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A few day ago I got this bike from a friend for a restoration. He thinks it's bianchi but I am sure it's not. It has Wienman brakes, simplex derailleurs, 3ttt steam, ofmega hubs and ofmega crankset. Because of the age of the parts (1970) and frame details I think it's French Motobecane but can someone confirm or can be sure it's something else. Thanks

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  • That's an excellent set of photos - thank you for including that level of detail.
    – Criggie
    Mar 22, 2016 at 19:52
  • I would guestimate it to be a bit newer than 1970 -- closer to 1980 -- just based on things like the cotterless BB and downtube shifters. But hard to say, for an upscale bike that's likely been overhauled a couple of times. Mar 23, 2016 at 3:21

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Old French bike parts have different size standards than Italian ones. See http://www.sheldonbrown.com/velos.html for list. Probably the easiest part to measure is the bottom bracket width, which is 70mm for Italian and 68mm for French bikes.

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  • Thx for reply! =) It is French bottom bracket cuz it has 14,5 mm screws, and the left side of BB can be opened only turning the wrench on left side. Italian standard is opening turning the wrench right clockwise. Interesting thing that I found is CAMPAGNOLO letters on the bottom of the front fork. So now I am confused. Is it possible that the bike is Italian but the parts are French? Or French bike, French parts but Italian fork? Also the headset is from Japan. I only hope the someone didn't mess with parts years ago. =( Mar 22, 2016 at 21:45
  • @IanBvlekowsky This is incorrect. On French and Italian BBs, both cups have right-handed threads. As opposed to all the other types, where the drive side is left-handed, and the non-drive side is right-handed. Mar 23, 2016 at 5:03
  • @IanBvlekowsky see: sheldonbrown.com/cribsheet-bottombrackets.html . And considering the age of the frame, it's safe to assume that the parts have been thoroughly messed with. Mar 23, 2016 at 5:04
  • Yes the parts are messed up! The closest bike I found is Bertin C37. Frame is very similar. Thank you for you comments and yes i was wrong, sorry my bad. :D Mar 23, 2016 at 8:06
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Sometimes bicycles or frames are found with no makers’ transfers or badges on them –and occasionally with badges/transfers that are not correct! In these cases examination of the frame number – where it is, what it is, and how it is, may be of some assistance at least in allowing other specialists to hazard a guess at the true origin of the frame or machine. This note was begun before the V-CC published the two volumes of Lightweight Catalogues wherein the various marque enthusiasts (ME’s) had set out frame number lore for their makes. These publications have been invaluable in adding accuracy to the information – but even including their data there are still well over 200 makes of possible lightweights to be confused over! The author would be grateful to know of any inaccuracies and to receive further information to make the tables more comprehensive. Examine the bicycle for the location of the frame number Examine the frame number –what does it contain? Examine the type of character

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  • That's fair and true general advice, but it doesn't answer the question about this particular frame. Remember SE is all about the question and the answers it gathers; SE is not a general chat web forum.
    – Criggie
    Mar 23, 2016 at 8:43
  • #jhon thank you for effort! Frame number is 2388 but I can't find anything related to that number. Mar 23, 2016 at 11:30
  • The "answer" is copypasted from classiclightweights.co.uk/frame-numbering.html, could be useful if this was British bike
    – ojs
    Mar 23, 2016 at 18:44
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Few hours ago I went to a old local bike shop and they confirmed the bike is Italian. They said it was messed up with frame color and parts, it was more like tourney bike because it has holes for fenders but it was quite good back in time. Italian database it a lot bigger then French so search continues! :) This puts me back to start.

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