MBK Trainer

admcau said:

Hi every one.

I have just purchased a MBk bike for $80. Its an old bike by the looks of it, steel and has MBK Trainer on the downtube. It needs some work the BB wuill need to be replaced. It has Sachs Hurets derailers and weinman breaks. I live in Sydney. Does anyone havev any idea about when this bike was made and the ease of replacing parts etc.

I too live in Sydney, and have bought an MBK for $20 from a Life Line shop.It has done very little work, the front rim on one side does'nt even have run marks on it. The tyres are the original French Hutchinson, a bit perished, the thing was used as a triathalon ride I suspect, the speedo indicates 340klm.

The frame is Columbus steel, and beautifully made in that there are no separate lugs for under the seat and at the bottom bracket, all the steel sections are brazed together. The BB appears to be an [censored] item. It is labelled as 'Super Record'.

The rear hub is a Maillard Helicomatic, this is supposed to be one very dodgy item, the freewhell is very noisy, dont know how to fix that.

Even though the bike has done so little work, the front hub is very rough, I replaced the cones, one was scored, bearings looked ok but it's still rough. The front spokes are loose so the rim moves laterally with hand pressure, dodgy.

The running gear is Sachs Huret, the brakes Weinmann. A friend rode it briefly (with a different front wheel) and came back and said that the brakes were the most effective that hehad ever used. This fellow is no slouch with his own gear, he has about five bikes, all with Shimano Dura Ace gear.

Getting bits for it will be a problem, go to a US site, I think Sheldon Brown.com, this fellow is a mine of information.

Have fun with it

admcau said:

Hi every one.

I have just purchased a MBk bike for $80. Its an old bike by the looks of it, steel and has MBK Trainer on the downtube. It needs some work the BB wuill need to be replaced. It has Sachs Hurets derailers and weinman breaks. I live in Sydney. Does anyone havev any idea about when this bike was made and the ease of replacing parts etc.

I too live in Sydney and have bought an MBK bike very cheaply. It is labelled "Super Record", the hubs have staped '82', I am told this means 1982 assembly.

This one was set up with tri bars and a trip computer which indicates that it has only 340 klms under the wheels, the general condition would indicate that this is correct, it still has original French Hutchinson tyres and the chain and sprockets have done next to no work. The BB is by [censored], maybe yours is too.

The rear hub is a Maillard Helico Matic, which is in good shape now but I hear that they are a very dodgy item. The front hub runs very roughly, I pulled it apart and one of the cones was badly marked, I changed the cones and it still runs rough, bearings and hub surface look ok so I'm guessing at the moment.

The frame has a Columbus sticker on it, the steering head has a lug where the tubes all join, but where the tubes all meet under the seat and where the tubes join at the BB are without lugs, a bit unusual for a steel frame? Aluminium and titanium frames are without lugs but this I thought unusual.

The Gears are Sachs Huret, no wear at all, but the finish on them is very rough compared to Italian or Japaanese equipment from a similar era.

The brakes are Weinmann, a friend who has a stable of pushies all with top end Shimano said that these were the best brakes that he had ever used.

For more info on parts, go to an American website by Sheldon Brown, he is a mine of information.

Have fun, hope you can get it going without going overboard with the dollars.

Zekey