@sunvalleylaw I 'get' what you're saying about Motobecane's name, but I had the Nomade Sprint and rode others, and it doesn't really bug me. My mom had a 10-speed with a mixte frame that was pure bullshit, carrying their name. I'm just glad to see the name still existing on a bicycle meant to be ridden.
Here is my Sheldon Browne story.
It is some time circa 2000, and I am an active person living in first-ring suburban Boston (read: residential, not lots of woods, etc.). New place was near the trail system, not near a good gym, so I decide to get back into biking. Dad's ancient Peugot XP-10 needs some help, but hey, I figure, ought to be roadworthy.*
One night I am driving home from the grocery and see a bike store. "I'll stop in," I think.
So I do. I wheel in my Dad's old but clearly well-loved Peugot, and the younger guy at the front smiles. "That's just great, man. Hold on one second." He goes into the back, and returns with a scowling, bearded old guy with a sumo wrestler's build. I'm just wanting to spec out some work to get done, and am starting to feel a little funny because they're far more interested in talking with each other than waiting on me.
Finally the old grumpus says "do you prefer glue on tires?" I say no, and he says "then you're going to need new wheels. Where did you get this?" (he meant not just the very-common Peugot, but all the incredibly high-end after-market upgrades my Dad had put on as he had ridden more and more in the 60's / 70's). I told him about my Dad, and he smiled a little.
"I have a suggestion for you. I have some older rims that have been waiting around for something to do. I could make them into some good solid wheels for you. We'll tune the bike up for you and you'll be able to ride it."
"How much is that going to be?" (I at least had seen enough parts at REI while shopping climbing gear to know that 'nice roadie wheels' were anything but cheap).
"Five hundred dollars."
I can't overstate how much this conversation seemed completely unrooted in any business model or practice. He wouldn't let go of the bike the entire time we were talking; the younger shop guy was looking very awkward ... and I needed a bike, grumpy old fucker or not.
"Well, what about the brakes and the handlebars?" (Bike needed a tune up and handlebar wrap, etc.)
"We'll take care of that."
So I gave them $500, and took off. Going home I thought "geez, that guy's really fucking difficult, how do they do any business?" And I was used to climbing people, who are an acquired taste to put it mildly.
A week later I go back, and younger guy wheels out an extraordinarily clean, gorgeous version of my Dad's bike. It was a turquoise frame, and they've done all the accents in white. The wheels are very no-name, but geez, just so nice. "Wow!" Young guy says "take it for a spin." I go outside, ride around a bit. At one point I see the old grumpy guy peeking at me through a barely-opened side door. I wave; the door closes. What-the-fuck-ever, I think; the bike is rockin', I'm good!
Two weeks later I'm on a ride with a friend. He remarks on how nice the bike came out, and I tell him the story above.
"What bike shop was this??!??!"
"West Newton Wheelworks."
"YOU HAD YOUR BIKE REHABBED AND YOUR WHEELS BUILT BY SHELDON BROWNE!!!!!" And this friend, who was my climbing partner but also a former amateur road racer, just dies laughing. "He HATES people! But he loved your bike!!!"
I still have the WNWW receipt with his angry, fucked up sig at the bottom.
For you guys as racers/serious riders it is probably a bigger deal and more important
