markk900

I finally caught a grail bike today - a Peugeot AO-8 from 1974 or 75…. What! Are Mark’s standards so out of whack a lowly entry level bike boom Pug is a grail bike?

Let me explain: I have owned my own AO-8 (a 1969 or 1970) since 1973. When I went off to university in the mid 70s, I had a car so the bike was left at my parents place. A few years in and I met the woman who would eventually become my wife (we have been together 43 years now).

when I met her she got around campus on her own AO-8, a purple one which she had recently gotten and which she loved. One of my first acts of “courting” was to overhaul her bike for her.

While on a work semester in the big city, her bike was stolen and for the last 40 years I have watched and waited to find a replacement.

Today was the day! I found a 1974/75 purple AO-8, completely unmolested and original save for the tires and the seat (and some questionable bar tape), less than 30
minutes from my house. Deal was done and here she is!

markk900

Oh, and I barely had it out of the car when she wanted to ride it. She was cool when I asked her if she even wanted it when I saw the ad (I might have a bike hoarding problem so always good to clear things with the other partner), but she was super excited when it showed up, her size and all.

Drillium Dude 

Awesome - and 43+ years later, you get to overhaul another AO-8 for her, completing the cycle. How cool is that? Grail indeed.

I hope she enjoys many miles on it, or at least a regular ride around the block

DD

Chuck M 

This is a great story and something I imagine she will greatly appreciate you doing for a long time.

Now truly show your love for her by replacing that bar tape.

WGB 

Forget the bar tape!
What about the brake cable housing? 😰

Nice to see someone else who is okay with cottered cranks.🤗
​​​​​

John E

Coincidentally, the first new bike I bought for my wife, almost 48 years ago, was a bare 21" UO-8 frame, which I custom built for her with my own "megarange" gearing, UO-18 style straight bars, TA Professional crankset, and aluminum Arraya rims.

When I told my boss at the bikeshop that I needed a bike for my wife, he was concerned that she would want a white 22" UO-18 mixte, and he was relieved when I told him a 21" UO-8 would do nicely.

Over the years, she has grown afraid of riding in traffic, and has discovered trails and mountain bikes (starting with my Schwinn), so I repurposed the UO-8 and reconfigured it my way, with narrower-range gearing, drops bars, SunTour barcons, etc., and it remains my theft-resistant transportation steed.
These bikes ride much better than anything in that price range has any right to.

Maybe your wife is fine with the Mafac brake levers, but I would need Weinmanns, which I can more quickly and securely grab in a panic stop.


My UO-8 with barcon cables routed between the rack and the cylindrical Bellwether front bag.

himespau 

And here's where you tell us that it still has the campus registration sticker on it from the college where you met her and it got stolen (OK, maybe that's too much of a coincidence).

m.c. 

Thats a good story and a nice looking bicycle, I really like purple. My wife had a Peugeot as a kid, I was able to find one on eBay that was a close match.

randyjawa 

Great story! Though not sure, I just might have an original AGDA saddle for the bike, which would have been original issue back in the Peugeot's day. If I do and if she wants it, I would be happy to donate it to her and the Peugeot. You would have to pay shipping. If this is of interest, send me a PM and I will have a look. Might want to include your zip or postal code also so that I can estimate shipping cost. If I do have one, I can shoot a pic or two for her to see. No butts about it!-)

jdawginsc 

That is a TRUE grail worthy of the pursuit. Well done!

markk900

Thanks all! On the bar tape, the AO-8 officially only had 1/2 bar wrap with the upper bar being bare (wow what did they save - $0.01 per bike!?!?!). So simply removing the batman tape would return this to original, but honestly who wants 1/2 bar tape. It will get a full wrap. But I cannot believe the original bar tape (the black stuff) and the original plugs are still there and not ripped or scuffed at all! And yes all cables and wires will be renewed! The photos were all "as unloaded" and she even went for a ride before I could check if everything worked.....just up the street and back and her comment: "Yeah the brakes are as squeaky and weak as I remember!".

Classtime 

Too cool. I found my wife a more easily found red Schwinn Typhoon like the one stolen from her in the 70s. I had to remove the fenders but she won’t let me touch up the paint.

markk900

That would be! Nope - this bike was registered not long after it was purchased in a city 60 miles west of where we went to school; my wife's bike was stolen in a totally different city..... but the thought DID cross our minds!

markk900

Already have new housing and cables in my stock.... and not only OK with cottered cranks, on my own bike I went back from many decades of cotterless (it was my second upgrade in the 70s after tubular tires) to a lovely Magestroni cottered crank set.....no longer worried about weight and more enjoying the look. The "new" Pug will retain cottered as well.

BTW - what vendor is this? It looks like "Cyclo" to me.....Chainwheels are 52/40.

Hondo6

Pretty sure you're correct in that being a Cyclo logo:

https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.a...m=122&AbsPos=0

Great story, too. Well done!

SJX426 

Congrats! There are a couple of bikes from the past I would like to have that are "low end" like.
WRT to my wife of 47 years, I talked her into buying a bike when we were dating in college. She bit and we went for a 20 mile ride the next week end.
I our case, we don't have to look for a replacement as we still have it. Mine OTOH is long gone. I have toyed with the idea of finding a AO-8 like mine but.... times have changed. I like what I have.
1974 Raliegh Gran Prix on Flickr

markk900

Am slowly starting on the renovation, and here’s what I have found so far:

1. someone was either in or attempted to get into the bottom bracket: cotters were in but nuts were loose and lock ring on adjustable cup was loose - everything was properly adjusted and smooth though. Will likely still go in and check myself.

2. Seat post binder bolt and lug had not been treated well- ears were bent to the side and bolt was bent. I have fixed the bolt and it’s threads and slightly straightened the ears but not willing to compromise the frame any more for aesthetics. Gap in lug around post was not closed up thankfully.

3. Rims have a couple of dings but seem to be pretty round and true.

4. Brakes have now been disassembled, cleaned and lubed, and new cables installed - wow they are smooth now!

Question: I would *like* to replace the mafac pads with Koolstops but prices are INSANE. $56-$80CAD for a set of 4! Is this normal? Has anyone tried NOS mafac pads? Are they hard as rocks?

Will add more pictures once there is more progress….

daka

On my recent rebuild of a Raleigh Gran Sport, which I was trying to complete just using parts I had on-hand, without spending for new stuff.
I removed the glaze and grunge off the original Weinmann brake blocks with 80 grit sandpaper.. The results weren't up to Kool-Stop standards, but the brakes work acceptably well.

ehcoplex 

I just bought a set of 4 on Amazon yesterday for $24 inc shipping..... That's US, but seems crazy that they'd be so much higher in Canada...

The Golden Boy 

Don't steel rims require those sintered brake pads with cloth/wool strips in them?

79pmooney

Are you telling me that until I put aluminum rims on my UO-8 I never stopped? (Those rims - proof the the Mafac RACER was/still is one of the all-time great calipers.)

The Golden Boy 

No, just questioning whether there are better pads for use on steel rims.

markk900

The Golden Boy : I am not stuck on Koolstops or any brand; just want some decent pads that fit the Mafac holders. A cheap(ish) alternative is smooth post pads for canti brakes - I used those on my own AO8 and they work fine, though I currently run alloy rims.

Progress update: I almost f’d up the cranks as I tried to remove the cotters. I have plenty of experience and the Bikesmith cotter tool, and even being careful the drive side pin broke off smooth with the crank arm. It took more than an hour of sweating, swearing, application of heat from a propane torch, and the careful use of drills and a ball bearing to finally get the remains of the pin to move. The NDS side had clearly been molested as well by someone but it came out with about 20% less effort. All is well!

I am noting that none of the bearing surfaces appear to have ever been serviced in 45 years - I don’t think the bike was used all that much in the past 40 years so all is cleaning up well but what used to be grease in there is not a lubricant any longer!

John E

What's so bad about half tape? (This was a very early picture, shortly after the paint job. I was still sorting out components and getting it dialed in. I gave up the Campag. triple (50-42-39 using long stack bolts; half-step-plus-overdrive, because my original attempt at 53-50-39 half-step-plus-granny ate my chain because the spider is too thick for half-step) shown here when I discovered a crack across the crankshaft eye in the left side crank.


1973 Brooks Pro on the 1959 Capo. Still serviceable, plan to put on a different bike. Campag. crankset shown

markk900

Here is the final product for the purple pug….

Issues I found: rear derailleur had not been mounted correctly (no dropout bolt) and so had come askew and bent the derailleur as well as the end of the axle. I didn’t bother straightening the axle as it was only out a bit and in the section beyond the dropout, but I did put a replacement prestige I had in my pile on the bike. Shifts great ( at the rear).

Front derailleur had some weirdness in that it would not extend as far as needed nor retract all the way; I played with it for a bit then threw on an identical replacement they worked way better. Still struggles with the 52/40 chainrings though.

As mentioned before seat lug was bent but not collapsed - straightened as best I could and it seems to be fine.

Cables were shot; replaced; all bearings lubed (the freewheel is a Maillard Normandy and I don’t have a puller - but the centre is large enough to get the dust cap off the hub with the freewheel in situ.

Cotters were f'd: the drive side broke off as I was trying to remove it....sourced new ones and after an hour of filing the new ones are installed.

Instead of new Koolstops I just filed down the Mafac pads and found they worked really well - with toe in I got the horrendous squeal down to a mild buzzing on the steel rims. The rims have a few dings in them but ride well.

So she’s ready for action! All original except tires, Batman bar tape, and saddle. And she rides really nicely!

Best of all, my better half LOVES the bike. I think the purple is pretty amazing myself, even though I am partial to the weird lime green of my own AO-8