What is a "Real Motobecane"
- Thread starter John Tolhurst
- Start date
John Tolhurst
Zen MBB Master
Sorry, just need to pull you up here. The Taiwan bike industry has shifted its position over the last decade and the average price of bikes coming out of Taiwan is about four times higher than from China. The accelerated Chinese production has made this necessary to survival of the bike industry in Taiwan.
John Tolhurst
Zen MBB Master
Sorry, this is off-topic:
Modern China (The "Republic of China" [ROC] founded in 1911 by Sun Yat-sen) did not claim Taiwan as part of its territory in the 1925 draft of its constitution, nor did they do so in 1947 when the ROC constitution was promulgated. It couldn't because the predecessor of the ROC-China, the Qing Dynasty, had given Taiwan away "in perpetuity and full sovereignty" to Japan in 1895. When the ROC overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1911, Taiwan was under the jurisdiction of Japan. How could the PRC-China (The "People's Republic of China," founded under Mao Zedong), which evicted and replaced the ROC in China in 1949 (and which was eventually recognized as representing China by other countries since 1971) claim Taiwan, a territory that it has never governed?
On the other hand, China through the UN has managed to influence the ISO country names standards to cite 'Taiwan, Province of China.' Now there's the real China knock off deal.
Modern China (The "Republic of China" [ROC] founded in 1911 by Sun Yat-sen) did not claim Taiwan as part of its territory in the 1925 draft of its constitution, nor did they do so in 1947 when the ROC constitution was promulgated. It couldn't because the predecessor of the ROC-China, the Qing Dynasty, had given Taiwan away "in perpetuity and full sovereignty" to Japan in 1895. When the ROC overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1911, Taiwan was under the jurisdiction of Japan. How could the PRC-China (The "People's Republic of China," founded under Mao Zedong), which evicted and replaced the ROC in China in 1949 (and which was eventually recognized as representing China by other countries since 1971) claim Taiwan, a territory that it has never governed?
On the other hand, China through the UN has managed to influence the ISO country names standards to cite 'Taiwan, Province of China.' Now there's the real China knock off deal.
I didn't intend to cast aspersions, implicit or explicit, on the bicycle industry of Taiwan. I fully understand their near preeminent position in the bicycle production cosmos. I was simply alluding to the fact that many manufacturers have turned to their factories to provide a lower price-point product, while maintaing the famous marque.
Doc Reyman
Member
In 1975, I bought a steel DF bike that was a Motobecane and it was typical for the mass produced lower priced bikes of the time. It was neither great, nor terrible, but the girlfriend of that time rode it casually thorough the parks of Austin, Texas. In 1990, I bought a Motobecane tandem also steel tubes but a different "mixte" configuration for the stoker position created by a pair of smaller (5/8" ?) tubes that ran between the head tube and the stoker's bottom bracket shell. It was another "entry level" bike that served it's purpose.
I never knew the country of origin of the Motobecane but assumed Europe, for no specific reason France or Italy were my guesses.
Best factual answer for your question may be found on one of the websites concerning "classic bicycles". You might try that for a Google search.
Good Luck with your research.
Larry
I never knew the country of origin of the Motobecane but assumed Europe, for no specific reason France or Italy were my guesses.
Best factual answer for your question may be found on one of the websites concerning "classic bicycles". You might try that for a Google search.
Good Luck with your research.
Larry
