I have a bicycle that is yet to have been identified by anyone

Answer: Its a 1970s french racing bike in steel. I see

• cottered cranks (the wee bolts holding the cranks to the bottom bracket axle. so its pre 1980s
• Lugged steel construction - there's an edge above your head badge sticker
• Significant amounts of rake on the front fork (looks quite "bent")
• Quill Stem
• No rack or mudguard eyelets.

Observations:

• the cranks appear unusually long. Could be the camera fooling me though.
• cable holders are on the bottom/right quadrant of the top tube. I'd expect them to be along the very top of the top tube.
• Head tube badge - its in poor condition, torn and colours faded. But the bike I see pictured is accurate enough. I'm unsure whether this is the original head badge or a sticker that someone has put on. It might ring a bell with someone else here.

Suggestions:

Ride it, clean it, lube it, service it, and care for it.

The only upgrade I might recommend is to fit modern brake pads, because the newer compounds work better than the old black blocks. If you're refurbishing it, throw away the old cable inner and outers and fit new ones for brakes and gears.

You're unlikely to find 27" wheels anymore, but a 700c wheel is close enough. The front brake I can see looks to have a lot of open slot below the nut, so you'll get the extra 4-6mm needed for a modern front wheel. Rear wheel is harder, because 5 speed cassettes are getting uncommon. You might end up rebuilding the existing rear hub into a new rim with new spokes. When 27" tyres become hard to find, this may be your only answer.

1970's wanna-be-a-racer French bike. That looks like Huret's cheapest rear derailleur. To ride it, you'd want to replace the headset and fork. Why fix up a cheap bike? If you're really considering it, at least remove the cotters and open up the French threaded bottom bracket to see if the cups are pitted. Spindle also. If they're not smooth - if there's pitting - I think you should look for a period French bike in better condition.

The graphics looks similar to a '61 Dynamax TDF edition, made by Motobecane for the Canadian market. Could be a different model year maybe?

61 dynamax decals.. Look like a similar cartoon style.

Either way its pretty awesome!

100% sure this was made by Motobecane. It looks exactly like my 1974 M. Grand Touring -- the frame, fork, headset, and bottom bracket are identical; even the frame color is the same. And the pedals are the same, too.

Search for Motobecane Grand Touring on ebay for photos (I don't have mine any more). If I looked only at the second photo (except for the sprocket) I would have said it was the 10 speed Grand Touring...

One of the reasons I bought the Grand Touring was for the steel, cottered crankset (by Nervar). The aluminum ones back then were soft and not considered to be as rugged or reliable. It had what they called a 1040 or 1020 (or something like that) frame. It wasn't light, but was great on steep hills -- had just the perfect stiffness to transfer all your energy. Newer bikes seem like "wet noodles" when it comes to really steep hill climbing.

Per Criggie's post:

1) The front fork is not bent, the rake looks exactly right to me.

2) The crank arms are extra long. When I first got my M.G.T (first few days) I hit the ground with one of the pedals while turning a corner, fell and had to have the front wheel re-built. Be careful when riding yours.

---

From https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycling/comments/1h9312/my_new_bike_1970s_motobecane_grand_touring/