andy e

Hello all, first off thanks for providing such a great forum to peruse..

I picked up a peugeot versailles for the fiance a bit back. It is a 49cm frame and it has two different size wheels. Front 24, back 27. The person i got it from thought that was the original design, but the back wheel has also been replaced at some point. Does anyone know if this is indeed the correct setup, or should i be finding another 27 for the front? if pics would help.. just let me know! thanks

hxzero

Is the top tube sloping down towards the front? If so then it might be that it ran 27" front and back. If not, then the 24" front would probably be a concession to geometry concerns in order to have a decent length head tube in the small 49cm size.

andy e

hm.. well it does appear to have a level top tube with the current different size wheels. So if the two sizes are intentional as a concession to correct geometry.. is there any drawback to having this setup? (besides looking a bit like a clown bike...)

miamijim

Pics needed but as far as I know Peugeot never offered a bike with different sized wheels. The main drawback, if its been changed, will be bad handling.

purevl

If it is a 24" wheel in a fork intended for 27" wheels it should be very obvious.

andy e

ok here are some pictures. I realized after taking them that the messy room is probably not the best setting, but if you need reference, the desk behind the bike is level. Also when i put a magnetic level on the TT it appears to be level.





The fork is what is throwing me off.. it seems like that is a rather large gap between the wheel and top of the fork.

cudak888 

Looks original to the design - probably had a long-reach Shimano 105 caliper on it.

East Hill alert!

-Kurt

andy e

Thanks for the help! now.. any idea where one could find a 24 inch road tire?

purevl

Yeah, it's definitely meant to be that way. Georgena Terry carries tires, she did a great deal to popularize small-wheeled bikes for women. https://www.terrybicycles.com/detail....&c=Accessories

Universal also carries the pasela for a few bucks less:
https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...s.php?id=23727

miamijim

Whats the distance from the brake hole to the center the axle?

Perusing through the '89 brochure I've noticed that the 50cm models have a considerably lower BB drop than the any other model. It looks like Peugeot tweaked the 50's frame as well.

andy e

purevl- thanks for the links

miamijim- without removing the wheel, it seems to be right at 13 inches

wyldstyle1086

I recently found a bike of this model and it also had a 27" on the back so I'm pretty sure it is meant to have two different sizes. From the looks the one i saw was in similar condition. What do you suppose this bike is worth?

djordan

Definitive answer (as others have already alluded to) is:
The 47cm frame size of the 1988 Peugeot Versailles was designed to have the 24" front wheel.
Stumbled upon this in the 1988 catalog...