Gstev68

I've recently acquired what I believe to be a Peugeot AE8 but have found some conflicting information about it and hope someone might be able to help. I've found an old catalogue image online which dates the bike around 1978 although, it suggests the colour I've got only came in 10 speed and mine is definitely 5 speed.

The serial number is 2375061 and (from what I've found online) suggests it might be 1972 which is at odds with the brochure but, again from what I've read, this isn't a precise science. It's got Mafac centre pull brakes and Simplex derailleur, chrome mudguards and panier rack.

I am looking to convert it to a single speed commuter and want to swap out the BB and crankset (or at least the chainring but am not sure there are many 3 arm options about) but am looking for any advice or insight as to what BB would be best to replace the rusty old one with.

I'm guessing it will be french thread and whilst I can get one from Velo Orange, the longest axle is 127mm and yet mine appears to be 142mm (outside face of crank arm to outside face of crank arm).

I've also seen advertised treadless BB (aimed at frames with snarled up threads) and wonder whether that would be a better bet.

I'd really welcome any insight and advice on the conversion as, whilst I'm quite confident working on modern bikes (having built up my best/summer bike from scratch with Storck frame and Dura-Ace Di2), I'm much less familiar with vintage stuff.

Many thanks for your help.

T-Mar

Welcome to the forums. The graphics are indicative of circa 1975-1978. The Simplex rear deralleurs with the metal covers were introduced circa 1976, however it might not be OEM. Still, Peugeot had changed it's serial number format for the last couple of years of the timeframe, so it should be circa 1975-1976.

As for the model, it looks like the USA marrket UE8 minus the lighting system, chrome fork tips and QR hubs. I see you're located in the UK, where it would match an AE8.

Given the era it could be French or Swiss threading. We saw both in North America. You'll have to check the threading direction of the fixed cup to determine the threading standard.

Your crankset spindle is longer than the Velo Orange because it is for a cottered crankset and extends to the outside edge of the crankarms. Spindles for cotterless cranksets, such as the Velo Orange, only insert partway into the arms, and do not extend to the outside edge. Consequently, they will be shorter. The required spindle length can vary depending on the crankset you intend to use and the desired chain line. Sometimes it can be a matter of trial and error. Hopefully some members who have converted a UO8 can provide relevant information and suggest appropriate components, as the UO8, which is the most common Peugeot model, should be identical to the AE8 in terms of crankset and bottom bracket dimensions.

Link to OP's photo album: https://www.bikeforums.net/g/album/22227854

Gstev68

Thanks T-Mar - most helpful

John E

He always is.
Wonderful asset to our community.

markk900

Couple of thoughts to add: the bike could easily have been a 10 speed as the Peugeot used a brazed on fitting in the one side and a clamp that provided the other lever base;

I concur with the assessment of a Ax-8 due to the wing nuts, small flange hubs. and lack of chrome on the forks;

As to the bottom bracket: first do a thorough cleaning of the cups; you can use them with pretty much any cotterless spindle that has the same spacing between the races and that takes the same bearing size; I converted my AO-8 many many years ago to cotterless with appropriate cups but in later years simply switched back to the originals with a suitable spindle.

You could also consider the cachet that comes with being the only single speed on your block with a cotterless crank! Just clean up the cranks as they are….

dedhed

I think you mean Jan Heine at Herse

Gstev68

Cheers Mark, apart from not getting the drive side off yet, although I think I can see the thread direction from the inside and it doesn't;t look in bad condition. I may well stick with it if I can clean the crank arms ok. I've got industrial quantities of white vinegar and baking soda on the way! ;-)


My remaining concern is finding a 3 arm chain ring of the right size but I may persevere with the one I've got if it'll work ok with a new chain and single speed conversion.

John E

Both BB cups are definitely standard RH threaded. Peugeot did not get it right (left) until ca. 1980 -- my PKN-10 surprised me by having a Swiss-threaded BB. You can try the bolt-and-washers fixed cup removal trick on SheldonBrown.com. You need to put a long extension on your socket and drive it through the BB shell, from the inside. (The trick is a little slicker with English or Swiss BB fixed cups, which are LH threaded -- just tighten the bolt from the outside to turn the cup clockwise.)

When I converted my 1973 UO-8 to aluminum cranks, I bought a pair of French-thread Sugino BB cups, which had the correct wall thickness for a 68mm wide BB frame shell and my Sugino spindle.

ThermionicScott 

Just for your edification, you should measure the chainline of the existing crankset (chainring looks like a 46T or so.) If it's around 42mm, I'd just use it and get the singlespeed freewheel necessary to get the gearing you want.

Gstev68

It appears that my freewheel is a Maillard Normandy with the 24 spline lock nut and I’m wondering now if it’s going to be easy to convert to a single speed freewheel without rebuilding the wheel with a completely different hub.

has anyone had any experience of this.

JohnDThompson 

If your hub is English/ISO thread, simply remove the current freewheel and replace it with a single freewheel. Use spacers as needed to get appropriate chainline. If your hub is metric thread (quite possible, if original, given the vintage of your bike), sourcing a metric thread single freewheel could be difficult. The easiest solution may be to pick a sprocket on your current freewheel and trim the chain to fit.

Gstev68

I was hoping to post a picture of the finished project but it seems I can't post a picture until I've posted 10 times.

Thanks to everyone who replied to my original queries. I couldn't convert the rear wheel, well, couldn't find a way of converting the original Maillard Normandy hub that easily so copped out and bought a flip flop.

I'm quite pleased with how it turned out and have had a few rides. It's a massively different ride to my 6.8Kg Di2 equipped summer bike but that's kind of the point and it should make me stronger in any case.

When I can I'll share a picture.

Ihmemies

How I can tell which bottom bracket my french bike has? I removed the left side shell no problems. I assumed since bike was french the BB was french too. I've been trying to unscrew the chainring side by turning it anticlockwise. It won't move.

I'm not a very good or experienced mechanic. Is there some way to tell if this bike has French, Swiss or BSA threads?

I mean how I can tell for 100% sure the direction I should be rotating this? What things should I measure or look for? Thanks. I have no idea how old the bike is.

The cranks were stronglight and had I think 23.35mm thread. A bike shop had a tool to remove them for me. They didn't have time to deal with the BB and I thought I'd unscrew it easily by myself.. well.

I really can't post photos. I can't link to URL's. I can't attach photos to this post. I'd love to post photos but there doesn't seem to be any way to do it at all.

juvela

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you mention that your chainset is Stronglight and required the 23.35 size puller

if the cycle's bottom bracket assembly is also Stronglight there will be markings on the fixed bottom bracket cup which indicate the threading

a metric ("French") fixed cup will have one ring (groove) and eight sides

a Swiss fixed cup will have no rings and eight sides

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Ihmemies

I found a Shimano BSA BB and tried to screw it to the left side. It went a bit but then it didn't go more. I tried to put the spindle to Stronglight cranks and the Shimano spindle didn't go nearly as deep as the original Nervar spindle.

So I assume it is an ISO taper spindle, not JIS. Also the thread is probably 35x1mm then. Seems that I'm finally up to 10 posts so I'll try to post photos in the next post.

Ihmemies

BB doesn't seem to be Stronglight. I can't find markings and the fixed cup has a groove, but it's round and cut away for a bit for a tool to unscrew it.

juvela

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a NERVAR fixed cup with one ring and two flats is BSC ("English") thread

cycle appears it may be just late enough for when mfr began using BSC/ISO dimension

french makers began switching over about 1983-84


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Ihmemies

Really. Well... right. That explains why it didn't want to unscrew!

Great that people know what kind of BB it is just by looking at the photo. I should have asked first, not sweat whole afternoon with the problem.

Mr. 66

I would have thought that bike was Swiss threaded.

Ihmemies

At least it unscrewed after changing direction, so it may be Swiss threaded? I cleaned the bike. I tried screwing a shimano BSA BB to the frame but it went only a little way before getting stuck. Also it felt like a bit "loose" right after starting to screw it in. The original cup screws in nicely compared to that, maybe it's a Swiss thread then? I'm not really an expert on these. I guess I could try my luck with a swiss hollowtech 2 bracket.

I may be imagining but with a precision measurement device ("Mauser"?") the thread ridges look like they are 1mm apart. In the BSA threaded one the threads are not 1mm apart.

merziac

Don't be swayed by what you think you see, on much of this well traveled stuff it can be a lot of touchy, feely, trust your fingers and hands as you did with the Shimano BB.
Many snags can be pushed through, many cannot.

Stop immediately when it seems to hang up, you never know when someone else started to jam the wrong thing in, finally stopped but not before mucking the threads up a bit but still getting lucky by managing to get the right one in that time anyway.

I always get out the strong readers and scribe the threads with a right angle pick mm by mm to evaluate and straighten/clean/rework the threads then chase with my own chaser cups as needed.

JohnDThompson 

It appears to be a Nervar bottom bracket, in which case, two flats and a groove on the fixed cup would indicate English thread, so clockwise to loosen.

Ihmemies

I had time to clean up the threads. The original BB shells screw in very nicely. A British bottom bracket shell from Shimano screws in halfway and then binds. I tried both sides, and they worked the same. I can't imagine where the bottom bracket would get stuck when screwing in except because of the slightly wrong threads.

So I assume it's because of the different threads in BB so I'll try to buy a swiss BB from somewhere. Sigh.