Mirglip 

I recently bought a 1970's Peugeot and am looking for the Peugeot experts here to confirm what I have.

First- why I bought! I was 15 in the summer of 1970 and saved my earnings from cutting grass and cleaning pools to buy my first 10-speed - a white Peugeot with distinctive wheel wing nuts that I thought were very cool. I paid about $100 for it which was a fortune in those days. I loved that bike and was sad when, a few years later, it was sold without my permission while I was away at university. I've been on the hunt for that same model bike for the last few years and was lucky to find one- appears all original- for about $100 CAD.

From reading previous threads, it appears to be an AO8....or maybe not
The bike was sold in Canada- West Quebec (Hull) across from Ottawa Ontario by a store called Pecco's which is unfortunately no longer in business

The serial number plate from the bb is gone- just two little holes- but there is a number stamped on the left dropout and I understand this may be an aftermarket addition vs a sn - 252328
I have looked for a date on the rear derailleur cage - none, but was successful in finding 73 on the bottom of the front simplex derailleur. which gives me a starting date and would be consistent with the model of my 1970's bike

Condition is pretty darn good for a bike this age. The front [chromed steel] wheel is dented and probably beyond repair, and I think this is why the bike was set aside all these years. I'll likely put alloy wheels on it- but gotta retain those wingnuts which may require some mechanical changes. I was surprised to find different sized axles on front and rear. I put this bike on the repair stand and everything instantly came to life - freewheel, hubs, bb and shifters and chain all work beautifully.

Some other details:
Stamped dropouts
Metal cable guides (bend to close)
Simplex Prestige derailleur
Simplex downtube shifters- plastic
Mafac "Racer" brakes
Wheels: Rigida Chrolux rims, Normandy hubs with wingnuts, Atom SGBG Freewheel 5 spd 14-23 t
Chainset 45/40 t, 150mm crank arm length
Shimmed seatpost - no decal markings
Saddle embossing - can't make out
Lyotard pedals
Ava Stem - possibly the 'Stem of Death'?


Please look at my pictures and confirm what I've got. It is going to be a fun nostalgia project for me. I'm under no illusion that this is/was a great bike but I'm still looking forward to riding it.

Thanks!











bottom of front derailleur stamped 73

John E

Interesting ...
The head tube lugs definitely differ radically from those of a US market AO-8 or UO-8, and the gear ratios are a lot tighter than what we received "south of the border," but everything else screams "early 1970s AO-8." Should be a fun project.
If that number stamped on the dropout is indeed the serial number, a 6-digit number theoretically suggests a 1960s model, but your decals certainly look 1970. Again ... strange.

My trusty, rusty old UO-8 rides far better than a bike of that lowly class has any right to. I didn't technically "upgrade" it, because I bought it as a bare frame when I worked at a Peugeot dealership, but I did build it with aluminum rims and cranks, which help the frame live up to its potential.
Keep us posted regarding your progress -- count me as a fan.



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

polymorphself 

Gold decal on the ST strikes me as odd, but I'm no pug expert.

juvela

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thanks very much for posting and for sharing the story about your original Peugeot.

a crank arm length of 150mm is a juvenile size

an A08 would have been constructed with 170mm crank arms

the measurement convention is to measure from the centre of the spindle hole to the centre of the pedal hole

the Simplex Prestige gear ensemble is a mixed set

the rear mech is model 636 which was last current ~1969 while the front mech is clearly marked 1973

suspect rear mech may have failed and got replaced with this mode 636 someone had snoozing
or, more likely, the front mech may have failed and was replaced with the 1973 marked fellow

unable to read marking on saddle; would have expected bicycle to have been kitted with an ADGA model 28A

my experience limited to U.S. market models and it has been established in previous forum threads that there are differences between Canadian and U.S. model Peugeot cycles

14-23T is a surprisingly small gear block for a cycle such as this

the 40/45T dentition of the chainwheels fits right in with a juvenile chainset with 150mm arms

pedals are Lyotard model Nr.36 with reflectors by CIBIE

have you verified wheel size? a 24" wheel would fit in with the chainset specifications

one additional spot you could check for a date marking is the bicycle's RIGIDA SUPERCHROMIX wheel rims; next to the name you should see a small diamond symbol, "sometimes" there is a date marking inside of the diamond:




the marking, if present, is quite small so you'll want to look in good strong light



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randyjawa 

Looks like an AO8 to me. I base that comment on the lack of chrome fork socks...

Mirglip 

Wheels are 27”. I took a close look and there is a 73 date on the rim.

ehcoplex 

Oh, I feel your pain at having something sold off while away at school! In my case it was a '71 VW Westy..... OK, sure, it was temporarily not running (I had used a wrong seal in the oil-cooler system when I rebuilt the engine and hadn't had the time to fix it before I had to go back to school), but it didn't deserve it's fate of going to the junk yard!

Pretty much any Peugeot from the 70s is 'iconic' to my nostalgia-addled mind- have fun with it!

T-Mar

I'll cast my vote for a P10 with replacement wired-on wheelset.

Mirglip 

Thanks for all the great info.
My crank measurement was correct c to c
did find a date on the rim - '73 - right at the spot with the nasty dent.

juvela

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thank you for the additional information

the juvenile chainset must have been fitted to the cycle to accommodate a rider who was uncomfortable with a 340mm pedal circle due to limited range of motion

it is DURAX brand

others with greater knowledge should be along shortly to give more and better assistance...

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oneclick 

Likely yes.

Check for cracks, if none, drill (a) hole(s) at the top of the expansion slot(s) and bring it back to life.

Mirglip 

Totally agree about iconic. In 1970 a Peugeot bike was exotic in a land populated by CCM and Raleigh.

Mirglip 

Great info. Was Durax a component brand found on Peugeots or and after market addition,by the bike shop?

Mirglip 

Excellent advice. makes total sense to mitigate the cracking/failure risk.

markk900

The decals point to early 70s (72/73), but the seat tube decal for Canadian market bikes was not a gold wrap like that. The only place I can find gold wrap like that is on the junior models in France. The lugs on Canadian xO-8 bikes were Aztec style, so this points to a different market equivalent of the AO-8 (like t-Mar said - P10?). Also AO-8s usually came with low flange hubs (usually Atom). I suspect that given it was originally sold by a Quebec shop, that someone might have brought in a special bike from France and set it up for possibly a shorter rider. Having said all that its a neat bike, probably rarer in Canada than the AO-8, and will make a great ride if it fits you.

BTW: my AO-8 dates from 1969 or 1970 and I have owned it since 1973 - the only serial number it ever had was stamped on the dropout like yours. No holes for a missing plate or anything.

T-Mar

After another reading of the posts, particularly Mark's, I'm revising my identification to a Peugeot UJ 10. I worked at Peugeot dealership in the early 1970s and we did receive the junior models with gold background decals. Furthermore, the frame is smaller than the 21" men's AO 8 and U-series frames. While the P-series frames were available as 20", the UJ10 had a 19" frame with 27" wheels. The UJ 10 did not use the Aztec style lugs. Finally another feature that the UJ10 had in common with the OP's bicycle is a full length housing for the rear brake cable, which was held in place using eyelets under the top tube.

Edit: Based on it being a 1973 or even 1974 model, it would not have been bought at Pecco's in Hull. At that time, Pecco's had only one store and it was located in the Byward Market region of Ottawa, on Parent Street. Shortly, it would move around the corner, to a larger location on Murray Street. Later, they would open a 2nd and much larger store in Hull. At their peak, there were three or four stores.

Starting in the early 1970s, I would regularly visit Pecco's, when in Ottawa to compete. I got to know the owner, Denny Cousineau, and his staff quite well quite well over the decades.

juvela

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puzzled by the combination of "27" wheels" and a juvenile chainset

is this something unique to a Canada market UJ10?

thanks for any information


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Mirglip 

This is great information. Makes a lot of sense. Thank you

Mirglip 

Yes and as well it being a 20” frame. The stand over height for the bike is 30”. Would seem an odd combo for a junior rider- short cranks, low gearing on a 20” frame with 27” wheels

Mirglip 

Yes and as well it being a 20” frame. The stand over height for the bike is 30”. Would seem an odd combo for a junior rider- short cranks, low gearing on a 20” frame with 27” wheels

juvela

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DURAX was Peugeot's OEM supplier of cottered steel chainsets for decades

single plateau, double plateau, triple plateau, juvenile, adult, folder, etc.


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m.c. 

I figured mine out on bikeboompeugeot.com by looking through the catalog/brochure pics and matching it up.

T-Mar

During this period our Peugeot were distributed by Shields. They always appeared to correlate with those of the USA market. The schism appeared later, after Velo Sport / Procycle took over national distribution in Canada and got a license to build Peugeot in Canada.

I know that our shop did not sell a lot of this model. This was during the boom and the target demographic was young enough that most did not have their own disposable income. The parents, who typically ending paying, were leery about spending a lot of money on one of the new fangled ten speeds, especially a foreign brand. The UJ 10 that we did sell, went primarily to shorter, teenage and young adult females, who had their own disposable income, wanted a trendy Peugeot and didn't want a mixte.

For reference, here is the UJ 10 in my old literature. The salient features are:
- 19" frame size
- 27" wheels
- gold background seat tube decal
- non-Aztec lugs
- full length housing for rear brake cable



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juvela

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thank you so much T-Mar!

interesting to note that catalogue sheet specifies chainwheel dentition of 52/40

crank arm length appears "by eye" to be 170mm

do not recall encountering an example of this model previously

Peugeot distributor for my region during the boom period seemed to offer only a streamlined selection of the overall range; or perhaps it may have been a retailer decision not to stock the full range...

one almost never saw any juvenile or utility models



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uncle uncle

Interesting to note that the catalog steers sales to the male youth market but T-Mar's personal experience points to petite female adults.