....French touring bikes, off the sort that is exemplified by that Peugeot, were the product of a long development in that country, and they came about on pretty crummy roads.
It is true that the ones for use on the worst of those roads usually had tires on the order of 650b's , but it appears that this commute will be done primarily on pavement.
I'm not disputing the idea that old 80's mountain bikes are very useful. Only trying to make the point that given the OP's stated preferences, there's no discernable reason he shouldn't be happy with a bike that comes from a long tradition of riding in all sorts of weather and road conditions, in order to travel around France, in a time when bicycles were a popular transportation mode there. And the sorts of changes suggested, while pretty simple to perform, are still beyond what he wants to do. That complicates the idea of finding something serviceable and cheap. Not everyone is excited about working on bicycles.
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