I'm a bit puzzled as to why you would think this a Motobecane Team Champion. The lugs and lug cutouts could perhaps appear on a Team Champion, but the BB cutouts and the engraving on the seatstay caps don't look like any Motobecane I've ever seen.
A Team Champion could have had English thread in the mid-80's, but in the 70's it would have been French, or perhaps Swiss, which Motobecane were fond of using. Don't know if you believe the 753 decal to be original, but a 70's Team Champion would have had the decal in French, not English. Is the tubing metric 753, and thus the guess of Motobecane? But we learned here a few months ago that 753 was initially available only in metric tubesets, thus the metric tubing on my 753 Raleigh Team Pro. My guess is that this is a British frame.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, TX
John Pergolizzi <jtperry1@sbcglobal.net> wrote: Hello group,
O.K., so here's my quandary: I'm in the process of liquidating "Aladdin's Cave" as some of youse well know. This is a group of bikes which I purchased in an estate sale type situation.
One of the bikes has got me puzzled a bit. At first I thought that she was a Motobecane 753 Team Champion. But she has British/ISO cups in the bottom bracket ( confirmed this on Sheldon Brown's website (http://sheldonbrown.com/cribsheet-bottombrackets.html). So is she a Raleigh? Or another English builder perhaps? Who out there has a knowledgeable answer?
All of the bikes in The Cave were English and from the same mid to late 1970's time period. Whatever she is, she is a very nice 753 bike which I am selling. Take a look at the photos I've posted on wooljersey:
http://www.wooljersey.com/
I'm looking for $995.00 plus actual shipping via UPS Ground; packing is included.
Thanks youse one and all,
John T.Pergolizzi
La Jolla, Ca