Originally Posted by
DebW
I sold and worked on French bikes (Motobecanes) in the 70s. You shouldn't need special French tools - just standard metric fittings. Of course, bottom brackets were different in the 70s, but French and British were similar. Freewheel and crank tools were specific to the manufacturer - no standardization at all. If you need tools for a specific part, maybe I can help if you describe it or post a picture
As far as finding French parts, the only thing I can suggest is eBay. Most of that stuff isn't manufactured any more. If you had money to put into this thing, you could probably replace the crank with something modern and use standard pedals. You could replace the handlebars and stem and brake levers together, as the external stem diameter you need probably matches modern specs. To get off-white cable housing, I suggest rubbing dirty hands on white housing. Always worked for me. :D
