markk900

Extremely tempted to post a Mr and Mrs Markk900 AO-8 picture while Brett finishes his bike but we’ve been together 45 years and there’s no way to get her out in subzero temps to pose for a photo going on a bike forum. So Brett it’s all on you!

IdahoBrett 

Getting closer. I still need to adjust brake cable tension a bit. I swear three hands are a must for center pull brakes. I used tie wraps to get me close. I’m such a rookie.

I might get derailleur cables done tomorrow. Bar tape is an art form. I’m not artsy. Two different cable housings, so two different shades of white. It bugs me. So I’ll redo that.

markk900

If you are going to redo the brake cables you may want to try routing the cables behind the handlebars. On mine it seems to be a smoother transition especially for the front brake.

IdahoBrett 

Thanks for that tip. I wasn’t sure which side I should run them. I discovered that the way I did it that it causes the rear brake ferrule to sit at an odd angle. Especially after a pull. I imagine that’ll help for some issues with the front as well.

non-fixie 

I recognize that. One possible problem is indeed the shape of the bars. With too great a reach the auxiliary levers will pass in front of the tops when pulled (not good) and with too deep a drop the levers wil be too far away from the tops in rest position (not good either).

It took me quite a bit of trial and error with lots of different sets of bars to find examples that work with the Shimano DEL-80's I use on mrs non-fixie's bikes.

IdahoBrett 

Today I worked on the brakes and almost got them working perfectly to my liking. I had enough time to run the RD cable. Oddly it works as is. I did adjust the stop screws without the cable yesterday.

markk900

Looks great so far! You’re almost there….

IdahoBrett 

Thanks! I'm personally not a fan of how the turkey levers "feel" when applying the brakes. They have what I can only describe as a mushy or soft feel. The regular brake levers have a nice, hard, firm feel. If I were smarter I could probably launch into a diatribe about levers and fulcrums. But I ain't.

markk900

I hear you but what’s important is: does Mrs IdahoBrett like them? If she likes them she’ll ride the bike and you can be happy; if she doesn’t like them she won’t and you can take the levers off and ride it yourself 😎 (and be happy in a different way).

IdahoBrett 

I believe Mrs. Idaho will be happy. It's the first bike I've rehabbed just for her. The others all were just for me. Personal attention. She appreciates that kind of stuff. I'm lucky to have a wife that doesn't give me grief about my hobbies. And if she don't like it.....I do like the color. But I'm too tall for it. The green has grown on me so much, I think I "need" to find me one in that color to fix up. Nicer weather is 'round the corner though. I want to ride more, wrench less....

IdahoBrett 

Mrs. Idaho’s



His and her’s Peugeot

juvela

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Completo!


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IdahoBrett 

Are they ever really though?

juvela

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cycle work on one's own machines not nearly so endless as housework and yardwork

there are periods where one is "done"...for a spell



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IdahoBrett 

The spell is a short one. During yesterdays test ride I noticed Mrs. Idaho’s Peugeot pulled to the right. Enough so that no hands wouldn’t be possible.

I did some reading here on BF late yesterday. I hoped for a wheel dish issue.

Put the bike in the stand this morning. The fork is bent. Impossible to photograph. But it is easy to see while sighting on the front tire that it cuts across the BB at an angle. Bummer.

juvela

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...one of those discoveries which can make one wish they had repacked HS with retainers rather than loose ball...

with practice ye shall learn to recognise deformations of companion of knife & spoon quickly by eye

you may have already noticed that the phrase "fork is bent" is a kind of number joke here on the forum

best to take fork to someplace which has the alignment jig...


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IdahoBrett 

The green machine wasn’t rideable for more than a few feet when I first bought it so I didn’t catch the pull to the right then. Considering the condition of the paint the idea of damage didn’t cross my mind. Well that and my inexperience with overhauling a bike I didn’t think to check frame/fork straightness.

I get to disassemble the front end again I guess. If it weren’t for this fine bike forum and its people I couldn’t have gotten this far this fast with this bike.

Any and all tips/suggestions would be much appreciated. The forks(s) appear to be laterally bent. The non drive side looks to be the most bent.

juvela

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the alignment gauge shall telleth the tale...

there is a great deal which can be done wrt frame alignment with a simple piece of string, a straightedge and a ruler

the companion of knife & spoon really requires the gauge - trying to work without it can make things woyser before they gets mo' beddah...


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Trakhak

For bikes that pulled to one side, the head mechanic in a shop that I used to manage in the '80's would test ride the bike, pull the front wheel off, bend the fork blades toward the side to which they were pulling, ride it again, and maybe repeat the operation once more. When the bike was finally riding straight, he'd then return to the shop and use a pair of dropout tools to fine-tune the alignment of the blades and dropouts.

IdahoBrett 

I have attempted to capture the bent fork in a picture. I used the wheel that the bike came with. Pretty obvious now. Learning curve or something.

noglider 

First of all, you earn respect from setting up center pull brakes with only three hands. It sometimes takes four. We used to use a tool called a third hand and sometimes one called a fourth hand.

If the only defect in the fork is that the blades are too far to one side, you have a good chance at fixing it. Getting the length of the blades and the offset (front to back) are much trickier. You might be able to make a gauge with a piece of string. Go from the brake mounting hole to the place where the wheel engages the fork. But something rigid would be better.

IdahoBrett 

An AWESOME BF member who lives nearby PM'd me and we're getting together soon to come up with a fix!

markk900

My experience with Peugeot forks is they have the strength of al dente pasta. I twisted
my AO-8 fork with a minor drop into a pot hole… bending back was easy - too easy as I accidentally over adjusted it.

All is well now (and I subsequently purchased alignment tools), but be aware they bend very (very) easily so don’t eat wheaties on the day you are doing your adjustment.

noglider 

@markk900 is right, and that will make aligning the fork easy.

IdahoBrett 

I discovered the pasta effect as I pondered whether or not 100mm hubs would fit without cold setting. My concern was unfounded. They slid right in the dropouts with nothing more than flexing two fingers.😉