tiger1964 

I think I mentioned earlier that in 1974, my friends and I all turned 18 and bought “decent” bikes; with next year being the 50th anniversary of that, I am restoring three of those bikes for my friends and plan some kind of celebratory ride for the four of us. Now that the weather is far less riding-friendly and I am indoors, it time to start.

Second in the series and this one, is NOT from 1974, with explanation. Of my childhood friends that I cycled with, two had their bikes stolen at the local community college right at the end of 1974. In this case, he could not immediately afford to replace it, so I cobbled together something from parts I had laying around which he rode for a couple of years, and then bought this Peugeot. I do not know year or model; I found a serial number of R2031632 (I think!) on the bottom of the BB so if anyone can decode it, help would be appreciated. It has been upgrades both when new, and since. So, it’s not quite his “1974 bike” but will have to do.

Wheels: Upgraded when new, my friend noted my persistent like of Campy and particularly Record hubs, so he took delivery with high-flange hubs and Rigid rims, which all look to be in good shape.

Cranks: Stronglight of a type newer than I am familiar with. I got them off but my antique Stronglight remover did not fit and my Park one did, so Campy-esque threads? Needed a 3’ cheater to get the arms off. BB adjustable cup marked “35xP1” so I surmised French threads — unlike the crank arms the fixed cup came out super easy?

Derailleurs: I do not know what was original, changed out for Suntour. A-5000 on the back, and Superbe Pro on the front with “endless band” and I finally got the FD off but do not know how to remove the band, I could use help there. Levers are marked Spidel and look like Retrofricton to me, which I’ve never worked on before, is it worthwhile to dissasemble to rebuild of just soak and lube?

Brakes: Levers are Mafac and I figure original, in good shape but the plastic grip on the LH adjusted is broken, I wonder if replacements are available? Rear caliper is Spidel, also I guess original. Front caliper is Campy with script on the arm. I helped to have a matching rear, I think, the bike might end up with two Campagnolo rather than two Spidel but it’s up to the owner.

Stem is Atax and bars Phillipe, again of a style newer than I would have expected. SEatpost is Simplex, looks good is a bit corroded, no saddle and owner will need to select one. Pedals are no-name and vaguely copies of Campy Road Blacks, which I’ll rebuild unless he decides to go lipless.

Frame looks good but there’s a lot of “patina”, I need to clean, soak in Evaporust and sand down some odd-color touch-up (rather a lot really) and if anyone knows a good match for the Peugeot pearl white, I’d be thankful.

Pcampeau

It’s a PXN-10 Super Competition from about 1980. It’s near the top of the catalog below only the PY10. Awesome Bike! The original derailleurs were likely labeled Spidel to match those shift levers.

juvela

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crank arm removal threads -

Verot did a major reworking of their range in 1977

93 was discontinued

104 & 105 were launched

models 104, 105 & 106 (and their "bis" variants) all employ the industry "standard" 22.0mm removal thread


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tiger1964 

Can you tell from the photo which model this bike has? Anyway, I understand the old Stronglight tool is hard to come by, and I was looking forward to using it. I'd pass it on to someone else, but I do have 49's and 93's elsewhere.

Heard from the owner yesterday and he gave feedback on a color for bar tape and cable housing. He'd like --- green! I had not thought of that, I rather like the idea, even if not OEM. And it's his bike, so green it is.

RB1-luvr

this is neat. I like the whole idea of the celebratory ride.

juvela

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removal threads on chainset worn by cycle are standard 22.0mm


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santa fe 2926 

My 1981-82 PSV-10, has the Stronglight 104, standard campag removal threading. Uses a 14mm bolt, and has Swiss threading on the drive side.

John E

1980 PKN-10: Swiss BB threading, Stroglight cranks work w/ special Stronglight puller

Chombi1 

That's a Stronglight 106 crankset. Second from top of the line 107 cranks which I think, came a little later during the aero bike movement in the early 80's.I
Stronglight was making some of their best look8ng cranksets back then whichever also priced very reasonably, compare to the Campagnolos.
The 106 was/and still is my favorite Stronloght crankset because it's nice finish and classic fluted design. I think it was lighter than all their other crankest.

tiger1964 

Still have not selected a route; back in 1974, there were almost zero miles of trail around here and we rode on public highways that now have 50 more years of traffic congestion.

My 1974 Sutherland's says Swiss is just like French except the fixed cup may or may not be left-hand thread, so I do not know if this bike is Swiss or French. It was certainly left hand thread. Seems like France was "in transition" in this era, mine took a regular Campy-thread crank arm tool.

Thanks. I might weigh it while off the bike. If lighter than a 49D (I read somewhere long ago those are a full half-pound lighter than Camapgnolo) that would be impressive. Or do you mean lighter than other current offerings at the time?

Hubs broken down, grease was in good shape as was the case in the BB and the headset. I suspect this bike was serviced more recently, relatively speaking, than the other two projects.

tiger1964 

Progress is slow, as this is the scrub-n-polish part of the job(s). Yesterday I cleaned up and polished the wheels, and today repacked the bearings. Under the accrued “stuff” the wheels look pretty good — but, I tell you, polishing 72 spokes (I used an extra-fine Scotch-Brite polishing pad and Blue Magic metal polish) is no fun at all. The rims are fine except (a) the Rigida rim decals need replacing when I place a decal order to Australia, and (b) I do not see a way of getting the spoke eyelets in the rims looking great. And, until I have the frame ready to put them on, it’s about impossible to get the bearings adjusted so they are loose… I need to put a reminder message on them about that so, on the first ride, the bearings don’t fall out in the first few miles!

The Peugeot frame (plus the two others) still needs a dip in oxalic acid. To make a dunking tank, I need plywood and boards for the sides (by my measurements, a 1x6's nominal 5-1/2" width should just barely be enough to get the rear dropouts immersed) but, to get the materials home from the Home Center in a trailer, I just got the new hitch on the spouse-mobile but it's the wrong receiver size for our hitch ball (actually, I'll replace the latter) so a few more days before I can get to that.

merziac

No kiddie pool for the soaking?

oneclick 

Are you making a horizontal or vertical tank?
If vertical you will need to brace the bottoms of the sides, depending on how think your walls are.
A horizontal tank takes less wood and is easier to arrange, but takes more space.
For either, you'll need a good liner and lots of OA solution.
I used a sheet of 6 mil vapour barrier, carefully folded so it would fit flush against the side walls (think of wrapping a present, from the inside).
To reduce the amount of solution you can use triangular blocks of foam, with bricks wedged into rectangular cutouts to make them neutral or negative; drop these into the appropriate spaces.

tiger1964 

I tried a doggie pool for a previous bike project, a round one and I still could not get the entire frame in. And it leaked!

Horizontal, and I'll size it to fit the biggest frame (25"). Of course, plenty of "dead space" to fill, fortunately I have a lot of bricks available, do I need to wrap those? I do have a large roll of heavy plastic; alas, I've had it long enough that I do not recall what kind of plastic it is. My plan is fold as you say, and staple it around the top edges.

merziac

Maybe on the bricks, I would just put them in ziplocs, then use them for parts storage/organization after.

tiger1964 

Is there a best idea for removing battered Reynolds decals on the frame and (chromed) forks? The rest of the decals look OK. These are the versions with French text.

That's the biggest area of the red-oxide paint daubed on over chips and scrapes; this stuff must have been the consistency of toothpaste when applied. Today I've been buffing it away with 400-grit, and most of it is gone (I'd surely like to get to some part of the projects that does not hurt my hands so)

Brilliant! We've had the discount grocery chains Aldi and Lidl move into the area and their bags are really cheap; I use them for everything. Hopefully oxalic acid does not melt the plastic.

merziac

I would think its ok, I've stored evapo in some pretty flimsy containers without any problem yet, ymmv.

I save most all ziplocks, rinse, etc, they are a scourge to be sure but I store just about everything in them.

tiger1964 

I finally bolted a few things together! With two frames treated with Frame Saver on the inside to prevent corrosion, I had to really scrub to get any residue off the outside. I installed the headset, stuck the wheels on, and installed the bars and stem, the brake levers, and wrapped the bars (with the gel cushions under the tape). That latter product, where is begins and ends, causes the resultant “wrinkles” you see near the brake levers in the attached photo (I think I must wrap the tape in plastic to keep it clean while I complete the rest of the bike). More later!

merziac

My 2c, Collagen, powder and tablets, also take Instaflex, and acetaminophen, all daily, pretty spendy but seems to help a lot most of the time.

The other big thing is my bizarre, jacked up stem/bars setups with plenty of cushion bar tape.

Also, gloves seem to help a lot when scrubbing and futzing, they give you better grip and cushion from odd shaped and pointy, sometimes sharp bits when you're trying to make them right again. They can be a challenge if they are too thick when you need a good feel of the task.

YMMV

Hummer

I would suggest that the first character in the serial number is the letter "B".

In the serial number, the first digit "2" is for 1982, the year of frame manufacture.
The next digits "03" are for the month March, of 1982.

As stated earlier a PXN10, for the USA market in 1982.

tiger1964 

I've been meaning to ask the owner if the bike could possibly be that new -- anyway, serial numbers don't lie.

Regardless, I have started reassembly, as you might see by the attached photo. In two other C&V topics, I (a) "Simplex-i-fied" the SunTour derailleurs for aesthetic reasons, and (b) got input on correct length to trim a longer rear axle to go 6-speed, and that went well enough. Interestingly, apparently this bike had briefly been the personal bike of a local shop owner before selling it to my friend, and some of the modifications I saw when starting out may have been his. So, Campy Record hubs and 5-speed, but the frame was new enough that the dropout spacing was already 126mm and the rear hub "pinched in"; well, at least that meant I did not need to cold set. Kinda odd is the Stronglight crankset, but a Sugiino bottom bracket? Eh, it works. And I wonder what crank dust caps fit this crank?

Still needs the green cable set, and the Kool-Stop pads, and a session of adjusting the gears/brakes and going over the bike a couple of times checking and re-checking bolt tightness.

By the way, is it possible to measure headset "stack height" without disassembly? I have my micrometer, and was thinking about trying to measure the headset parts below and above the head tube. The factory headset has a little brinnelling, not enough to really spoil enjoying the bike, but I had dismissed replacing it due to the "French Stack Height Problem". But, I am looking at the spacers/washers below the top nut, and this bike might have more wiggle room than my Gitane, for instance. Maybe a Velo Orange headset might fit after all (except they are out of stock at the moment!) Or some other French headset?

tiger1964 

OK, time to wind this one down, I think. Everything is on the bike, and yesterday had its first shakedown ride. Overall, I really like this bike (OK, too small for me so had the seat post at max and still too low). The steering is quite light, and it seems quick and rolls truly low-effort, so I must have set the hub cones right. The Sunplex derailleurs work very well, no overshifting. Having the cloth bar tape wrapped in newspaper bags, flapping in the breeze, made a lot of noise but the bike does seem quiet in the drivetrain, etc.

So, I need to go over it another time to check all bolts, and a second shakedown. On yesterday’s ride I found (A) I had ghost shifting within two blocks of home — in another topic I was cautioned about the Retrofriction shifters on that subject. A quick adjustment and all was well — but will they stay correct? (B) Almost invariably, and this time no exception, the headset worked loose on the first ride. I did use a press to install the races, yet they always seem to settle a bit. This is one of those headsets with the toothed interface betwixt the adjustable race and the first washer so, between that and the top nut still tight, it wasn’t due to “backing off”. (C) Again, no surprise, the brakes squeal like mad, new Kool-Stops, but I had not toed in yet (I hate doing in brakes!). That’s really about it.

Hmm, in the photo, I think it’s due to perspective as I was kneeling so low, in the picture the brake cable loops look huge; a common failing of mine and I could chop them, but standing next to the bike, it does not look so extreme. And this is the first use of some imprinted water bottles I got from Serbia via eBay, the bottle is decent but not great, but I think the imprint looks very good indeed (for the three projects, they had Peugeot and Legnano, for the Falcon I have no idea what water bottle to get!), I think I would recommend them, but mostly for occasional use or display; the ones I got for other bikes direct from a source in Belgium are better quality.

juvela

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hello 'beam,



looking outstanding of course!

jeu de direction appears Verot's V4

have found V-race headsets to be less forgiving in their fitment & adjustment than cup & cone design models

the four points of contact per ball are a help in spreading out the load to lengthen service life

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hope you make some photos of the golden anniversary celebration whenever it shall be held


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