Peugeot Pista/Track Find?
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Pre-1970 judging by the graphics and what appears to be a riveted metal headbadge. Those look like Prugnat lugs, too. These are NOT common. Nice catch!
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Not common and a very nice and rare find.
Best, Ben
Best, Ben
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Great bike! I have the same model, Prugnat lugs and all.
It had been slightly damaged earlier in its history, so I took it to a local framebuilder (John Holland, back when he had his shop in Reisterstown, MD) to have the frame and fork checked.
He di a minor tweak to fix the damage and then said that, from what he measured on his alignment table, there was no way that it was a production frame from the floor of the Peugeot factory. According to him, it looked like the work of a master builder.
Note: my very first track bike was also French, a Helyett that my parents bought for me when I was 12, in 1963. Since it came with a high gear (51-thooth chainring, 15-tooth sprocket, I think) suitable for racing on velodromes (same as your Peugeot, it appears), I changed to a 19-tooth sprocket for climbing hills in the company of guys with road bikes. Unfortunately, the BSA-threaded sprocket stripped the French hub threads.
The old bike mechanic at the shop where I bought the bike wrapped the threads in aluminum foil, and that held for as long as I owned the bike. Still, I'd rather have not damaged the threads in the first place. I don't think that French-threaded track sprockets are easy to find, especially in the 19-tooth or 20-tooth sizes that most people would prefer for use with a 51-tooth chainring. And chainrings in that early Campagnolo track crank bolt pattern are even rarer.
Also, the pedal threads in the crank arms are French and would need to be tapped to accept conventional pedals. Might be most practical to put the original cranks aside and replace them with new cranks.
Other possiblities to make the bike road-worthy:
Clincher track wheels (with conventional hub threading) can be had at great prices at BikeIsland.com, which is BikesDirect's outlet website for frames, forks, wheels, etc. Look elsewhere for chro-moly forks drilled for a brake, though. A local shop may still stock a chro-moly short-rake fork drilled for a brake, or maybe they can order one from, e.g., Quality Bicycle Products.
It had been slightly damaged earlier in its history, so I took it to a local framebuilder (John Holland, back when he had his shop in Reisterstown, MD) to have the frame and fork checked.
He di a minor tweak to fix the damage and then said that, from what he measured on his alignment table, there was no way that it was a production frame from the floor of the Peugeot factory. According to him, it looked like the work of a master builder.
Note: my very first track bike was also French, a Helyett that my parents bought for me when I was 12, in 1963. Since it came with a high gear (51-thooth chainring, 15-tooth sprocket, I think) suitable for racing on velodromes (same as your Peugeot, it appears), I changed to a 19-tooth sprocket for climbing hills in the company of guys with road bikes. Unfortunately, the BSA-threaded sprocket stripped the French hub threads.
The old bike mechanic at the shop where I bought the bike wrapped the threads in aluminum foil, and that held for as long as I owned the bike. Still, I'd rather have not damaged the threads in the first place. I don't think that French-threaded track sprockets are easy to find, especially in the 19-tooth or 20-tooth sizes that most people would prefer for use with a 51-tooth chainring. And chainrings in that early Campagnolo track crank bolt pattern are even rarer.
Also, the pedal threads in the crank arms are French and would need to be tapped to accept conventional pedals. Might be most practical to put the original cranks aside and replace them with new cranks.
Other possiblities to make the bike road-worthy:
Clincher track wheels (with conventional hub threading) can be had at great prices at BikeIsland.com, which is BikesDirect's outlet website for frames, forks, wheels, etc. Look elsewhere for chro-moly forks drilled for a brake, though. A local shop may still stock a chro-moly short-rake fork drilled for a brake, or maybe they can order one from, e.g., Quality Bicycle Products.
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