Smokinapankake

So I bought this Canyon Express at a thrift store several years ago for a way cheap price.
I've posted about it here and there but never put up any pictures.
Well, today is the day - feast your eyes on what is one of the nicest vintage MTBs ever (not the prettiest, but the features and ride are almost unsurpassed - especially for what I paid for it!)!



It has a pump peg at the seat cluster and also at the bottom bracket - I've never seen this feature on any other bike anywhere:



Ishiwata MTB double butted frame tubing:


Rear dropout drive side:


BB and serial number:


Seat cluster non drive side:


A really nice riding machine which has been upgraded from what it had when I got it, to include V-brakes, Deore XT 7 speed thumbies (yay!), a really nice Takagi AR-T crankset, and those sweet smoothie tires.

Near as I can tell it is an 85 year model; made in Japan but I don't know who made it. Any insight would be super helpful.


Thanks so much for your consideration!

ZippyThePinhead

Really nice. I have an Orient Express, which I am very fond of, but it lacks the refinements of this model. You are fortunate. How much was it?

Do you ride it much? I put about 1200 miles on my Orient Express last year.

old's'cool

Among other things, that would make a real sweet C&V commuter bike!
I'm jealous of the chainstay length for pannier clearance.

Chris_in_Miami

That's a beautifully made frame, great details!

Karloman

You're lucky, despite all my searches I can't manage to find a Canyon Express here in France.
I wonder if they were only produced for the US market, to take advantage of Peugeot fame in road biking.

Very nice bike.

Smokinapankake

It was kitted when I got it with a steel drop bar and some old Schwinn stem shifters - someone had tried to make it into a budget tourer methinks.
I only paid 40 dollars for it, and actually listed it on ebay as a frame and fork, but thankfully no one bought it.
I've been on the prowl for another like it for several years but have had no luck.
I don't think the fork is original, but I can't seem to find any definitive yes or no...
Thanks for the compliments!

I've considered adding down tube shifter bosses and turning it into a 26" wheeled multi purpose do all answer to Rivendells Bombadil. Of course the frame would get powdercoated. The only other thing it needs is mid fork braze-ons to be a full blown touring rig.

And they are the longest chainstays I've ever seen on a bicycle at 18".

Grand Bois

It's not a mountain bike. Look at the straight chainstays. Big knobbies won't fit. Hybrid describes it better. The Orient Express is a mountain bike.

digitalbicycle

Google "Peugeot Canyon Express" and you'll get some catalog scans in which Peugeot definitely advertises it as a mountain bike instead of part of their commuter/city line.

Grand Bois

You are correct. I was thinking of the other one. Those stays aren't straight, either. It's a real mountain bike.

I like the vertical dropouts better than the horizontal Suntours on my Orient Express. You can get some slippage with the very low gearing.

tequilabrad

i JUST found one today, a blue and white one. I had not seen a Peugeot MTB before, so I had to get it. Any interest in some photos?

PDXaero

Always, I'm kicking myself for passing on a later yellow canyon express simply becasuse it had roller cam brakes.

cb400bill

As always. Pics required.

A couple years back I passed on a his-n-hers pair of Montreal Express bikes.

custermustache

Rollercams are the bomb. My first "real" bike was a Peugeot road bike.

Cool MTBs

Smokinapankake

The biggest problem with rollercams is that the majority of them were mounted on the bottom of the chainstays, making them inconvenient to service, unless you have a sweet repair stand that allows you to turn your bike upside down.

On the seatstay, however, they rule!

nomadvan

I bought it in 1987 at college from a buddy for about $300. It was a lot of money at the time but it has been a great bike. I replaced my Panasonic Mountain Cat with it...at the time the Canyon Express was a coveted machine. It's always been covered and last year the original tires were replaced with slicks. It's stock with Shimano Exage components including the mighty Biopace chainrings. I had to replace the u-brake when i lived in Canada. The frame is Tange double butted Chro-mo Mountain bike tubing and it rides like a dream. Thumb shifters and six speeds. I don't have a sticker indicating origin as you do...but the serial number is located on the bottom bracket. Mine doesn't have the pump pegs....which is really a great feature. Hang onto it....it will last you forever!

nomadvan

I bought it in 1987 at college from a buddy for about $300. It was a lot of money at the time but it has been a great bike. I replaced my Panasonic Mountain Cat with it...at the time the Canyon Express was a coveted machine. It's always been covered and last year the original tires were replaced with slicks. It's stock with Shimano Exage components including the mighty Biopace chainrings. I had to replace the u-brake when i lived in Canada. The frame is Tange double butted Chro-mo Mountain bike tubing and it rides like a dream. Thumb shifters and six speeds. I don't have a sticker indicating origin as you do...but the serial number is located on the bottom bracket. Mine doesn't have the pump pegs....which is really a great feature. Hang onto it....it will last you forever!

shipwreck

I really want another one. Not sure if I have an orient or canyon, (always thought it was a canyon express)but it was my first real bike since childhood from a bike shop, though it was used. My roomys mocked it, and waved thier cannodales and such at it. And now, many years later, it is still on the road, thanks to the magic of steel. At any rate, all their bikes are long gone...

Bent the chainstay brake mounts, bent the fork out jumping it, and somehow the BB cable guide got broken. and it sat for a long time. One day I was looking at it, and just started having fun. I ground off the BENT brake posts, and the remains of the guide. Found a fork from a motobecane and some sidepull brakes, cheap track set and did this to her.

I was flipping the wheel back to the fixed cog when I took this, it actualy made it home with all that slop in the chain
The rear rack is now level, but it still looks like this. Rides better than it ever did as a mountain bike. The rack in the pick is for a 26 inch bike, the frame takes a rack for a 700c better. Not a fixed gear kid by any means, but it is a fun bike, and I have to admit that I want another to put a Nitto stem on, and make into a five speed upright town bike with drops. I may do that to this one this summer, and sell the wheels to some kid with strong knees and no brain.

gizroc

Hello Smokinapankake,
I have the same model Canyon Express from 1985. Everything is original and it's in Excellent condition still. I only rode it for one summer then stored it away. Looks almost brand new when I knocked the spider webs & dust off it. Tires are the originals also. It has the egg-shaped "Bio-Pace" gears which were supposed to be the next big thing back then. Oh well. I plan on riding it this summer, incorporating riding with my running. Thanks for the great pictures.
Paul

Glennfordx4

Great bike, would love to find one in my size someday. I have a 1985 Orient Express I set up with street tires that I put a lot of miles on. It is how I found this site when trying to find out what model it was, it is apart and waiting for a repaint but I can't seem to locate any decals for it and the originals were trashed or missing to get photos of to have them reproduced.

Glenn

randyjawa 

Just a short while ago I picked up a near mint Peugeot Canyon Express. This one has very cool Suntour friction shifters, a double crown fork (not sure how to describe it). Anyway, I have been so busy this Spring that I have not had a chance to take pictures of all of the neat old bicycles that I have found recently.

That said, this Canyon Express looks to be very interesting and I am going to try and get some shots later today, if I can.

As soon as I get some pictures, I will put the bicycle up for sale in the proper forum. I already have too many vintage mountain bicycles but, I must admit, nothing quite as nice as the Canyon Express.

cycleheimer

I recently got hooked on these old Peugeot MTBs. I first got a chrome U.S. Express. Did some research on Peugeot MTBs, and was impressed with the Canyon Express. A week later I got a Japanese made Orient Express. I've been thoroughly through both bikes, and they now ride like new. Yesterday I replaced the gumwalls on the O.E. with blackwalls. The O.E. has a really nice lugged frame and bull moose bars that remind me of the first production MTBs of 30 years ago.

randyjawa 

Even though I am busier that two flies on a pig's butt, I had to take some pictures of the Canyon Express, that came my way today. The vintage mountain bicycles are beginning to surface in Thunder Bay, and this one seems to be a cut above...

biketourings

Recently completed building a Canyon Express frame and fork, what a fun ride with some Suntour Alpha 3000 thumbshifters and derailleurs

Mountain Bikes for Touring and Commuting, by Rideon - Bike Tourings

Smokinapankake

Love seeing and hearing about others' Canyons! I now have two of the 85's, and wouldn't part with either of them. Besides my Curtlo Epic Mountaineer, they are my absolute favorite bikes!

cooperryder

I really like the look of your chrome US Express.

About a month ago I picked up a black Orient Express
in what I measure as a 23" frame but mine has the lower chainstay mounted rear brakes.

I hope to finish the rebuild today and go for a ride.
It accepts some fat 26 x 2.3 Michelin Pilot Sports tires with room to spare.
I am going to try it for now as a 1 x 7 gear set up.

After stripping down to bare frame and then rebuilding it the Shimano AT50 front canti's
were given me fits until I realized I had the left and right springs on the wrong side.
I did not know they were right or left side specific.
Anyone else ever waste time trying to adjust these canti's b4 they realized this?

According to the catalogs mine is a 1986 model.


Here is the catalog link if anyone needs it:

Catalogs