# Motobecane Record - impressions and ride report



## derwoodski

Hi All, I have been lurking about and reading with great interest the various posts concerning motobecane bikes. A friend recommended looking at the brand based on his purchase of an Immortal Force thru sprtymama on ebay. I was in the market to replace my aging road bike ( a 1976 Raleigh) and was trying to stay within a budget, but wanted something a little better than entry level. Long story short, to the internet i go to begin research on my next bike purchase, ran across this forum and a couple others. I saw a bunch of posts for and against, noticed most of the "For" posts actually owned one, and most of the "against" posts didn't seem to have much to do with the quality of the bikes themselves. I had narrowed my search to a couple, the Moto Grand Record, which was a bit over my budget ( i had 600 to spend) and the Record. The former having a tiagra/105 mix, and the latter a tiagra/sora mix. My wife had purchased an 07 Raleigh Sport last spring that was a complete sora group, and has really liked it, so I figured I could live with the Sora shifters and FD. My primary use of the bike was to be fitness and recreational, possibly some fun races and group rides. 

Decided on the 09 early release sale on bikes direct for the Record at $549. Ordered the bike on friday 4/25, and it was delivered on 5/1. Based on the spec sheet, which had indicated the Mwings stem, seat, seatpost, and hubs (motobecane generic brand I am assuming) the bike that was delivered actually had Skye items instead. I was an auto mechanic for 22 years, so assembling/setting up the bicycle was pretty simple for me. I had gone by the sizing information on the site, and it was perfect. I am 5'10', normal porportioned, and the 56 is a good fit. (i have a 32 inseam). My first impressions as I was assembling the bike was that it was very solidly built, fit and finish was good, the wheels were true, RD adjustment was almost dead on, FD took a little more tweaking. (found a tiagra FD on ebay for 15 bucks brand new, it will be replacing the sora FD in short order). I had been looking at a lemond at the LBS, and one with a carbon fork and tiagra group was 899 on sale with strap pedals. The moto Record with the carbon fork and mixed group was 549 with clipless pedals. I feel like I got a pretty square deal. Now on to the best part, The Ride. 

Keeping in mind that i had been riding a moldy oldy Raleigh with friction shifters and worn out chainrings, The Record felt like a quantum leap forward. I got out for 22 miles on Sunday riding with my wife for a shake down run, and after some more tweaking on the FD adjustment (i didn't get the cable tight enough) the ride was flawless. She runs quiet and smooth, I even liked the stock seat. The FD works fine, but I installed and adjusted my ebay tiagra FD, and it works perfectly too. 

It is now the end of the week, and the bike has close to 100 miles on it already, other than some minor fit tweaks ( I flipped the stem and changed the fore/aft on the seat ) , it has been solid as a rock. The newer sora shifters work great, with less input effort than my wifes O7 raliegh sport, and the shifter for the FD has a trim click ( read the specs for Sora 3400 shifters), which used to be only tiagra and up. 

Overall, IMHO, this would be an exellent option for an entry or more level road rider that wants a solid, no frills ride, and doesn't want to shell out a ton of dough. I does help if you can wrench on your own, but even adding $50 for assembly at the LBS would still be a reasonable price. I have been very pleased with the bike thus far, and with reasonable care, I should be able to get several years out of it (unless i decide i want a full carbon bike  ) as a solid general purpose road machine. I haven't weighed the bike yet but i have noted that it is significantly lighter than my wife's aluminum frame raleigh sport, and hers is is 47cm and mine is a 56. Would the carbon fork make that much diff in weight? I will report an exact weight if anyone is interested, and I'll put up some pics soon. 

Enjoy the RIDE...... Darren


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## Mr. Versatile

Thanks for the review. If you have a steel fork a carbon fork with a carbon steerer will save you about a pound.


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## derwoodski

*Posted Pic*

Here is a pic of the new moto, wife snapped it out on a ride in Hudson, WI. I thought it looked much cooler than the cliche garage door pics 

PS. According to my scale the Record weighed 22.5 lbs with pedals and nevaro bottle cages installed, sure beats the 32 lbs of my old bike.


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## dr.mediocre

Hey derwoodski, I just stripped the paint on my 5 day old Grand Record and painted it white with Appliance epoxy paint (this stuff is great by the way, I used it on the fridge last year and the magnets sliding all over the front of the fridge don't scratch it a bit). Sprtymama is sending me new decals and badges as well. I also ordered some custome decals from a guy on Ebay. I'mm not sure which one's I'll go with but seeing yours I gotta say... Your's looks great! Now I know what to expect on mine. I'll snap some pics when I finish.


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## derwoodski

Hi Dr. Thanks, The finish on mine seems to be pretty solid, got about 150 miles on it now, starting to show some road grime, but it cleans up nice and I haven't noticed any problems with the paint, its a nice pearl white. I was inches away from the grand record you got, but I am pretty happy with the record I bought. I would like tiagra shifters instead of the Sora's, but the newer Sora's work fine. I did replace the front derailleur with a tiagra unit I found on ebay for 15 bucks brand new, and I may upgrade the shifters later as the bike ages. Post your pics when you get it done.


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## dr.mediocre

Here's a shot of mine with the white paint.


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## midlife_xs's

With the way the brifters are positioned, your wrists are cocked when your hands are on the hoods. All is well if you are comfortable.

I like the decals!


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## dr.mediocre

midlife_xs's said:


> With the way the brifters are positioned, your wrists are cocked when your hands are on the hoods. All is well if you are comfortable.
> 
> I like the decals!


Yeah, I was just reassembling it at the time. They don't stay like that. Thanks though.


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## derwoodski

*Motobecane Record 500+ mile report*

The odo on the Record now reads 540 miles since mid may, and the bike has been rock solid. I did replace the stock seat with a selle italia diado gel that I had on my old bike, mainly to see if it was a bit more comfy for longer rides, anything up to 30 was ok with the old seat, much beyond that.....well not so much. The new seat is better for the longer rides. once adjusted, everything has stayed set, shifting is still crisp and smooth, brakes work, wheels are true. Other than cleaning off the road grime, and keepin the tires inflated, I haven't had to touch a thing. So far I am very pleased with it. I get a lot of questions on the group rides that you do, where did you get that....and how much did you pay. Most LBS were selling tiagra group carbon fork bikes for 800 to 1200 bucks. I feel like I got what I paid for and more. 

Will post again at 1000 miles. Peace


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## kondrag

Did you ever get a chance to weigh it?


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## kondrag

Nevermind--I see the weight now just above the photo.



kondrag said:


> Did you ever get a chance to weigh it?


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## spartanfan8222

What is the weight of the bike?


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## derwoodski

with pedals and nevaro bottle cages, my scale said 22.5 lbs with the stock seat. A touch heavy by some standards, but about 10 lbs lighter than my old Raliegh  bikes had close to 1000 before I hung it up for the season, been solid so far.


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