ehcoplex 

I assume swapped out at some point to get away from sew-ups. I do like the Simplex skewers!



Alas, the plastic part of the nut on the other side of this broke apart when I was taking the wheel off....

ehcoplex 

I have this idea that while I'm definitely not going to attempt at 100% vintage authenticity/accuracy, I am going to try and keep it 'French' as much as possible... Though we'll see how long that lasts when it comes to the DRs.

3alarmer 

...yes. A lot of people get sucked into this "Keep it French" vortex. I think I got over that when Motobecane first started using Asian components on all their bikes, and their frame fit and finish was better, too. But everyone needs a direction to go in, and this is yours.

BertoBerg 

I had that same plan but then I ended up with a Super Record headset and seatpost. 3ttt bars as well. I still have a French crank, shifters, derailleurs, stem, and hubs though.

John E

No one will notice a high quality front derailleur in place of the original, which was never any good, anyway. The only tricky part is the "hard metric" 28.0mm seat tube OD, because most Asian and Italian derailleurs are designed for 28.6mm.

John E

I bought my UO-8 as a bare frame when I worked at a Peugeot-Nishiki dealership. It has always had Japanese derailleurs -- Shimano Titlist front, various SunTours rear -- no regrets there.

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

Germany_chris

I’m allowed to ship 10,000# of household goods when I move, I think when I rotate back to the states I’m going to pack 9000# of old French bike frames and become the pro bike kit of old French stuff

ehcoplex 

Just ship a few dozen Lyotard pedal dust caps and you'll make a tidy sum.....

ehcoplex 

I am pretty sure I will relent on the attempt to stay French fairly soon.... $, availability, parsing general French 'oddness'! The fact that I need decent wheels will very likely be the breaking point!

ehcoplex 

They appear to be metal with plastic covers, not the delrin with metal sleeve... I recall an old 5-speed my father had with the a delrin shifter- and recall it breaking!

ehcoplex 

Pretty much stripped/tore the whole thing down today. And so the ??s begin…

The frame tab for the clamp-on DT shifters came off in my hand, and on closer examination it appears to have been JB Welded on (assuming it had fallen off at some point in the past- surprising it wasn’t lost….). JB it back on? Have it brazed and just deal with the paint/finish issues? Do without (though it seems every bike I’ve ever seen with clamp-on DT shifters have some kind of tab, so it seems necessary..)

The Stronglight crank dust caps are really on there… I feel like I’m on the verge of stripping out the hex socket, and I’d prefer not to do that….. Gave it a dose of PB Blaster, but it’s still tight. Tips? (BTW, I’ve got the proper puller on order)

Got to get the suicide levers off the Mafacs. Anybody have a (cheap) source for the original pivots?

Those spacers in the rear dropouts….. what is the story there? Cheaper than using dropouts with adjustment screws? Did they come in different sizes? What happens if you use different size wheels…?

Purely for aesthetic debate….. Why the black-painted lugs? OK, sure, cheaper than chrome (though it looks to me like the entire fork is chromed under the paint…), but…. black?

3alarmer 

....I spent a year in Italy, assigned to the NATO base in Agnano, near Naples. I brought back nothing except my personal effects and the standard duffle bag. Sometimes I wonder why I didn't bring back a bike, but honestly speaking, I was going to a Sub Tender, and I'm not sure I'd have had a place to use it.

Classtime 

Maybe I missed it. Does it fit? Pretty exciting getting that bike you wanted when you were a kid and yours will certainly be a fantastic ride on the first day out and only get better as you "restore" it: Think steel Simplex FD, Campy hubs, Tubulars, and 1972 is 5 speed. Have fun.
French BB availability is improving. There is Phil Wood and Vélo Orange.

3alarmer 

...I would do without it. Clamp bands rarely move when I install them. This is an excellent introduction to Peugeot fit and finish. Try to remember that, for a lot of us, this was our only shot at a DB Reynolds 531 framed bike, at a price we could put together back then.

...so you need to mix up some 50/50 acetone/ATF in a small batch to use as your penetrant. And you need a brazing torch. like the ones they sell at Home Depot for copper plumbing (Mapp gas preferred). A couplle of heating and cooling cycles (cooling with a spray can of Freeze Off adds to the thermal shock value). Heat the assembly before you apply the penetrant, and don't worry if it smokes or the acetone catches fire. The Freeze off is flammable. too. But this makes it penetrate that much farther.

Those threads you expose, when you finally get the caps out, are a different size, specific to Stronglight, so you need the right puller. Which is part of the adventure.

If you do strip the hex hole in the cap, the standard remedy is to drill two small holes the right size to use a pin spanner on the cap. Measure your pins on the pin wrench, because you need a good, tight fit.

Most of the Stronglight cranks I have here have no caps, I just replace the crank bolts with one of these newer style ones.






...these levers are ubiquitous in my co-op experience. I'd just look for replacements, or cut off the pivot extension and smooth it on a grinder, if possible.

...it's just how Simplex decided to make their dropouts for a long time. They work fine, and you don't need more than one size. If you want to use them to center your wheel, just slide one of them forward or backward in the dropout, and tighten it in the new position. They are way easier to work on than drilling out a frozen dropout screw on a Campy style dropout. You don't really need adjusters at all, of course. If you want to move a wheel all the way back in the drops, you need to remove them anyway.

...Peugeot aesthetics is not something I would opine on. The PX-10's of this era were built to a price point, and are pretty much fun to ride. I try not to ask more. But you can certainly re-paint one without ruining an original historical masterpiece. I think mine are all stock, so I guess it's pretty durable paint.

BertoBerg 

I’m into the black, white, and gold lining paint scheme. I used to think it made the bike look too busy but one day it all just clicked for me.

ehcoplex 

Ah, well, mine is blue..... which adds a whole other element, 'cause you got the big white seat-tube decal.... I'm pretty sure the one I picked up had the original white brake cable housing (well, really old and dirty white....) and the original black bar tape. And then there's the chrome elements. And the brown Brooks....! There's a lot goin' on... But admittedly, when I was a kid the look of the white PX-10 both repulsed and compelled me- it's so visually not clean looking, but at the same time has a certain Je ne said qoui..

ehcoplex 

Well, its just a tiny smidge under an 'Eddy' fit for me- it's a 23" where a 24" would be ideal, but I think it'll work just fine.

BertoBerg 

Totally spaced that your Peugeot is blue/black.

Maybe they could’ve done blue with silver/grey lugs instead? I still like your blue and black though.

3alarmer 

...for some reason that is doubtless related to money and importing, I've seen very few of the 1970's 24" frames in the US, where I live. To get a 24" frame here in California, I had to buy a bike from a guy who bought it originally in a pro shop in Germany. This changed in the later 70's and early 80's...because by then I think more people buying them were demanding a more exact fit than the jump from 23" to 25".

ehcoplex 

Yeah, I'm an in-betweener size, particularly with more limited-sized vintage bikes. 23" is a little small, 25" is a little big....

3alarmer 

...since you are already talking fatter tyres, you can make it a little taller by building up 27" rims as the wheels, and using 1 1/4" tyres from Panaracer. This makes an acceptably light wheel for me, and is fun enough for my riding. The MAFAC calipers will accommodate 27" wheels in most, if not all cases. IIRC, that's what I did with this one. But it uses up a lot of the space for fenders, so if that's your plan, probably don't do that.

ehcoplex 

The bike had steel-rimmed 27" on it- they weigh a ton... The roads where I live are terrible, and a lot of my regular routes have at least some gravel/seasonal road sections. In addition, my aging joints don't like a harsh ride, so I'm probably going in the other direction, size-wise. I've got 700x38 tires on one bike and 700x35 on another (in both cases file-tread Rene Herse tires, which it seems inflate to a little bit wider than advertised). I tested the front wheels of both on the PX-10 and the 38s were a definite no-go- not enough clearance at the fork crown. The 35s fit, but very little clearance- certainly not enough for fenders too. The spacing doesn't match up, so I can't try the rears. Anyway, it seems that if I want at least 35c and fenders I'd need to go to 650b wheels*.... and get longer-reach brakes. But if I can find a real cheap 700c wheel set maybe I can get away with 32c and fenders and keep to the 'better' surfaced roads...

*and if I go 650b, it seems I ought to maybe cold-set the rear spacing to 130...

BertoBerg 

I’m running 700x30 Grand Bois Cypres tires on my PX-10. They measure out at 32mm on my 19mm internal width rims though. They are great!

I don’t think I could fit fenders on the 32s. 30s are probably as big as I could go before running into clearance issues around the fork crown.

Germany_chris

My wife stays here so I generally only ship the bikes, computer, and car then hit up IKEA when I find a place. In 2023 I’ll start applying for jobs so I can go to a place I want and hopefully buy a house and get established then just just bounce back and forth but we’ll see.

joesch

I have been enjoying all the info on the PX-10.
Had one back in my HS days and loved the ride.
Long story short, just before leaving on holiday, I found a deal locally for the one I have attached below pictures, looks to be in outstanding condition. Will be my oldest bike and only France ride.
Look forward to pickup after new years ...