Yune_Garage 

Sometimes you get lucky. Aside from the ‘63 Allegro Special Track bike I found a few months ago, this would be my second coolest local find. I’m in my mid-30’s so hopefully I have more years ahead to find cool things.

Anyway, I drive over an hour to pick up this seemingly all original and well preserved Peugeot PX10.
The back stories are sometimes even cooler than the bikes themselves (at least to me).
I inquired but I didn’t get too much info, but apparently an older gentleman that spent decades traveling the world around (unsure of profession) bought himself this Peugeot back in the 70’s but didn’t ride it much and it sat without use for decades.
He and his wife recently sold their home here in SoCal along with most of their belongings to move with their adult children in San Fransisco.

Upon further inspection, it appears that the tires are original. Bike even came with the MAFAC embossed (tool bag?) with unopened spare parts packet inside.
And the front generation lamp works, Don’t know how the bulb is still good after all these years!

Reynolds531, Campagnolo Record hubs, Fiamme rims, Stronglight cranks, Simplex gear things, post, Mafac brakes with Campy pads, etc.
Has this really nice ‘Made-In Switzerland’ rear rack, unsure of the brand.
The Brooks is in beautiful condition for being 50+ years old, has a lovely marble swirl to it.

No major paint chips or rust anywhere. Can’t wait to bring her back to her former glory (without much effort it seems!).

Let me know your thoughts and if you have any insights!

Cheers,

Gio

Yune_Garage 

thumpism 

A time capsule. Nice find! I expect the owner had them swap out the original tubular wheels for these, wanting less hassle. Probably came with Maillard hubs and French rims.

clubman 

Cool bike. If it were mine, the Esge rack and light set would be gone quick. I'm a little surprised it doesn't have tubulars but clinchers were likely an option.

Yune_Garage 

Ah! Well, I’d say it’s an “upgrade” at least for me as far as convenience goes. Thanks for the info!

Yune_Garage 

I agree with you, I do like less on my bikes, less “clutter”. There’s alot going on especially with the style of decal graphics. Thanks Clubman

thumpism 

A lot of those early bikes had the cool knife-type QR skewers. Dunno how well they held but they looked neat.

dmark 

Great find and the wheel change is top quality. My 72 PX10 still has the Normandy with Mavic Monthlery tubulars. I've been meaning to build a set of Normandy HF with Mavic MA2 wheels so I can use clinchers but it keeps slipping in priority.
Enjoy.

juvela

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it's an early '72

you should build wheels for it to get those incorrect round things out

correct:

Normandy Luxe Competition large flange 36 hole hub with light gold foil label on barrel

MAVIC Montlhery 36 hole ferruled, serrated tubular rim

Robergel Trois Etoiles butted light gauge stainless spokes

OEM tyre: Hutchinson 280 gram cotton

skewers shown in earlier post too early for cycle, their last year was '71

the Soubitez combination dynamo and headlamp is model Nr. 89


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John E

I like the frame and the overall condition. The Campag. Tipo hubs are OK, but either NRs or Normandy Luxe Competitions would be more appropriate.
If it were mine, I would promptly lose that hideous pie plate.
That Simplex rear derailleur handles a 14-28 freewheel better than most other short-cagers, which are often limited to 26, even 24, teeth.

daka

Stellar find! I'd punt the Soubitez, the pie plate, and that rack. Not that I'm opposed to racks but those Pletschers tend to chew up the seat stays, a Blackburn would be a smart alternative. Make sure and get the correct crank puller for the Stronglight before doing disassembly. a "standard" one will not work and can bugger up the threads. Congratulations!

xiaoman1 

Yune G,
Very nice bike indeed...as others have already mentioned the wheels were an "up-grade" and it is an early 70's PX. It is getting more and more difficult to find these in the condition that yours is in. Most of the PX's, because of their linage (not Italian) were rode hard and put away wet......fine fast and nimble crusaders in the 60's and 70's.
Best,Ben

Rotten

Very nice!
Question for the experts what does the 'Inoxydable' sticker above the 531 sticker refer to?

Yune_Garage 

Thanks Mark!

Superb info as always! Much appreciated

haha I’d definitely have to agree with you.
Thanks for the heads up! Cheers
No doubt, Thanks very much Ben.

Yune_Garage 

I had the same question. Oxydation causes rust so I suspect it’s regarding the tubes and their ability to rust “less” or something along those lines.

1simplexnut

Nice find !
Welcome to the club !!

3alarmer 

.
...I am amazed that this still has the original metal dork disc on it. I have discovered a few of these bikes here in the SF Bay Area over the years. I have my own set of modifications I do to them, as projects, to produce a more reliable rider for myself, as a heavier rider, with wide feet. Those Pletscher racks were dreadful, but they were ubiquitous back then, because cheap and widely marketed. There have been many better rear racks made and abandoned to the used parts stream since those days, if you want to keep a rack on it for bags. Those generator lights never worked all that well, and the lights available now, with rechargeable Li ion batteries seem to work well, if you need lighting.

Look in this thread for some suggestions for workable upgrades and modifications that still remain true to character: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...on-thread.html

xiaoman1 

So called "Special rust protection"
Best, Ben

juvela

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one check you may wish to make would be to see if the hardwood plug be yet in residence at the austral end o' the steerer


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Classtime 

If it’s your size, just repack the bearings, lube the cables, etc and ride it as is while you get some proper wheels. When you have the wheels, remove rack, spoke protector, and lights, replace the cables and housings, tap the cranks for clipless pedals and go fast.

If it’s not your size, admire it for awhile, and get $$ for the next cool thing.

1simplexnut

Also have a good hard look at that stem .
Looks to be one that is prone to failure apparently .
There was thread on here recently about it . (and in the past )
"AVA death sTem " ?

Bad Lag

Get that rear rack off NOW! Seriously.

At the very least, you need a support block between the rack and the brake bridge to stop it from sliding down and destroying that museum quality paint job it still has.

rustystrings61 

I'm with Juvela - 1972, evidenced by the frame angles and the plain Nervex DuBois lugs with the headlugs painted black. The Pletscher/ESGE rack was what was available back then, but they're hard on frames and you're better off without it. The wheelset is aftermarket as noted above, though Peugeot apparently sold a U.S. market model with 27x 1 1/4 clinchers on Normandy Luxe Competition hubs identified as a UX-10. But 700C would be better for this bike, and tubulars were stock. If you find Normandy Luxe Competition hubs, be aware that replacement cones are unobtainium - they were apparently never sold as anything other than O.E.M. on new bikes, and spare parts were unavailable 50 years ago. If Wheels Manufacturing ever did a run of those cones they would have market for them - these are actually VERY nice hubs. The Campagnolo Tipo hubs presently on the bike are still pretty good hubs.

I really strongly stress you need a STRONGLIGHT-specific crank puller for this bike. They used a 23.35mm diameter puller. The old two-sided Park tool is NOT what you want, as it's set up with 23.0 mm for T.A. cranks on one side, and the now-standard 22.0 puller on the other. Vintage Stronglight puller or the recent production Stein tools made specifically for Stronglights are your best option. Those cranks are worth the hassle of getting the right tool and finding the now-obsolete 122mm BCD chainrings.

Were this my bike I would be strongly tempted to go back to original parts, simply because it is such a stunningly clean example. I've played around with PX-10s for many years and this one is easily the cleanest I've seen in a decade or more.

bikemig 

I'd dump that rack and lighting system as others have suggested. I have zero issues with those wheels. If serviceable, I'd ride them. The rear derailleur (see post 10 above) is actually pretty good. The front "delrin" derailleur though is prone to cracking; don't be surprised if you need to replace it. A campy FD would work fine.

Schreck83 

That's a real beauty.
The front fork decal looks to be adrift in the first two photos you posted. These are usually pretty fragile, yet you seem to have successfully re-attached them. How did you do this?