it is diffucult to add updated components to these bikes. I don't know a lot about bike mechanics, but I am mechanically inclined. I was going to replace the derailers and freewheel next. If it is not possible, I'd like to know before I ordered the parts. I was going to just get low-end Shimano stuff. What do you think?
      Posted by Maa139 a 31 year old Weekend Rider riding a motobecane from west chester on 7/21/00

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      •  Re: motobecane mirage
        You probably already have taken the bike to a good shop where they can tell you if the necessary lugs and braze-ons are on the bike. Most of the newer components like the newer lugs.
        Posted by Gary a 40 year old Die-hard Enthusiast riding a Road -Raleigh MTB-Schwinn from Seattle Wa USA on 8/30/00

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      •  Re: motobecane mirage
        I also have a mirage sport (12 speed) bought 18yrs ago. I paid $500. The bike is great and just gave it to my brother. I have changed the rear/front derailers the freewheel to a racing one. Changed the shifters to match the derailers and put a shimano 600 crank on it. The bike machanic that put it together for me said you had to have a couple specail tools for theading. Because the bike was made in france. Different system back then. But the bike works fantastic.
        from Dan
        Posted by Danl a 32 year old Road Warrior riding a motobecane mirage sport from Canada on 01/05/01

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        •  Re: motobecane mirage
          I have a Motobecane Mirage 10-speed that I bought July 11, 1978 for $169.95. I have toured probably close to 8,000 miles - mostly in the Cascades and Rockies - on it without any problems. (Of course, I was younger then!) Just loaned it to my niece since I am now riding a TourEasy recumbent - but I am having a few pangs about loaning it out since so much of my history is on that bike. It's a great one.
          Posted by Suzanne a 50 year old from Arizona on 06/07/01

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  •  Re: motobecane mirage
    I, too have a 10-speed Mirage that I purchased new, on sale, for about $150 in 1974 or 1975. It has not been ridden in over 20 years. Any idea where I can get parts? I want to restore it to its original condition, though the Shimano SunTour derailleur will probably be upgraded. It was a great bike in its day. The dealer in Brockton Mass called it "The Cadillac of 10 speeds" back then. Very smooth ride, and its "1020 Molybdeum" frame was lightweight for its day. It was definitely the best bike for under $200 at the time. Great looking, too. Mine is a rich brown, lightly flecked metal look, roughly the color of root beer.
    Posted by Backinthesaddleagain a 44 year old Weekend Rider riding a Motobecane Mirage on 10/18/01

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  •  Re: motobecane mirage
    Hey I bought a Motobecane Mirage for $15.00 at a garage sale. It's Metallic blue and after i got all the dust off turns out to be a fine machine. I would love to get more info. i.e. weight , cost originally etc
    Posted by John aka airedog1 a 47 year old Weekend Rider riding a motobecane mirage from miami on 11/28/01

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    •  Re: motobecane mirage
      My ex-roommate gave me his Mirage (from late 60's-early 70's). I upgraded to 12-speeds, cotterless crank, alloy rims and Suntour derailleurs. It worked great, an I put about 750 miles on it a few summers ago. I traded it in for a LeMond Zurich two seasons ago.

      It is difficult but not impossible to install current equipment on this frame. The old 10-speeds (5 sprockets) were built to 120mm rear lug spacing, which has been increased to 126mm (or more) for the new 9- and 10-speed cassettes (mountain bikes use 135mm!). Steel frames can be spread (CAREFULLY). STI levers can be adapted easily, especially if the bike came with stem shifters (use the existing cable housing stops). Newer brakes, on the other hand, use a recessed mounting which is impossible to duplicate on the old frame.

      My Mirage was painted a medium aqua metallic, and had a chrome fork. After the conversion, it weighed probably 24-27 lb. Pretty good for a steel frame (1020 is a lower-grade carbon steel). Definitely an improvement over my 1963 Varsity.

      Regards,

      Tomas
      Posted by Tomas a 45+ year old Weekend Rider riding a LeMond Zurich from Chicago on 11/29/01


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  •  Re: motobecane mirage
    I'm glad to see that some of you are talking about this Motobecane Mirage. I'm just wondering...Is there any way to identify the year of the bike by looking at it - a stamp or something. A friend of mine is trying to buy one right now but we're afraid that the year of the bike is actually earlier than she has been told. Thanks for any reply.
    Posted by Kaye on 01/04/02

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