polymorphself 

Rather than scatter it across several threads, which I had already begun to do, I think I should start a dedicated thread for this project. Some backstory:

A friend of mine has always had eyes for the aesthetics of 70's Peugeots (can you blame her?). She has decided she would finally like one. More specifically, she decided that she wanted a white, 70's, Peugeot Mixte with decent paint and all decals mostly in tact. I told her that I would find her one. This was not an easy task locally, but I finally found what I believe to be a decent specimen and got ahold of it for a good price.

I don't have a lot of experience with french bicycles. I'm going to need a lot of help and advice on this one, that's for sure.

Let's get a few things out of the way first. I know that this is a low end model. I recognize that this is not something you would typically dump too much money into. That being said, my goal was to find the exact frame that my friend wanted and aesthetics matter more to her than quality. She will be riding this casually around her neighborhood. This will also be a learning experience for me and I am willing to lose money on that. I will be purchasing many replacement components here, and that's fine.

Almost everything that I have appears to be original.

What I have:
- Frame/fork
- pedals
- seat post
- wheels
- freewheel
- stem
- Simplex Rear Derailleur
- Shimano (not in front of it to check model) front derailleur

What I do not have:
- handlebars
- bottom bracket
- crankset
- Chainwheel
- saddle.

I plan to replace the wheels, however, because one of the goals here is to lighten the bike up, and I'd like to at least put alloy wheels on this. My goal for these, the crankset and bottom bracket replacements is to be on the light and cheap side, it doesn't need to be high end stuff, just a little better than what would have come on this Peugeot initially.

Now, onto my list of beginning questions:

1. Am I right in thinking that the year here is somewhere between 1971-1974? Serial is 2497126.
2. Is this stem safe? If so, which size of these bars should I be ordering, 22.2 or 23.8?
3. It did have a bottom bracket, but it was rough and needed to be removed by my local shop. They ended up needing to use heat to remove it, which discolored the edges of the frame in this area a little, which they told me would not have jeopardized the steel at all. What are your thoughts based on pictures below?
4. What recommendations would you have for replacing the wheels?
5. What recommendations would you have for replacing the bottom bracket and crankset?
6. What recommendations would you have for replacing the chain wheel?
7. Thoughts on the original Simplex rear derailleur?

That's enough to get me started. Tomorrow I will be washing, polishing and waxing the frame to get me started while looking for the replacement parts I need. It's dirty but looks like it will clean up nicely enough. And I may use this project as a chance to experiment with applying some white paint touch up.

Here are a few pics. Thanks in advance for any and all help and advice!

niliraga 

This will be fantastic - classic mixtes almost always are, so I totally get what you're doing here and why!

But before you go ordering VO Porteur bars, be aware that their 23.8 and 22.2 options refer to the diameter at the grips -- the diameter at the clamp for those bars is always 25.4, and that will be an issue for French stems which usually want 25.0mm and that'll be just the beginning of your French-specific odyssey...

You might consider finding some original French porteur bars (eg. the Belleri ones that VO used to sell NOS and inspired their version) and those will be 25.0 at the clamp, and 23.8 at the grips to accept the classic reverse brake levers.

bertinjim 

polymorphself-

1. Am I right in thinking that the year here is somewhere between 1971-1974? Serial is 2497126.

From the decals, I would say your age range is correct.

2. Is this stem safe? If so, which size of these bars should I be ordering, 22.2 or 23.8?

Probably safe. Inspect carefully and measure the opening carefully with digital calipers for the correct size. The VO bars are very close to the originals in design.

3. It did have a bottom bracket, but it was rough and needed to be removed by my local shop. They ended up needing to use heat to remove it, which discolored the edges of the frame in this area a little, which they told me would not have jeopardized the steel at all. What are your thoughts based on pictures below?

The paint is not bad at all, given the heating. No problem with the steel - it would have charred the paint off at a temperature affecting the steel's temper.

4. What recommendations would you have for replacing the wheels?

Normandy high flange hubs with quick releases would have been OEM equipment but be sure to get 700C sized alloy rims. Be careful of the freewheel threading. If English, you will need a new freewheel since the original French threaded one is incompatible. Get good tires like Panaracer Paselas.

5. What recommendations would you have for replacing the bottom bracket and crankset?

Go on EBay and buy a Stronglight TS crankset with a French threaded bottom bracket. This was OEM on some Peugeot mixtes. Check carefully that your pedals and crankset pedal drillings are French. You will likely need a special crank extractor to use on these. https://www.steintool.com/portfolio-...nk-extractors/ A modern 22 mm extractor will strip the threads of a TS and destroy the crankset.

6. What recommendations would you have for replacing the chain wheel?

The chainwheel will come with the TS crankset and TS rings can be found as low as 38T inners.

7. Thoughts on the original Simplex rear derailleur?

The Simplex Prestige is held in contempt by many but if there is no cracking in the black, Delrin plastic it will be a good shifting rear derailleur. Keep the front you have already. The Prestige will shift better with Simplex alloy levers as the OEM plastic ones flex badly and are non-linear in feel.

White Testors should do for touch up as well as black for the pinstripes. I restored a similar bike for my wife several years ago and it turned out to be a surprisingly light, very pleasant ride.

BFisher

Cool project. I'll show you my '71 and explain the changes I made



Based on your serial # and decals, yours is probably a '72, but I don't know if that can be verified.

For the stem, I sanded a 22.2 quill stem until it fit into my steerer tube. I didn't trust the original stem, and the material of the replacement stem is much thicker, even after sanding. SR also made a nice 22.0 quill stem. I have one on my Motobecane Grand Jubile.

The bottom bracket shell looks fine. Note that French threading is unique. With my bike, I found a steel cotterless crankset, with French bottom bracket, for a great price. You can either try to find a matching set like that, or get a French bottom bracket from Velo Orange.

For wheels, check Velomine for 5,6, and 7 speed thread-on freewheel wheelsets. That's what I did. Mine are Weinmann LP18 rims laced to Origin8 (I think) sealed bearing hubs. They are nice wheels for the money. No issues with them here. They were also available from a few other vendors.

The Simplex derailleur could work, but I replaced mine with a Suntour unit. Those plastic parts don't age well and can crack to pieces.

ryansu

+1 on @BFisher recommendations. Sanding down a 22.2 stem doesn't take all that long, eliminates any worry of "death stems" and means you have many options in bars and not just limited to what you can find on French Ebay. I have heard folks say on this forum that an Origin 8 classic stem will fit with no sanding but have not tried it myself. If you get a French bb from VO then you also have many options in cranks and thus pedals again not limiting you to French ebay the VO French BB has a JIS taper - works with most cranks.

What are you doing for brakes? The originals were probably Mafac Racers (Center pulls) which are plentiful on ebay Also bike boom Peugeot may help narrow the year and give you some templates to use when building the bike back up. For myself I worry more about fit and function and less about strict period accuracy when building a bike back up. YMMV. For the saddle a brooks will look the part and hold up for years. Good luck with the project OP take it slow and have fun. I hope your friend realizes the amount of work involved.

Also in addition to Velomine, Amazon also has a selection of 27 inch wheels - which is what this bike most likely came with. going with a 700c will work but you might need to finagle the brakes for reach I would look for alloy rims, stainless steel spokes and QR skewers and measure the rear drops to get the right hub width likely 126 but could be 120 mm. In my experience unless you want very narrow or very wide or a very specific brand/model of tires 27" wheels work just fine and tires are plentiful for them. Also depending on your current FW threading (i.e French) it may not play nice with a new wheel set, no worries 5 speed FW are plentiful on Amazon.

One other option is to find a tatty COMPLETE Peugeot of the same period and cannibalize it for parts.
.

elcraft

You are missing the fork, so when you replace it with an aftermarket one, you will avoid the French Threading and headset issue, as well as, the French 22 mm stem size. You can use the more standard BSC/JIS threading and dimensional size standards. Standard 22.2 mm quill stems are available in a myriad of sizes and styles for your specific choices of handlebar configurations.
Your only real issues will be a) French bottom bracket threading ( Velo Orange will have both a square shaft French threaded cotterless bottom bracket or a set designed to fit into the bottom bracket regardless of threading standard), and b), the frames Metric tubing diameters for a front derailleur or down tube cable stop. These can be adressed by altering the front derailleur's opening with a half round file. Any cable stop or derailleur band will usually"self modify" when installed.
The last issue, c) is the hub spacing. This fame is probably120 or 126mm spacing. A more modern hub, that utilizes a freehub design will require 130 mm spacing. Research "Cold Setting a fame " or ask your lbs if they can alter a frame's spacing.

Additionally, you will need to hav the correct seat post size for the frame- these vary according to tubing materials, etc. you should have the lbs measure the seat post size, if you don't have the appropriate measuring tools.
The rest of the issues are going to be more a matter of taste and budget than anything else. Hav fun and Happy Hunting!

polymorphself 

Wow, tons of info here already. Thanks all! Going to try and respond to everything.

Good to know! Glad I didn't order them already. I'll take a look at your recs.

Really great advice, thank you! How do I know if the pedals and crankset pedal drillings are french? The pedals I have are the ones that originally came on this Peugeot, FWIW. And if I purchase the Stronglight TS crankset and rings, aren't I good to go with the pedals?

What are thoughts on the french BB from VO vs the one that would come with the Stronglight TS set mentioned above?

Ah, I neglected to mention in the OP, but I do have the original mafac racer brakes and they seem in solid shape. Given the light and slow riding my friend will be doing I think I'll clean them up and use them.

Thanks, but I do have the original fork and seat post, so I'm good to go there!

polymorphself 

A small update, but today I did a quick wash, polish and wax on the frame just to see what I'm working with and for some inspiration. The paint really came back to life and I got a nice shine out of it. Forks up next while I start debating what to order first, bars, wheels or BB/crankset.

BFisher

Cleaned up very nicely!

I've no first-hand experience with either the VO bottom bracket, or the Stronglight. The VO is a sealed unit and I know they have a few options in spindle length to match various cranksets. If in good condition, I'm sure the Stronglight would suit your needs just as well.

bertinjim 

polymorphself-


If you buy a Stronglight TS or a 49D, look on the back of the crank arm You will find a number sequence 14 x 1.25 which is the Metric/French standard. English will be 9/16 x 20. Pedals are often stamped with letters on the axle flats. French are D (Droite) right and G (Gauche) left. English are stamped R and L. And just to make your life a misery, sometimes there is no id stamped on the pedal and you need to very carefully, by hand - no wrench, thread the pedal into the crank arm thread and stop immediately if it binds because it's the wrong thread. Back it out and try the other thread standard pedal. Since your planned pedals are the originals, they are likely to be French threaded so when you buy a crankset, try to be sure that the 14 x 1.25 is visible in the ad photos or confirm it directly with the seller. Same for the bottom bracket, your bike is old enough to have French threads so be sure to get a French threaded set of cups and the matching axle and bearings. The frame has cleaned up really well - looks great already.

John E

Back when I worked in a Peugeot-Nishiki dealership in the early 1970s, it seemed that almost every female customer wanted a white Peugeot UO-18. The taller 22" size was particularly hard to keep in stock. When I told my boss my wife wanted a Peugeot, he was very relieved when she said she would take a red 21" UO-8 instead. I was fortunate to find Sugino French-threaded BB cups. Be a bit cautious with aftermarket forks, such as mine, which has a shorter rake than OEM, which means toe-to-tire overlap, which I minimize with a 700C wheel up front and 165mm cranks.

Miele Man

Are there any markings on the pedals or the pedal spindle? That might indicate whether they are French or not. Judging by the date of the bike it's most likely French threaded pedals and bottom bracket. If in doubt or just to be sure before ordering other things for it online, I'd take the frame and pedal or crank arm to a bike shop and have them ascertain which threading they have.

Good luck with your project. Those old mixte bikes ride really well when built up.

Cheers

polymorphself 

This brings up something I hadn't thought about - frame size. A measurement from top of seat tube to middle of BB shell puts it at right around 21". Without being exact on the year it's hard to say which sizes this frame came in. My friend is 5'7" so I'm thinking this will be an ok size for her.

polymorphself 

Here are photos. They say made in france, one appears to have an "R" and the other I cannot tell, likely an L. After soaking in some rustoleum they should be good to go if I end up using them.

John E

It should be fine for your friend. (My wife is 5'6", and a 21" UO-8 fit her nicely.) Peugeots tend to run long fore-to-aft, so she can always raise the seat post and get a good overall fit.

polymorphself 

I guess my fear was it potentially being too large for her, but good to know, thank you!

polymorphself 

Ok so I've decided I'm going to tackle the handlebar situation first. Definitely going with porteur bars on this and so it looks like my conundrum is this:

The quill stem I have is perfectly fine, it's original which is a nice touch, and I could clean it up. Problem is it is french therefore 25mm at the clamp, and the VO bars are 25.4. So I can sand it down (I've never done something like this before, but people are saying it's easy to do...) OR I can purchase a different quill stem. What would be some recommendations, new, used or NOS for a 25.4mm quill stem that would look appropriate here?

My other option is search for Belleri Porteur bars, but they don't seem to be for sale anywhere that I have found yet. Were they the only company to make such bars? Can them and VO really be the only options?

Thanks!

Miele Man

Do you have a normal crankarm you could CAREFULLY try threading the pedals onto those crankarms. Those pedals just might be normal threading and not French threading. Most French threaded pedals have the letters for French left and right on them.

Again, good luck and cheers

niliraga 

I think the sanding that people refer to would be to bring a non-french 22.2 shaft of a quill stem down to 22.0 (and thus allowing you to use any 25.4 bars that take your fancy. I don't know that anyone sands down the bulged 25.4 center of alloy bars to get 25.0; suspect this is a bad idea and introduces a far greater risk of dangerous failure.

I only mentioned the Belleri bars because I happen to have a set (and a couple of French stems that might be fun upgrades) lying around that I'd be happy to sell onwards. I can send pics if that helps - they are in nice shape and could be a good fit for your project here. (and have 23.8mm ends)

polymorphself 

Got it! And hey thanks! Sending you a DM.

Miele Man

I looked on Ebay and found this handlebar:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/NOS-ancien-g...IAAOSw94JdWUi2

"NOS ancien guidon vélo chromé vintage largeur 460 mm
diamètre : 22.2 mm
partie ou l'on fixe la potence 23.5 mm"

Google Trasnslation:

NOS vintage bicycle handlebars vintage chrome 460 mm
diameter: 22.2 mm
part where we fix the stem 23.5 mm

Price is 15 Euros but the shipping is high at 36 Euros.

I also saw a vintage Peugeot Mixted saddle.

https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_odkw...eot&_sacat=888

How I found the handlebar was by just typing in Peugeot in the search bar on Ebay. I looked at over 8 pages of Peugeot stuff but got tired.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

polymorphself 

Hey thanks! Looking on eBay outside of NA isn't something I had done yet. Good find! Looks like I'll likely be purchasing the bars from niliraga but this is a good alternative for me, even a bit pricey. For saddle we'll be putting a Brooks flyer on this mixte. As aesthetics are pretty important here this is one of the areas we're willing to go a a lot higher on price. That and handlebars.

ryansu

If you go with the VO BB its a JIS standard spindle which will take cranks that don't require a french pedal and if your Original pedals are indeed French then you can always sell them here on the forum or ebay

Reynolds 531 

I have pics of how i solved this. I am on a ride now, but i will post later.

Reynolds 531 

One inch hole saw


Checking if this idea will work......


other side before finishing and cleanup, showing plenty of material.