BrightRing

I've been getting into cycling recently by borrowing my roommate's bike, but I want a bike for myself that I can be proud of. I love refurbishing antique furniture and other objects, so I figured I'd get a vintage frame and work from there to piece together some kind of Frankenstein's monster.

I settled on buying a vintage Peugeot bike frame and fork from eBay, assuming craigslist and bike shops near me would have used parts I could get and assemble... oh how wrong I was. With the pandemic parts are low all around, and shops near me only have expensive new parts for sale. Luckily my partner has a good relationship with his bike shop and they gave him a few tips for my project: there are apparently at least two special parts I need for this french bike, a bottom bracket and a seatpost, that are hard to find and not really replaceable by modern pieces? I am a rookie with serious biking, and know very little terminology. The bike shop recommended this forum as a place to get some answers, so I'm hoping someone here might help!

The frame I have stated on eBay that it was a Peugeot Grand Sport Mixte, "Commuter Road Lugged, Tube Special 103. Fits 27" wheels. The seat tube measures approximately 53.5cm from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube." Other than that, I don't know much about it!

How hard will it be to find the elusive bottom bracket and seat tube? Does anyone here have any I could buy? Are there measurements I should take to know what stats to search for? Do I need specifically Peugeot parts or is there a term for the types I'm after? I'm located in Brooklyn New York, and have only minimal access to physical locations, so online resources would be the best help. Thank you!

-Gwen
(P.S. I was planning on repainting it, but would like to keep the decals and re-do the pinstriping. Any tips for removing and saving the stickers, or any idea where to buy replacements for after I get the new paint on?)

noobinsf 

The short version is that this is a very helpful forum, and it’s a very welcoming group when someone shows interest in these old bikes. This is unlikely to be a quick build if you want to keep it cheap, but it will be very rewarding. One thing to do is to google “Peugeot carbolite 103 bikeforums” and just start reading. Finding parts probably won’t be that difficult, but there are a lot of little details that can hang you up if you are hasty. Best to start thinking of systems one at a time — braking, drivetrain, wheels, etc.

Welcome! Once you have 10 posts, you can post pictures. Post lots of pics, and ask lots of questions...

branko_76 

BrightRing ,is this your frame?

WolfgangVerne 

This is the most recent eBay sale when I type that model in their search bar. I'd hazard a guess that this is the bike frame that Brightring purchased. Looks to be the same frame to me as the one in the catalog page you've posted.

BrightRing

That does look just like it, and that is the listing I bought! Down to the decals and everything.

Thanks a lot! even the info on that image will likely be super helpful.

WolfgangVerne 

You've definitely come to the right place!

So, in addition to the french-threaded bottom bracket, you'll likely also need a few headset parts as well. Appears to be missing one of the upper bearing races, a spacer, and a locknut. Unless it was included in the sale and just isn't pictured in the ad. Here's a photo showing the parts I'm talking about. These can a little harder to find as I believe you'll need french threads on these as well, but certainly not impossible. I don't believe I have any on hand, but hopefully another member can help you out.

polymorphself 

You're going to get all kinds of useful responses over the next few days, and until the bike starts to come together you'll basically be piecing together pennies from various posters, so here is my initial two cents:

Believe it or not, when it's your first time it is much easier to purchase a full bike and restore it that way. It's seems like starting with the frame would be simple as you've got much less on your hands, but this isn't the case. Purchasing components separately adds up fast. In fact, some components may cost you what picking up an entire used Peugeot on Craigslist would run you! Peugeots are wonderful frames, even the lower end ones are quality and a super nice ride, and of course they look cool, so you did great there. Most of the ones you'll find on craigslist are on the lower end of the spectrum and can often be had for a low cost. I would hazard a guess that yours isn't totally entry level, but not quite midlevel. I bring this up for a few reasons.

1. You might find it VERY much worth your while to simply find a Peugeot near you on Craigslist or Offerup for $50-$150 and transfer many of the components over to your frame, cleaning them up as you go. You are going to run into some components that could be frustrating to find or be in the price range you're happy with. In the end, if you aren't extremely patient and thrifty, you're going to end up spending what a totally refurbished higher end Peugeot would cost you. That being said, you'll of course learned a lot, and that's invaluable. But having a full bike to begin with also allows you to take photos of every little piece you remove, so that you know exactly how it goes back onto the bike as you are reassembling. This really helps.
2. It is most likely not worth a repaint. Your Peugeot is one of my favorite color/decal combos for those bikes, so I get it, but at the same time us around here usually figure a bike has to either have some sentimental value or be a pretty unique and/or valuable bike to be worth the cost and effort of a repaint. Also, patina often looks great as long as it's not too bad.

EDIT: Just looked at the photos in the eBay listing. You'd be hard pressed to find many here who would say that warrants a repaint! Once you removed the rust and go over with with some good polish and wax it'll look great.

The good news is that you don't have to deal with the steel wheels that it would've came with and can find yourself some nice alloy replacements. Same goes for any steel parts that would'e come on many Peugeots. You've got a fresh canvas and that's great, but it's not going to be easy or cheap. But people here will really help you make the most of it!

The first thing you're going to want to do is get 10 posts on the forums so that you can post pictures here. Assuming you want to build this back up as a geared bike with drop bars? I recently rebuilt the below mixte for a friend but she wanted it built single speed with porteur bars:



For bottom bracket, I might recommend purchasing a sealed cartridge bottom bracket from Velo Orange, rather than finding a vintage one just for the sake of it. This will be much easier to install, need little to no servicing, and will work the same.

I would start cleaning up the frame while you await various answers about components here. Seeing how good the frame can look will be encouraging. I've never had to remove that much rust from a frame, but you can probably get advice here on how to soak it and what to soak it in to do so. For forks and components I always just fill up a bucket with evaporust and let them soak for a few hours. Once you've got all the rust off you're going to want to clean the frame with soapy water, let it dry, then go over it with MeGuires Scratch X 2.0. This is a polish that will both shine up the paint and remove very light scratches. After this treat it to a wax, any auto wax will do.

Welcome to the C&V forums!

BrightRing

It definitely seems easier to buy the full bike. I had a lot of bad luck when I was trying to buy one to start with, and every time I'd pounce to try and claim a craigslist Peugeot the seller wouldn't answer or it would already be sold! I'm guessing here in Brooklyn bikes are in such high demand during the pandemic that none last long at all. I got too frustrated trying to find what I wanted there since everything on craigslist would need changes to fit my ideal and eBay shipping for a full bike was exorbitant. I thought starting with a raw frame would be easier, but I see now it was a bit of a mistake.

If I find any full Peugeot bike can I pretty much interchange all the parts? The mixte styles seem to be most expensive/desired secondhand, and it doesn't make much sense to me to try again to buy one of those just to move the parts to my mixte frame that would be almost the exact same... Can I buy a more straightforward (cheaper) mens' style bike and just salvage the headset, crankset, bottom bracket, seatpost, stuff like that? Or do I need to be sure it's from the same era/model?

The bike you built looks pretty much like what I want for myself! I definitely want a few gears though for the darn hills around here I'm looking to turn it into more of that kind of cruiser style, I don't like having to bend too far over the bars and only really plan to use it for commuting and casual riding (I'm really just a slave to ~aesthetic~). I googled porteur bars and that's more the style I like, I actually have the bars off a rusted old Royce Union that was abandoned in my area that I was going to try and reuse. Found out the hard way that none of the other parts seem to match! The repaint would mostly just be for fun, I'm an artist and the plain silver, while authentic and neutral, I feel could be livened up for more casual use.

polymorphself 

I'll try and respond to more of those questions tomorrow, but here is I believe your exact bike in non mixte form on Brooklyn CL right now: https://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/b...152021277.html

I understand the NYC market is different than many, but if you can get that for a bit less than asking price you'd be good to go! Everything will swap over.

The porteur bars on the above mixte I built are old french ones by Belleri, which aren't made anymore and can be hard to find. I found them from a member here. However, Velo Orange makes a similar reproduction that many people use: https://velo-orange.com/products/vo-porteur-bar-config The main. difference is it's not anodized like the old french ones, and the drop angle isn't as harsh, although the angle of the drop is why I prefer the originals.

Some regular posters here are in the NYC area and can probably also help you out with components or point you to places to dig through some bins and find what you need.

The_Joe

Not to pile on with more of the same here, but my first build ever was also an old Peugeot. When I started it I had no idea how to assemble bikes and definitely didn't know there was such a thing as "French threads".

As said above, Velo Orange makes a compatible bottom bracket. I know NY is starting to reopen but not sure what stage BK is in yet; when I built mine up I was able to go to a co-op and find an unrestored Peugeot very cheap. They may have even given it to me since the frame was in such bad shape. From there I was able to swap over all of the missing parts.

Wishing you an equal amount of luck! Enjoy the process but don't expect any of those old parts to be easily removed.

If it hasn't been mentioned yet, Sheldon Brown's website is extremely helpful for building and restoring.

Millstone

Seriously, 360 for a (albeit) decent looking Peugeot? Wow...

I guess we have it good here in the EU. Bike-price-wise at least

polymorphself 

Its the NYC premium for sure. That same Peugeot would list for $200 and sell for $125 in most other cities I’m sure.

Also, yeah, they’re common here but not likely as common as they are over in Europe, and the name and decals elicit a bit of prestige.

BrightRing

newyork.
craigslist.
org/brk/bik/d/brooklyn-peugeot-bike-10-speed/7148044807.
html

Is this bike compatible with the parts I have? (Newbie still so there are some spaces because I can't post links—hopefully this is allowed?)

branko_76 

BrightRing , the bike in the listing is clean but has not been overhauled, which doesn't matter to you because when you disassemble it, you will clean the old dried up grease from the bearing points and apply new grease. The bike is worth about $200.00 tops.

If you were to source those parts individually, it would take alot of time to do so and probably cost you $250-$300 but you would still need to buy some of the consumables like:

handlebar tape........$15.00
brake cables..............10.00
derailleur cables........10.00
grease........................8.00
brake pads...............20.00

Tools:

crank remover
bottom bracket wrenches
headset wrenches
chain tool
cone wrenches (to rebuild hubs)
adjustable wrench
allen wrenches
tire pump

https://www.parktool.com/category/tools

Once the parts are removed from the frame, you could sell it for $80.00...............it will be a fun and rewarding project.........

branko_76 

BrightRing , below is a very good crank and bottom bracket. To be sure it fits, start another thread titled "French Bottom Bracket Question" and the experts should chime in.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nervar-Cran...IAAOSwFdRe-pbq

polymorphself 

Right, $200 is about the most I was thinking for the pug in that listing. It may sell for more given location
but hopefully you could grab it first. As noted above, yeah it’ll all work on your mixte perfectly but will still of course all need cleaning and greasing up as you move the components over. It will be cheaper than buying all the components separately, even if only by $50 dollars but also saves you potential weeks and months of searching for components.

That being said the above linked cranks are a good deal and appropriate for this Peugeot. It’s a brand many pugs came with and are a step up from what came on your model I believe.

BrightRing

I got that bike off craigslist! Snagged it for $175, the guy was pretty nice. It seems a bit older than the first frame, and it looks like everything is original. The brakes say MAFAC "RACER", and the gear shifters are attached to the lower tube on the frame! Definitely needs a general tuneup, a darn good cleaning, new tires, some bolts for the wheels, a new seat cover, and maybe some new cables, but I'm extremely happy with it!

polymorphself 

Are you going to swap it all over to the mixte frame?

BrightRing

I'm not sure yet, at the very least I'll be disassembling it to clean it, so I should hopefully come to a better understanding of all the parts that way. But the frames seem so similar I'm not sure if I really need to change everything over... maybe I'll do a fun paint job on this one and save the silver frame for a full build when I can get those kinds of resources.

Would it be hard to change the shifter on this one to be on the handlebars? Since I probably need new cables anyway I can just do it with that I'd assume... the tube-situated shifters seem a bit tricky to use while riding.

polymorphself 

It would be very easy to swap it all over, and it would pretty much all work and be appropriate. The question is whether you prefer the traditional triangle frame, as you seemed to be set on the mixte design. It’s a pretty different aesthetic.

There’s also the question of whether the new frame fits you. The post is down now and I don’t recall the size of the one on CL.

You’d want to use the shifters from the mixte if you want to keep the stem shifters, as I believe the hardware is a little different. But after awhile of looking at vintage bikes you may come to find that down tube shifters are preferred by most both aesthetically and as a sign of a higher end bike (usually).

BrightRing

Oh I ended up with the white mixte bike from another listing, the frame seems nearly identical but perhaps a few years older. I'll show some pictures when I get to 10 posts! All the old pieces look to be in pretty good condition. Looks like the same type as the one you built up, minus some fenders! Same decals as the picture you have.

polymorphself 

Oh! Cool! Those decals date it to be from 1971-1974 I believe, hard to nail down the exact year with Peugeots. I would recommend at the very least finding a cheap set of alloy wheels and getting rid of the steel ones on there. It’s what most do with these and it makes a huge difference.

BrightRing

What's the difference, in weight, or rusting, or something else? I quite like the sort of textured pattern on the edge of the wheels, at least.

polymorphself 

Quite a big difference in weight, and there is already a lot of other steel components on that older model, and the frame itself isn’t the lightest, so every bit helps. The ride will also be nicer with alloy but depending on how much you ride you may not notice.

brianinc-ville

No, not too hard, and I'd definitely recommend that you put the shifters in a more convenient place for city riding. I lost track of which kind of handlebars you think you'll finally end up with, but if you're going for porteur bars or similar, you can use either bar-end shifters or thumb shifters. Even stem-mounted shifters would be an improvement.