This discussion of Motobecanes and dropouts and tubing makes me think of Ben Lawee , who was the importer of Motobecane for quite a while.We first sold them in 1964 or so as a lugless mass produced bottom of the line bike.Along the way the brand set many firsts including using japanese components on a Euro built bike, QR hub on front only (most people could not remove the rear wheel anyway) and then you used the money saved on that to use a nicer rear derailleur another Lawee trade mark. Ben always marketed the most competitive bike line and probably was unequaled in his ability to mix and match parts.He probably carried a lot of weight with the importing of Bianchi, plus managed to sell Phillips branded bikes at the same time. After Bianchi either withdrew from the market or Ben gave up distribution rights he built up Motobecane and Italvega, then when the wind blew in the direction of Japan he imported Univega and finally back to Bertoni. I last talked to him in 1980 when he offered me a job as sales rep but I had already decided to leave the industry,Now I wished I had had a long discussion with him about bikes he had sold over the years. As far as the variation in forged dropouts on the various models of Motobecane I would not be surprised if he had even speced changes in those to maintain a price point or put that money saved towards another part that was more obvious to the buyers.
BOB FREITAS MILL VALLEY,CA USA
I think Ben ,who was always 3 steps ahead of the competition, bowed out of the bike biz in 1997 or 98 and passed away in 2003