Bike Forums - 72 or 73 Peugeot PX-10...?

Bike Forums (https://www.bikeforums.net/forum.php)

- Classic & Vintage (https://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php?f=181)

- - 72 or 73 Peugeot PX-10...? (https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=1243750)

Nice fender lines, and crazy chainring gearing!

Quote:

Originally Posted by dddd (Post 22792585)

Nice fender lines, and crazy chainring gearing!

Half-step + granny for the formerly-cow-path steep Catskill hills.... (and the aging knees...)

Maybe this deserves a new thread, but as it's a 'continuation' of my '72 PX-10 adventure I'm adding it here. The above '72 was always a little bit small for me and I'd been keeping my eye out for a larger '72 or earlier frame in the same blue. I ended up scoring a 62cm 'complete' (at some point in the past the mechs had been replaced with Campy Nuovo Record, the wheels were Campy hubs and..... now I can't remember what the rims were.....) bike last summer. The Campy bits are going on my Holdsworth and I moved everything from the 58cm over to the 62cm. Well, and also switched to a 175mm Stronglight 93 crankset and giving a short-cage SLJ RD a try. The bigger frame means I could return to the original Simplex seat-post and AVA stem. Shifting feels 'quicker' with the short-cage. It may be my imagination, or confirmation bias, or whatever, but I feel like the longer crank arms make climbing a little 'easier'. Now to decide what to do with the 58cm frame..... sell it, build it up and sell it, build it up and hold onto it.... we'll see.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...23a769afda.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d2b56795db.jpg

Love the blue. That’s a handsome build!

That one is a beauty! Those cranks and even that black plastic Derlin really suit this bike in white!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ehcoplex (Post 22341016)

The several threads about vintage French bikes have really re-awakened a dream I had long ago of having one. I did an informal exchange in France in the early 80s and hoped to bring a bike home with me, but $$ didn't end up allowing. Then some years later I took a Cannondale ST600 to Europe to tour with the idea that I'd trade it in/sell it and bring something French home. Alas, the Cannondale was stolen in Toulouse...
Anyway, what looks like a 72 or 73 PX-10 is for sale not terribly far from me, seems in relatively decent shape, maybe just a tiny bit small for me... I'm very tempted.
A couple things I'm wondering about.... it appears to have the plastic Simplex RD. What kind of options are there for replacing that (should it fail) without modifying the frame? Are smaller chainrings available for vintage Stronglight cranks? It is VERY hilly where I live (and I'm getting old...), and I'd need some lower gearing to be able to use the bike. Also wondering what the fattest tires folks have been able to put on a vintage PX-10? I appreciate my comforts....
thx

Don't be too worried about the plastic RD. If it's on a PX-10 it's probably a little more upmarket than what you might find on like a similar vintage Raleigh Record which means they snuck a little more actual metal into those ones.. Even those work fine, the worst i had was one developed a crack around the low-stop adjustment screw, and you just had to be really careful not to make it worse. I've had a few of the front ones fail recently, the plastic of the part that clamps around the frame seems to shrink a little and means they can crack and completely fall off. Of course, the all plastic shift levers are not very good, but they only tend to break if you're riding a bike where there's a lot of resistance in the cables or derailleurs because they're old and sticky. If they are in perfect running order, the shift levers can be very lightly persuaded not to fail. There are better Simplex shifters out there, the alloy ones (can't tell you what the model is off the top of my head)