A few years back I thought I might want to try a SS and picked up a wheelset with polished aluminum deep V rims, stainless spokes and no name hubs with a flip flop hub along with a freewheel geared to match the fixed gear and a single speed crankset. Other builds kept bumping it to the end of the line and over the years things have happened that make it impractical for me to build one to keep and since I ride a 62cm road frame it would be a tough sell if it didn't work out. Fast forward to last week when I acquired a really ratty 1978 Peugeot UO9 parts bike. It's a small frame, I haven't measured it but by eyeball I'd say maybe a 52 or 54cm? I kept staring at it thinking it was a shame to just pitch the frame but the paint and graphics are pretty beat up. Then I got the idea that I could clean it up, give it an oxalic acid bath to remove the rust and clear coat it as is to preserve its battle scars then build it up with the SS stuff I have and offer it up for sale. I like the look of old scarred up frames with nice new parts and I know there are others out there with the same questionable tastes. What do you think? Would I be wasting my time or should I just throw it all in a big pile and sell it with "some assembly required"? It's not going to be a money maker no matter what I do, I just like building bikes and I look it more as an "entertaiment expense" than a loss. What's the verdict? If I DO build it would it work with moustache bars? I have a like new set I never really fell in love with.......
It looks really bad but I've cleaned up worse and made them presentable:
Here's a before shot of a Schwinn Traveler I bought for the Campagnolo Nuovo Record and Mafac Racers the PO had hung on it. It doesn't look it in the before pic but it was almost as bad as the Peugeot. That brownish tint isn't a trick of the lighting, it was covered in brown funk almost like it had been hanging in a tavern for 20 years before they banned smoking in public places and was covered in nicotine. The red paint was D-E-A-D underneath the funk but Meguiar's Micro Polish brought it back.
A day of cleaning and digging through my leftovers pile and it came out looking a bit better, it sold in less than 48 hours and I actually made a couple bucks over what I had in the parts I put back on it after deducting the price I paid for the bike which was considerably less than a near mint 1974 dated Nuovo Record rear derailleur sells for:
