1980 Peugeot UO-10 "Course" Part II Gone in 60 minutes

The first step in any bike rehab for me is to take the bike down to the frame-set.
There are probably better, smarter, faster ways of rehabbing the bike but this method works for me as it makes it easier to; take an inventory of what I have, what needs to be replaced, what might be a problem and its easier to clean everything when its all disassembled.

For the Course I decided I would actually set my kitchen timer and see what I could get done in 60 minutes and create a "timelapse" photo history as I did so.  To that end I layed out (most) of the tools I would need for the job and created a list of steps to follow before hitting go on the timer.

Clock at zero a complete rideable..kinda...bike in need of alot of TLC

3 minutes gone broke chain, cut cables goodbye wheel-set

6 minutes gone goodbye brakeset

8 minutes gone goodbye seat-post and saddle- whew not stuck!

12 minutes gone goodbye shifters, stem and handlebar combo- again glad its not stuck

15 minutes gone goodbye derailleurs front and rear

18 minutes gone goodbye pedals

22 minutes gone goodbye cranks....er wait a second.

My crank puller worked fine for the stock Peugeot drive-side crank arm but the non drive-side was missing when I got this bike and I picked up an orphan non drive arm at Bikeworks that happens to be a Stronglight and they need their own special tool which I do not have. Dang!

24 minutes gone I got the headset and fork removed.

Which leaves me with a frame-set and a box of parts.

The crank arm issue means I can't remove the bottom bracket so I decided to stop here.  I didn't get through the entire 60 minutes but I am reasonably sure, without the crank issue, I could have removed the bb and the headset cups and fork crown race and maybe even the freewheel all within an hour.

I have said before however,  and this is a great illustration,  that things seldom go perfectly when working on a 10 speed.  In the scheme of things not having the right tool for the Stronglight crank is minor compared to a stuck stem or seat-post and a few calls to local shops found me an LBS with the right tool and $5 later the crank arm was off.  After a rub down with some Armor All wipes the french blue is really coming through on the frame.  It has some rust issues here and there and some paint chips on the fork but I think its going to clean up nicely.

Now for the real work, getting everything cleaned lubed and back together.

As always friends Ride.Smile.Repeat

1980 Peugeot UO-10 "Course" Part I

I thought that I had written about the Peugeot Course, which has been in the queue for at least 2 years, but I can find no post for it on the blog.  With assistance from the excellent site www.retropeugeot.com I determined based on the color and the drilled brake levers that this is a 1980 model UO-10.

1981 USA Catalog

I went through a stretch where I had worked on a number Peugeots and really liked them and wanted one for myself but I was hitting the goldy-locks syndrome with my finds, they were all either too big (25" frame) or too small (21" frame) nothing was just right (23" Frame).  So I went looking on Craigslist for a nice 57cm (23") frame and got lucky when I found one that was missing the non-drive side crank arm and pedal.  That fact made it not too expensive especially when considering it was nice UO-10 which is a step up from the ubiquitous UO-8.

I had plans at one time to build this bike up as a sport tourer and so I bought some nice parts for it; a pantographed Peugeot crank, a gold cable & housing set to play off the decal color, a nice wide range IRD defiant 6 speed FW, peforated bar tape and alloy plugs etc.

goodies

After I bought myself a nice Velo Orange Rando frameset the idea of building this up as a bike for myself went by the wayside.  With the Rando sold,  I really would like to build this up just for me but due to economic circumstances this one will be going on craigslist when I get it done.

There are a number of cool details on this bike that I really like, in addition to the drilled brake levers its got a very cool engraved handlebar, a nicely detailed (under the muck) front and rear derailleurs.

Love a nice engraved handlebar

I am looking forward to getting this 34 year-old Peugeot cleaned up and polished to see what I've got.

As always Ride.Smile.Repeat

1970s Fiorelli Part II -Finito

Almost exactly a year ago I posted Part I about the Fiorelli, obviously I was in a hurry to get it done.

I don't expect any old 10 speed rehab to go entirely smoothly, however, this Italian seemed to fight me more than most.  I took 3 trips to bike shops for this one and I rarely need to go even once for most bikes.  It all started with the bottom bracket.

When I originally tore the bike down to the frame a year ago, I was unable to remove the drive-side cup.  Not a big deal so long and one side comes out you can clean everything up, however the idiot who tore down the bike put everything away in a box except for the rest of the bottom bracket! Usually not a big deal but this bike is Italiano with special threads for the bb and the headset. Oi vey, so now I need to order a new sealed bb, thank you Shimano UN-55 and Amazon.com, but I still have to get the stupid drive side cup out.  Did I mention this bike started out with a cottered crank and BB?  Anyway after lots of trying I find myself with a hammer in my hand, my temperature rising and the drive side cup still firmly in place.  Deep breath, put hammer down, step away from hammer, load frame in car and drive to nice local bike shop (LBS).  They had it out in no time- gas to shop $1.50, cost to have cup removed $5 cash, not throwing bike parts or  angrily wielding a hammer around a steel frame...priceless.

Now its time to install the brand spanking new Italian bb, easy peasey right?  I even read up and knew that the Italians like to thread both sides clockwise unlike the British and French threaded bbs which have one side threaded counter clockwise.  Anyway I am finding the install to be tougher than I expected and worried about cross threading I go back to the LBS.  Despite having carefully cleaned the bb threads it seems that there were a few burrs making things difficult but again the shop took care of me.

Now that I have the BB taken care of and had already installed the new Italian Velo Orange headset I bought for it last year its on to the wheels.

note the dirty hubs

At first I thought I might have some rust to deal with in the hub area but upon closer inspection someone had just gone crazy with grease and it was a caked on mess.

Well that is where the elbow grease comes in along with a big helping of simple green a toothbrush and even a bit of super fine steel wool for the stubborn bits, but it all turned out OK.

much cleaner

A little fine steel wool to clean the water spots and oxidation off the aluminum rims followed by some Mother Aluminum polish and things were looking up

before and after

 That is until I got to removing the Freewheel, its a Regina and my #2 Park FW puller looked like a perfect fit, but it was just slightly too big.  Since I also found out that my crank and front derailleur combo wasn't going to work I went to my favorite bike spot, Bikeworks, to get some new (used) parts and have their shop tackle the FW.  I was found parts just fine but they were defeated by the FW! Since it was in good shape and I could rebuild the hub with it in place I just left it after cleaning it and adding some 3 in 1 oil into the seams to keep it spinning smooth.

Sakae Crank in good shape

When I got this bike it was a miss-mash of parts and it left me that way too although I think in better condition.  Dia compe side pull brake up front and Weinman center pull in back.

Schwinn brake levers with pimped out gold quick release tabs- they came that way!

I also replaced the banded down-tube shifters that came on the bike with some power ratchet Suntour stem shifters.  I love DT shifters but this bike had no lug on the down tube to keep the shifter band from slipping so it was an accident waiting to happen with that setup.

Some nice used Bluemels' white fenders and a working vintage Zefal pump to give it some commuter appeal.

And I went with some brand new fat platform pedals I purchased for another build that never came about.

Despite the travails in getting this bike road worthy again I was happy with how it turned out, especially the paint which went from being so oxidized it was powdery to the touch to a nice blue again after cleaning with armor-all wipes and two coats of wax.  I also think the build came out quite functional despite the frankenbike mixture.  All in all it was only on Craigslist for 90 minutes this afternoon before being snapped up by a local, so me and my pocketbook are happy.

Next up is a nice Peugeot Course (UO-10) which has been in the queue even longer than the Fiorelli was.  Although it's French it is complete so I hope it won't pose too many problems....well see.

As always Ride.Smile.Repeat.