Its like.....well...riding a bike (and working Steel)

Its a bit embarrassing that it took until nearly the end of March but I finally got my first ride of the year in on Thursday the 26th.  It had been so long I wasn't sure I would remember how but I was pedaling along in no time, I actually think I got more winded pumping up the tires than pedaling.  Although to be honest it wasn't an epic ride, I was just taking advantage of the first 70 degree day of the year to do a short ride up to the pub with a friend.

28 micro-brews on tap

My buddy rode his cool old school Guerciotti with its unique lugged aluminum frame.

I went a little crazy locking up with both a heavy cable and U-Lock,

One of the many things I like about my urban home, in addition; to a bus line right outside the door, a coffee shop next door and a hub of shops and eateries five blocks away, is that I get to see alot of working steel in my daily life.  

It might be a lovely Celeste Bianchi Eros.

unicrown fork

  
Or a nice lugged Miyata Triplecross. 

city workhorse

Lovely Japanese Lugs

A sweet red  Fuji

Or an old Peugeot UO-8 made into a city single speed.

love the no nonsense chain lock

basking in some spring sun

As a sucker for old 10 speeds I really love to see old steel bikes getting used and being useful rather than mouldering away in basements and garages.  I hope wherever you are that you are treated to a nice spring for riding.

Until next time Ride.Smile.Repeat.

Le Mixte Français

Lately I have been visiting Mixte Heaven on Facebook way too often and it has put Mixtes on my brain, especially the cool split tube european kind.  So there I was looking through Craigslist at Mixtes I didn't really need, and I came across a lovely blue Peugeot at a reasonable price.

Even at a good price it survived the weekend and I was able to pick it up during the week.  Turns out this bike is not just a Peugeot but a made for the french market one that came to Seattle with a French family who is going back to France and didn't want to lug a 30 lb. Mixte with them.

I haven't nailed down the exact model or year but its similar to the "all weather" UE-18 style bike.  Peugeot had different components for bikes in different markets.  This bike has 700c wheels rather than 27 inch and presta value tubes rather than schrader for instance.  Instead of center-pull brakes it has some entry level side pull brakes.  And I guess instead of north road handlebars these are Le Rue Nord.

I really like that this bike came standard with fenders and a cool integrated rear rack painted to match the frame,

unfortunately the bike didn't come with a front lamp although based on the bracket holes in the front fender it had one originally.  Another cool feature is the Peugeot branded bell which I understand are rare and expensive, I looked on ebay and one was for sale in the UK for $60, which is about what I paid for the entire bike.

The bike does have the standard 70s Peugeot drive-train, Simplex of course.

downtube Derlin simplex shifters

And now I really need to stop acquiring project bikes! although for this one I could probably do a "flip" if I really wanted to as its in nice shape to start.  I would like to give it the full treatment, however, and with spring coming and perhaps the addition of a basket I think it will fetch a good price.  On the other hand my daughter continues to sprout up and has outgrown her last bike and she likes the look of this one so maybe I will build it up for her.

Until next time ride, smile and repeat.