MBK Special pro…thoughts?

[marshalllucky]

This is actually my bike. Thanks for the comments ( good and bad ) , I can only justify the price as it is totally unique and as close to a brand new 40 year old Pro level bike as you`ll find. Whatever peoples perceptions of Simplex / Spidel / Stronglight components today, I can only say these exact components are race proven ( just replace the frame and wheels and you have Robert Millar`s exact team spec bike of 84 /85 and you don`t become king of the Mountains on a crappy drivetrain ! ) , the SLJ5500 Drillium rear mech alone would find a home eventually at around £250 they are that rare ) . I personally still ride on tubs , I know technology has moved on but it`s what I`m used to and on this bike correct for the period . As for MBK being the rump, well today the brand may not be very desireable but again as well as La Redoute , MBK also sponsored and provided frames to the Fagor team ( 88? ) and were ridden by some of the best including Roche , Millar and Elliott.
I honestly paid over £1600 for this bike after shipping duties about 3 years back but vintage steel prices have been rock bottom for a couple of years now, ebay is awash with beautiful vintage stuff but values will bounce back , they always do.
I no longer have the space I had due to a house move and have been paying nearly £200/ month for a storage unit for this and my collection of Peugeots and boxes of a previous life.
This will eventually go to a traditionalist who will connect with it for whatever reason and appreciate that it exists in this condition and originality , so much vintage steel has been modded and messed with but as I always say `it`s only original once``. I could break it and get my money back but at the moment its too beautiful to tear down.

Dont know if Im breaking any rules but here is a link to a restoration of one of these bikes

https://www.velocompetition.com/1985-mbk-de-jean-louis-gauthier-equipe-la-redoute-mbk-art169.html

 

[sjcprojects]

To be clear, I think the price is absolutely justifiable, and if it was my bike I'd be wanting the same – I'm just not sure if in the current market it will find a seller at £1000 – but I certainly hope it does because like you say, it's totally original and a rare find. If it had an Italian name and parts on it, we all know things would be different. Nothing at all wrong with MBK but it's just not a name people associate with top-end road bikes these days.

Anyway, I hope I'm proved wrong really, because it is worth the money all day long – so good luck with the sale.

 

[chickendrumsticks]

This is actually my bike. Thanks for the comments ( good and bad ) , I can only justify the price as it is totally unique and as close to a brand new 40 year old Pro level bike as you`ll find. Whatever peoples perceptions of Simplex / Spidel / Stronglight components today, I can only say these exact components are race proven ( just replace the frame and wheels and you have Robert Millar`s exact team spec bike of 84 /85 and you don`t become king of the Mountains on a crappy drivetrain ! ) , the SLJ5500 Drillium rear mech alone would find a home eventually at around £250 they are that rare ) . I personally still ride on tubs , I know technology has moved on but it`s what I`m used to and on this bike correct for the period . As for MBK being the rump, well today the brand may not be very desireable but again as well as La Redoute , MBK also sponsored and provided frames to the Fagor team ( 88? ) and were ridden by some of the best including Roche , Millar and Elliott.
I honestly paid over £1600 for this bike after shipping duties about 3 years back but vintage steel prices have been rock bottom for a couple of years now, ebay is awash with beautiful vintage stuff but values will bounce back , they always do.
I no longer have the space I had due to a house move and have been paying nearly £200/ month for a storage unit for this and my collection of Peugeots and boxes of a previous life.
This will eventually go to a traditionalist who will connect with it for whatever reason and appreciate that it exists in this condition and originality , so much vintage steel has been modded and messed with but as I always say `it`s only original once``. I could break it and get my money back but at the moment its too beautiful to tear down.

Dont know if Im breaking any rules but here is a link to a restoration of one of these bikes

https://www.velocompetition.com/1985-mbk-de-jean-louis-gauthier-equipe-la-redoute-mbk-art169.html

Small but perfectly formed. I like the "bar slap" protector in one of the pics.

 

[LondonClassic]

@marshalllucky I am in a similar position with a Lapierre tdf speciale that's rare as rocking horse do do - Full 531, Simplex SLJ gears, Stronglight cranks, mafac racers...an all French affair. I don't think if I put it up for sale I'd get more than £600 and even then I'd expect to wait months to snag a buyer (Eroicas seem to drive sales peaks).

I think your bike is lovely but I just don't think you'll get more than £700 for it in the current market. Hang on a few years, maybe different story.

 

[Woz]

Just to add my 2€ worth from the other side of the channel. While these will have potentially more rarity and novelty factor in the UK, the market is here is really rock bottom. I don't think it's ultimately anything to do with the bike, who made it, what spec. etc. - people just have difficulty putting money in anything which is not essential at the moment. The market is flooded with people trying to sell anything. Even splitting for parts doesn't seem to work as well as it did. Perhaps the real market is in the USA or Japan, or Asia today for this kind of exotica?

 

[sjcprojects]

Just to add my 2€ worth from the other side of the channel. While these will have potentially more rarity and novelty factor in the UK, the market is here is really rock bottom. I don't think it's ultimately anything to do with the bike, who made it, what spec. etc. - people just have difficulty putting money in anything which is not essential at the moment. The market is flooded with people trying to sell anything. Even splitting for parts doesn't seem to work as well as it did. Perhaps the real market is in the USA or Japan, or Asia today for this kind of exotica?

Yes, though when it comes to the Retrobike community what is and isn't 'essential' is a little different to most people's idea of what that word means! Seriously, though, you're right about it generally being hard to sell anything. I put a very nice cassette deck (keeping up the retro theme, and yes there is still a market for these) on eBay a while back thinking it might go for close to £100 - it went for £26. Lesson learnt...

 

[sefton1275gt]

@marshalllucky I am in a similar position with a Lapierre tdf speciale that's rare as rocking horse do do - Full 531, Simplex SLJ gears, Stronglight cranks, mafac racers...an all French affair. I don't think if I put it up for sale I'd get more than £600 and even then I'd expect to wait months to snag a buyer (Eroicas seem to drive sales peaks).

I think your bike is lovely but I just don't think you'll get more than £700 for it in the current market. Hang on a few years, maybe different story.

Any pics?

 

[LondonClassic]

Any pics?

I can PM you some, sure.

 

[mikestr]

Top-end French racing bikes and components are seriously underappreciated, even in France. This was a no-compromise model built for one of the most powerful teams on the pro circuit. But most buyers know only the big Italian names, Pinarello, Colnago, et al. Forgive them; they know not what they do.

I remember when this very bike was on auction a few years ago, in the Netherlands. It was beyond my budget then and still is. I later found and bought nearly the same model, probably from the previous year, just before "MBK" started to appear on the bikes. It's quite a wonderful ride, and the shifting is so crisp one would not miss indexing.

Quote Reply

 

[mikestr]

This frame is identical to that of the 1983 and 1984 La Redoute team replica, right down to the cast Cinelli BB shell with integral cast cable guides and old-style BB set with fixed cup. These were passé by 1985 among French manufacturers, who had moved on to plain shells with plastic guides. Top-end racers also had monobloc BB units like the Stronglight 700/701, with lock rings on both sides and no fixed cup. My late 1984 Special Pro was delivered this way, with a 701T unit (titanium spindle). This leads to the inference that these last team frames had been built earlier and simply had updated paint. But model history at Motobecane in those last turbulent days is sketchy. Did Motobecane actually offer the SP to the public in 1985, or were these simply actual team bikes? My SP was a gift from the company to an employee, so it may also not have been a regular model