Soody

Someone bought me this lovely french bike to fix up today.
It won't be a proper restoration, or period correct, budget will not be that high, but i want it to look good, and ride good.

I need some help. Firstly, what is it?
Any advice or info appreciated, because i suspect French tricks and i am not used to them.

Soody

I always found even clearly low end Peugeots quite charming. Nice graphics and iunno. This seems better than that though.

Millstone

Looks like my Triathlon peug. That was from 1987.
Had the same seatpost.

IIRC I had a Dura Ace RD installed at some point. And the BB was "normal" threaded, I think I replaced it with a Shimano BB UN 50? You know, the standard thing.
https://www.peugeotshow.com/1987nl/1987_04.jpg <-- mine.

Yours should be of similar age. Hope this helps!

Soody

Issues:
A shop has swapped a square taper Sora crank on there. The DS arm is loose on the taper, and has been ridden, so i suspect destroyed. Is the shell a french standard?

The quill seatpost bolt took a lot to crack. Once the bolt loosens, it just spins, and the post doesn't move. I suspect it's a cone-type expander, that moves down slightly, then just spins?

The simplex FD clamp snapped straight away when I tried to shift it in the stand.
The rear derailer hanger is threaded french? Is it a good mech? The cage is extremely short. If i swapped to a 11-28 cassette with a different wheel, would this shift it?

The hubs both feel very rough. The alloy rims are messed up. And some spokes are very loose and the rims are out of true. If i keep them, will the axle threading take shimano cones? Is the freewheel threading generic? Would a 7spd tourney freewheel go on here, with or without re-dishing? It would be very good to have wider gearing.

What can be done about the messed up rims, specifically the brake surfaces, with this marred aluminium?

It definitely needs new brake pads. I will suggest a modern dual pivot front caliper if budget allows, meaning drilling the fork. The levers are nice, but the hoods are badly dry rotted. Can they be replaced?

sacré bleu

Millstone

BB is probably standard.

Seatpost quill is a "wedge" type.

Threads for RD is probably standard i.e. normal.

Heliomantic freewheel is "special". I'd spread the frame a tad and use a normal wheel with 8 speed cassette.
Should be 126 mm now, 2 mm each side can probably be done by hand.

I'd replace the wheels if they are that bad. Then again, I cant redish a wheel so YMMV. Others will probably give better advise.

I'd look at 1988 catalogues. Or there about.

KenNC

Looks like you have some work cut out for you but still a nice frame and paint looks good! On brake hoods, I've always had good luck with the Cane Creek non-aero brake hoods available on eBay, Amazon, etc., particularly since those are Weimann levers. And modestly priced! Don't know how well the levers will work if you swap out the front brake calipers though. Also, did you try some non-abrasive dish scrub pads on the rims? I've had anodized rims that looked pretty sad that brightened up quite a bit with them. I've seen some postings here about the quill seatpost--they seem relatively rare and I note that one seems missing its upper parts, so that may be a problem. Finally, the helicomatic rear hubs have a reputation for premature wearing on the cone surface so you may want to research them--many posts on this forum. I have a Peugeot from that era that had such hubs and mine had some wear on the rear cones, but I cleaned, re-packed and they are performing okay for now....

Soody

thanks yeah the seatpost has its bits i just took em off to get to the quill bolt

dedhed

I'd look for a donor bike for parts.

Around here something like this.
https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/bik...452661586.html

T-Mar

It uses the binderless seat lug without the set screw, so it should be 1985-1987. The OP is from New Zealand, so the bicycle likely came from Australia where they had a licensed assembler for Peugeot bicycles. There's a good probability that it was locally spec'd and marketed under a model name/number not used elsewhere. The component mix doesn't appear to match anything offered in America at the time. The serial number should at least allow us to determine the manufacturing date.

madpogue 

It's not just the Helicomatic freewheel that's "special", it's the hub. Lots of threads here in C&V about it; in short, your axle / cone swap idea won't work. Repacking is no different from a conventional freewheel/hub. Rehabbing both wheels vs. cold-setting to a 130mm 7-8 speed rear depends on whether you consider your wrench time "free". Also depends on how heavily you intend to use the bike; I would lean toward a conventional (whatever size/spacing) rear if it's going to be a DD.

As for the crank/BB, it'll (most likely) be the crank arm that's destroyed, not the spindle. Some have brought them back from the dead with a little choice filing of the flats inside the arm.

This looks older than 1987 to me, with the Simplex and Helico bits. I'm guessing early '80s, esp. since they "advertise" "12 vitesses". Posting the serial number MIGHT provide a clue.

If you're looking at brake upgrades, consider some "post-period-correct" aero levers, or even a set of modern levers.

Does the seat post exhibit any sign of rotating / pulling out? You may have loosened the wedge/expander just enough to allow it to move.

Mr. 66

Looks a lot like the Reynolds 501 version that I had in burgundy

This has Swiss threaded bb.

Soody

thanks all, this is really helpful

SJX426 

@Soody - If your rear hub feels rough, it is likely toast. I had one and the DS race was done for with no replacement available. The issue is that this hub need care and feeding with the smaller bearing size.
P1000288 on Flickr

John E

By the late 1980s, I do believe Peugeot had switched to ISO BB threading, but my 1980 PKN-10 has Swiss.

madpogue 

There's one 1988 AUS brochure on bikeboompeugeot.com , scans are, er, sub-optimal. Graphic/lettering style is different. Your bike's graphics more closely match those in the UK '87 book, and indeed, the UK '87 Tristar featured a 6-speed Helicomatic.

1simplexnut

Hiya ,
I remember selling those when they were new . Would have been 1987 ,1988 Penny Farthing Cycles .
There were two levels of frame as I recall . One was full vitus 980 and the other was not .
The ones with the panto and chromed fork were the full Vitus .
I have this vague memory of Healing Industries in Christchurch? making them under license for Peugeot .
Maybe they just assembled them ?
The rear derailleur has a screw in the back side of drop out . You can get it out from the inside (does that make sense? )
DONT try to take the derailleur by winding through the hex hole on the front . DONT DONT !

The helicomatic hubs can be a bit(ahem) problematic .
If you need some cones let me know and I will have a dig in the cave for you .
MAy have some used bits you are welcome to .

Have fun with it .

1simplexnut

Quill seat post can be a pain if stuck .
The end of the main body has a taper on it . Bolt goes through the sleeve on bottom into a wedge .
The end sleeve normally gets frozen in seat tube and the main body and wedge just spin around
I used a bit of threaded bar and a slide hammer last time I had one stuck . Brutal but it worked .



atax quill seat post

Nubra 

Wow, that is the worse I've seen!!!

Soody

fantastic info thank you
still waiting to hear back from the guy to see what direction he wants to go with it

Millstone

If not Vitus, then probably Reynolds 501.

Soody

Progress
Stripped it and got some sort of french parts lined up:

Soody

Saga with the seatpost.
Got the wedge to drop down, but then, the post is stuck.
Soaked it (though I think this does nothing)
Tried muscling it with a junk saddle in the clamp, the clamp is plastic and shifts under force. I really don't want to break the clamp so stop.
Then try waterpump pliers with a huge lever over the post head. No success. I didn't try that hard because we're now at 'might break something in a bad way and junk the frame' territory.
I was going to try 1simplexnut's slide hammer method but i feel that also is liable to do damage.

Had a discussion and the owner says the seat height is right for him and he doesn't want to risk it. I've already cut a post out with a hacksaw blade this year which took about 5 hours so mixed feelings. I don't like being defeated by a seatpost but nice to have an excuse to stop.

Soody

Original bottom bracket came out but it's filthy/dry and badly pitted. Hoping it's std thread. Will replace with a cartridge unit.

I'm really glad I got the advice about unthreading the derailer derailleur from the back. The simplex derailleur doesn't actually thread into the hanger, it just has a recessed nut that passes through it. The dropout is also marked simplex, but it has a stop, and a regular shimano derailer threads into it fine. Was I just forcing that? I do have the park tap I could run through it.

I'd like to replace the simplex derailleur because it has slop in a few places, it has to be about to break and the cage is extremely short, so might not even do 28t.
I found this Acera derailer which has some nice french-style plastic.
Gonna try to keep the shifters though, they're kinda cool, how will their pull ratio work with shimano (or suntour, or campy)? Is that an issue at all?

Soody

not sure how wrong/offensive this is

Millstone

Looks fine. :-) And still French. That's a win-win.

I'd wager that the shimano RD threads are fine. My 1986/87 Peugeot had a 105 RD. Worked like a charm.

Seatpost: leave it if the owner doesnt mind.

Good luck!