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.
Why is it that I like this blue so much better than the blue on the Motobecane??
ReplyDeleteNice job on this. Your post has me thinking that I better get some more experience being a bike mechanic before searching out a Peugeot to work on. Or, really live by your advice and never start with one that is not at least a complete bike!
I sure have enjoyed this series of the bikes you have worked on!
Keep them coming and thanks for entertaining us!!
Jim
Hey Jim thank you for the kind comments I agree its a very nice blue. So long as you get a complete bike and take your time you should be fine especially with all the great info on the web, and once you start looking I am sure you will find tons of complete old Peugeots just waiting on some TLC. Just remember Tim Joes advice - "when you feel like reaching for a hammer its time to hang it up for the day".
ReplyDeleteThis is the second day of my new experiment in life without internet service, so don't take it personally if I become something of a rarity until I get the hang of it. My poor old seventeen inch HP laptop has a busted hinge and doesn't get around all that well anymore, so until I get my new stealth Macbook Air 11 I will be borrowing computer time at the library, the blonde's and anywhere else I can.
ReplyDeleteThis is fun except the guy in the computer carrel next to me keeps sneezing and it makes me wonder what went on here in the booth I am in before I got here... Good lord life is an adventure...
I just purchased this bike off of a guy from craigslist. I believe the bb is fine, but on the side opposite of the lockring of the crankset (don't know what this is called exactly) there's a stripped piece that needs to be tightened every mile or so (the owner said).
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to convert it into a fixed/ss bike. I wanted to build up a bike instead of buying a complete (oops) and now don't really know what my options are. What cranks can go on the original bottom bracket? Are there better brakes I can buy, as the ones that came with it seem very sketchy.
Thanks
Jp thanks for stopping by. I am assuming we are talking about a French Peugeot and if I am understanding correctly either the bolt connecting the crank arm to the bb spindle is stripped or the bb cup is stripped necessitating the constant retightening. A known issue with French BB, per Sheldon Brown "Prone to problems due to the right threaded fixed cup which tends to unscrew itself in use". I would suggest pulling the bb and replacing it, for a French bb then you can get a replacement at www.velo-orange.com, if after pulling the bb you find the threads are stripped you can also find threadless or "repair" bb on Amazon.com if you do a search with "threadless bottom bracket" you can find a number of them. Hope that helps.
DeleteThanks for the reply. How do I remove the cottered cranks that are on the bike? I read some of the possibilities, but was wondering if you'e removed them on this specific bike.
DeleteHi Jp, many people swear by the C-Clamp method of cotter removal (you can find videos on the internet) but I destroyed a crankset using that method once and ended up buying my most expensive bike tool the Cotter Press from Bikesmith. It ended up paying off because I have worked on a number of bikes with cottered cranks since purchasing it, however, if you are a sane person and are only working on one bike (unlike me) I would suggest going to your local bike shop for help with that removal. Then if you replace your old cottered crank & BB with a square taper velo orange (French thread) bb you will have a whole bunch of square taper cranks available to you whether you want to go geared or FS/SS.
ReplyDeleteI just bought late 70's peugeot and need a little help. I don't have the bike yet as its still in shipping, but I want to upgrade from the original stronglight groupset to the campagnolo veloce. I found a good deal on the campy set and want to go ahead & order it,, but I don't know what size front derailleur clamp I need without having the bike to measure. Any help would be greatly appreciated.. ~ Jeff
ReplyDeleteHey Jeff, thanks for the question, if it's later 70s there is a good chance it's a 28.6 sized clamp front derailleur. To be sure you would want to get an inexpensive caliper and measure (Bikeman4u has them). If your down tube is narrower than 28.6 you will need a shim (problem solvers) to get a modern derailleur to work. Have fun with your build
DeleteDid you stick with the 27" rims or did you change it to 700c with a newer shimano style freewheel?
ReplyDeleteDid you stick with the 27" rims or did you change it to 700c with a newer shimano style freewheel?
ReplyDeleteUtah sorry I missed this I stayed with 27" wheel and a freewheel
DeleteHi Ryan,
ReplyDeleteI have rebuilt a lot on my uo0, mostly around replacing the spindle with a cotterless one.
I'm getting ready to swap out the gear system. When you replaced the Simplex rear derailer with the Shimano, what did you need to do to the bike's dropout hanger to attach it? Did you need to tap it to add threads and file a notch in it for the for the "B Tension" screw to bear against. (as per Sheldon's notes at the bottom of this page: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/upgrade-gears.html
Hi Will, thanks for commenting. In my case the UO-8 I was working on was an old school RD that mounts by sliding into the rear drop out and doesn't need a derailleur hanger and the Shimano I replaced it with was the same. These days I use the Sunrace RD-M10 Rear Derailleur available on Amazon.
DeleteIf you are dealing with a derailleur hanger then yes use Sheldon as a baseline and see if you can find other references, if you need to replace the RD if the Simplex is still in good shape or can be cleaned up I would use it. Good Luck!
HELLO, I just got another 1974 peugeot uo18 mixte version. the one I had before got stolen twice, but I love this bike. The one I bought needs complete overhaul. I'm at cable stage. What kind and size shifter & brake cables do I use? I do want them white as they were originally. The bike has original everything, but cables and chain need to be replaced. I also will be installing new tubes and tires. Pls help with this info. thanks
ReplyDeletethere are a number of cable/housing choices out there, I tend to get the ones with dual ends where you snip off the end you don't need. I have used the XLC brand ones in the past and they do have white like this example of a brake cable - link below, if you want to go a bit more upscale you could go with Velo-Orange they have white cable housing in their options and I like their stuff. https://www.amazon.com/XLC-Brake-Cable-Housing-Universal/dp/B0030KZJTY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479103091&sr=8-1&keywords=XLC+cables+white
DeleteOriginal is nice except for the "consumables" like cables chain tires tubes bar tape that stuff I always like to replace too. I don't want to bomb down a hill depending on 40 year old cables and rubber ;-)
Hello Ryan,
ReplyDeleteI'm a noob concerning fixing bikes.
One thing i'd like to change like you did is swap cottered spindle against a cotterless one.
Although you refer to Sheldon Browns site, i cannot really figure out which spindle i'd have to buy to accomplish what you did.
Could you please give me an example of a spindle that would fit my Peugot UO8 please?
I found the info below from when this question came up on bike forums recently however when I search the web for 70mm bb spindles I don't come up with much. I ordered mine on Amazon but that was 6 years ago and I don't see them now so your best option might be to get the BB rethreaded, double check the shell width - should be 68 mm and then get the appropriate square taper sealed bb and crankset. Good luck!
DeleteSee additional wisdom from Saint Sheldon here on bb spindle size. I believe codes starting with 5 are 70mm.
hey ryan ! i just got a frame and im wondering if if the same ! mine was painted in black , but you can see it was originaly blue painted. Also got the 2 pins to hold on air pump as shown on the picture i suppose. Wondering if it is and if this project is going to be hard to rebuild with need pieces ?
ReplyDeleteI would recommend going to Sheldon Brown and the Mytenspeeds websites and read what they have to say about working on French bikes and what to watch out for
DeleteHi all! I actually found a u08 frame out in the rain. It looks great besides the deathstem, no bb/crank and no wheels. I have a wheelset off of my Raleigh marathon (1982). My question is how to obtain and install a BB,and crankset? My bike looks EXACTLY like this one, decals and all, but has stem shiters, which I'll naturally scrap. There seems to be lots of different answers regarding time periods, but is it safe to assume it's a later model, and can use threadless or English Bb? Or has to be French thread? When was this switch? There is a "made in france" and the gold stickers under the seat seem to mean it's pre 1979...Thats all I've got. This is my second bike project to thanks for any tips!
ReplyDeleteA couple suggestions 1) The bike boom Peugeot website may help you narrow down the year. 2) A late 70s Pug will have french threaded bottom bracket and headset if you don't have them then you can go the new route via Velo Orange of if you have a bike co-op in town they may be able to help. 3) you can take a standard 22.2 stem and with a little time and steel wool or sand paper make it fit a 22.0 french headset. Finally this link is a good outline of challenges for working on old french bikes; http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpeeds_1/Feature_Bicycles/Feature_Bicycles_France/French_Bicycle_Restoration_Problems/FRENCH_RESTORE_PROBLEMS_1_Start.htm. Have fun with your UO-8 if nothing else you should be able to find a cheap UO-8 donor bike for parts. The seat post is also a "special" size I think its 25.0 and you can find those on Velo Orange too.
Delete