Two steps forward one step back (Raleigh Super Course Part IV)

My goal for this weekend was to get the headset back reassembled and get the fork and frame back together, close but no cigar.

Which is not to say that no progress was made.  The bottom bracket cups went from half way done

To all the way done

 In fact the bottom bracket is ready to go back in but I find it easier to wax the frame with it out and to that end the frame got the first of 3 coats of wax while it was cool on Saturday morning.

I noticed while waxing that the area around the seat post cluster was quite a bit more dull and scratched than the rest of the frame which I attribute to the common practice in the 1970s of wrapping your chain bike lock around the seat post to store it when not in use.

Chain plus paint equals dull scratched paint, fortunately in the intervening years in addition to coming up with cable and u-locks they have even solved this issue for chain locks

chain wrapped in cloth no scratchy

 I was planning to put on wax coats 2 and 3 today but it hit 90 degrees in Seattle on Sunday and at about 80 we Seattleites start to melt , 9 months of rain no problem - 80+ degrees oh no!,
so addition coats of wax would have to wait.

Now back to the headset.  Normally I like to replace the headset bearings with new bearings in a cage, but when I dry fitted them I realized that wasn't going to work as the cage was too big.  The late 60s early 70s French bikes get grief for having "odd" sizing for threading, stems, etc.  What I had forgotten is that the same era Raleigh's are just as bad because they use their own proprietary sizing (BSA) that makes them an equal pain...er "challenge"  to work on.  I had already recycled the original loose bearings because I knew I would replace them.  A search of the parts closet yields this..

On the far left the bearing I need, I have one and need 50, in the middle a bearing I have tons of but is too big (wheel hub bearing) and on the far right the headset bearings in a cage I thought I would use until I realized the Brits had screwed me.  So Goldilocks went to Amazon and soon it will be just right with a 100 of the 5/32 bearings heading my way.

Not all was lost to the heat of the day however,  I had noticed that Joe's Super Course came equipped with an AVA stem and in the era of this bike AVA cast aluminum stems had issues, enough so they got the nickname "Death Stem" which is about as good as it sounds.

They had a habit of cracking which is not a behavior you want in the component that keeps your handlebars attached to the rest of the bike.  Now this part had obviously done its job and to the naked eye showed no issues but I don't like to take chances so it was off to Bike Works to find a replacement.

As I have mentioned before Bike Works in the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle is a bike "kitchen" that does lots of great things for the community and it is a my go to source for old bikes and bike parts.  Its kind of vintage bike nerd Nirvana..

rebuilt and refurbished vintage bikes awaiting a new owner rather than a landfill

And its half a block from an awesome bakery too which doesn't hurt - yes I stopped by.

While I was at bike works I also remedied another item, as I have worked on vintage 10 speeds over the years I have noticed that the stock handlebars tend to be a bit narrow.  Since I was already looking for a replacement stem, I figured I would have a gander at handlebars.  I am also a bit of a sucker for handlebars with nice engraving in the center where the stem goes.

I found replacements, more shots to come when they are cleaned up, and the bars are bit wider than the stock ones.

As usual I keep an eye out for vintage bikes and saw this nice Miyata 710 outside my favorite caffeine provider recently.

I think they wanted to raise their handlebars.....

And while taking a lunchtime walk at work I spotted this  Trek 560

Speaking of work I got the very good news on Friday that my contract will be extended another 9 months which will allow me to give notice at the second job and get back more time in general and, hopefully, more time to finish bike projects.

Until next time. Ride.Smile.Repeat.

1974 Peugeot UO-8 Blue (November 2011)

Make: Peugeot
Model: UO-8
Year:  1974 (best guess)
Obtained: Sept 2011
Found: Bike Works co-op
Paid: $5.00 (Frame-set plus a few parts)

Once upon a time there was a frame-set, languishing in the corner of the local bike co-op, when the amateur 10 speed refurbisher asked “How much for the tall Peugeot frame”  the wrench said           “5 bucks,  please take it I am sick of looking at it!”.   And thus another frame-set rebuild made its way into my hands.

In just one bike I violated two of my "'guidelines for a beginner old 10 speed wrench"  don't get just a frame and avoid the French bikes.  It was however a good learning experience and although a bit tall (25") the frame, paint and decals were all in good shape.  With some help from the Late Great Sheldon Brown, and Randy's vast experience with Peugeot's over at mytenspeeds.I was able to muddle through and get this bike back up and running.  Thanks again to retro Peugeot for helping me pin down the approximate year of the bike -1974 catalog shot below.

As a combination of frame only and French bike I had a few big issues I needed to tackle; 1) there was no bottom bracket with this bike and 2) while it a had a stem it was unfortunately one of the dreaded AVA "death stems" so I could not in good conscience use it.  In addition to that it was missing wheels, derailleurs, crank-set and saddle.  On the plus side it did have the original simplex shifters which was good because the down tube shifter setup on a Peugeot is unique, I don't have a picture but the band and shifters attach in way that is much different than the Japanese or Italian approach.  Anyway that was one issue I didn't have to address.  Next time I tackle a Peugeot I will try to get a shot of the down tube shifter set up for reference. UPDATE go here to find more info on the Peugeot down tube shifters.

Hey Handsome

If you are smart you get a complete French bike including bottom bracket, because the bottom bracket shell uses French threading a standard English BB will not work, mon Dieu!. If your me and you buy just a frame like a lug-head then, if money is not object, you can buy a very nice French threaded bottom bracket from Velo Orange for 50 bucks, its an excellent component but paying 10 times the price of the frame for a BB seemed a bit much for this UO-8 so I took a different tact.   Amazon offers a nice set of French threaded BB cups with bearings and lock ring from Action for 10 bucks (here).  And I recalled reading on Sheldon's site that you could use a 70 mm (Italian) spindle if you wanted to convert your old French bike from cottered crank to cotterless(here),  another 5 bucks for a spindle (plus end bolts) and I was golden on the BB issue.  The death stem resolution was pretty straight forward, I took a 22.2 diameter Pivo Stem and patiently sanded it until it fit the 22.0 French standard head-set/threaded fork.  If you are going to work on French bikes I would seriously recommend reading what both Sheldon (here) and Randy (here) have to say about the issues you might encounter, it could save you some tears.  That is not to scare anyone away old Peugeot's they are wonderful bikes with some great ride qualities but as they say forewarned is forearmed.(NOTE: after about 1980 most French bikes adopted English standard sizing and threading)

Although it thankfully doesn't look it, underneath the shiny paint and new parts this Peugeot ended up being a bit of a "frankenbike".  The frame-set, front wheel, front derailleur, shifters and handlebars are all original/period correct and everything else is cobbled together.  The rear derailleur is a Shimano 7 speed that goes with a Japanese cotterless crank, parts bin pedals and a used but modern slotted Selle Italia saddle.

I went with white cables because that is what the catalog shows the bike came with originally and I  liked how the blue paint cleaned up after a wash and wax. I think this UO-8 while not 100% vintage turned out pretty good for being a bit of a mish mash.  It got sold to a nice tall UW student.

Ride.Smile.Repeat.