albrt 

We recently received a donation of two vintage Peugeots at our charity shop. The third-hand backstory is that these were purchased together in France and shipped back to the U.S., where they apparently sat untouched in less-than-ideal conditions for 50 years, give or take a few.

We do not have the time or the resources to do a full restoration, and we would lose money selling the restored bike locally. We do not currently have a person who is willing or able to handle internet sales, either of complete bikes or salvaged parts. If you think you might be that person, I posted a help-wanted ad last night.

Our normal business model would be to get the bikes back on the road as quickly as possible using whatever functional parts we have on hand. They do not appear to be high-end bikes to me, but I am not an expert. Once rebuilt they would be cute hipster bikes and would probably sell in the $150 to $200 range. That would mean that some of the weird old parts would get discarded.

I am looking for three things with this post:
1. Does anybody think these are actually valuable, and if so how much?
2. Does anybody have other creative ideas about how to approach cool old bikes like this?
3. If we do a quick and dirty rebuild, are there particular parts we should save?

Thanks for your constructive input. A few "before" pictures are attached.

3alarmer 

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...just noticed this thread, after seeing the bikes in your other thread. I don't see anything that jumps out at me as particularly valuable. Their value is mostly in their classic French touring bike geometry and features, like the fenders, which are magnificent, and the nice racks on the purple one with drop bars. I don't think turning them into cute hipster bikes is a bad idea, and if I were approaching either one as a project, I'd have no issues with replacing the Delrin Simplex stuff with something that fits the Simplex dropouts,, and the metric diameter frame tubing, with one of the more workable and functional Asian replacements. Suntour made some good ones for the front that work, Shimano had Crane and that other similar design, Titlest, that work on the back.

I think you mentioned that one or both look to be 650B wheels. Which is unfortunate, in that you're probably going to have to go new on tires.

I would just go all in on a functional overhaul, and send them off to college. You'll still have trouble bringing them in at under 200 bucks each as a project bike, once you price out 650B tires. If that's what they are. tires, tubes, bar tape, cables, housings, brake blocks...it all adds up quickly.

xiaoman1 

For resale it may be a tough one.....you will need all new consumables, Tires cables brake pads chain and maybe front and rear derailuers....as well as a complete lubrication of all of the bearings etc. As a Coop consumables and time may be less of an issue but it all adds up. to me 200 MAX. If all the work is done by the Coop only they can decide if it is worth it.(parts labor etc) Personally, I would clean them and sell as is to a buyer to either fix on their own or" farm" them out to the Coop to help refurbish them......sell them the parts and help them by renting shop time to them to rebuild the bike.
As they sit 35 to a high of 60 max...parts only.
Good luck, Ben

3alarmer 

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...I just looked again, and forget what I said about the rear derailleurs. With those integral claw derailleurs and the standard stamped dropouts, with no integral hanger, any claw derailleur will work, So you probably have a ton of those hanging around. The chain guard on the one bike is sort of unique, so definitely reinstall that, along with fenders and racks. If those are 650B wheels, it might pencil out cheaper to just replace them with something that accepts a standard 700c wheel set that you have, off another bike, so you can fit them with cheaper tires...maybe a decent set of used ones. The fork will probably be narrow, at 94 or 96mm, but they are easy to reset at the 100mm standard if you have a fork jig.

The rear mechanism on the mixte looks like it predates the switch to plastic. Which is interesting as well. Not sure on value there.

TugaDude

To me, what each has going for it is simply vintage appeal. The purple is a very attractive color and that alone may draw some to it. The woman's bike, with its red paint and black lugs is also quite a looker, when cleaned up of course.

As they sit, their value is limited and sadly, even when completely overhauled their value isn't anything to brag about.

But, as a labor of love, they may be priceless to someone, someone looking for a classic vintage bike to restore and to enjoy.

I agree about the fenders being a big plus.

albrt 

650b tires should not be a problem - we have tons donated by bike shops because nobody wants them. Glad to finally have a use for a few of them. Even if we replace all the cables, brake pads, etc., we probably won't have more than $50 to $70 of hard costs for each bike.

wrk101

Time capsules? Look more like dumpster finds. Low end models in poor condition. I would sell as is, and save your time and parts for better bikes.

There are a few parts that can have value here. But your time could be better spent elsewhere. The co-ops around here get more bike donations than they can handle as far as rebuilding. So they tend to sell as is stuff from the pile. Obviously should not be scrapped. To the right person, the purple bike would make a nice project. If you were in my area, I'd probably be a buyer of the purple one: like the color, Mafac canti brakes, chain guard, racks.

Surprised to see that much rust in southern AZ.

bikemig 

Concur with the others that there is not much value here. These are fairly low end bikes with obvious rust issues. That said the men's model with the 650b wheels and cantilevers may be of interest to someone who likes to restore old bikes. I'd list that one on FB and CL for a local sale as is. Whomever buys that bike to restore will want is as original as possible to start out with. I've seen crazy prices asked for the 650b Pugs. Maybe ask $75 as is and see if there is someone into old bikes who wants to fix this up.

xiaoman1 

albrt,
If thats the case, is the labor free, if so fix them and sell for 125-160....be prepared to get the lower number. If that works perhaps everyone leaves "happy." I still like my original idea of a low price with the commitment from the buyer to purchase parts from the Coop and then repairing it there.....shop either gets hrs for help or purchaser joins Coop etc. in my mind a win win.
Best, Ben

albrt 

Ben - we get some people in occasionally who say they want to build up a bike, but almost never any follow-through except from the really needy people who get bikes for 5 hours of volunteering.

xiaoman1 

So it looks like 2 options, fix and sell or sell as is for parts...If repairing, don't get in over the "C's" head with costs....even if bike resto returns them close to mint, I doubt they would sell "easily"(quickly) at the higher estimates that you have already received.
Good Luck, Ben

albrt 

Thanks. By the way, we are going to be open tonight for First Friday from about 7-10 if you feel like dropping by.

himespau 

Even if you stay at $50-70 in parts, the only way I see you getting anything more than your money back is if you use these bikes to teach new folks at the co-op how to clean/rebuild a bike. Do that, and it becomes a dual purpose use of the money. Otherwise, it's hard to see these for going more than $100. Not really time capsules.

albrt 

After spending a little time tonight with the orange mixte, I think it is going to clean up pretty well. There is inevitably some rust with old chromed steel, but most of what looks like rust in the pictures is just dirt.

We had to cut the hard-baked tires off, but underneath them the inner surface of the rims was immaculate. We have four decent 1 1/2 inch 650b tires in stock, not gumwalls but they look reasonably appropriate. We actually have a lot of 650b tires, but most of them are larger and more like a modern cruiser style.

I haven't started fiddling with the derailleurs yet, but they are metal and might be salvageable. If so this bike could be back in service with almost all original parts.

I expect the purple bike to require more alterations. It looks like it was a cheaper bike to start with, I think it was ridden more, and that plastic derailleur has been baked in the Phoenix heat for 50 years. I might take some liberties with the handlebars as well, although I will try to figure out a setup that allows us to keep the unusual brake levers.

3alarmer 

...
...I'm assuming that the bar on the purple one is an original French aluminum drop bar from that time period. They were not great, and tended toward fatigue failures near the stem. It's not a big deal to fit a sleeved Asian bar to French bikes of this vintage. And if it won't fit the stem (it probably will), the accompanying Asian stems are not difficult to fit to a French steerer diameter, by sanding down. It sounds like you might already know this.

wrk101

French bikes from that era had unique, smaller handlebar clamp diameter, which limits choices if you replace them. A standard sized bar will NOT fit!


https://www.sheldonbrown.com/velos.html

3alarmer 

...yes, but in spite of this, it's not at all difficult to fit An Asian sleeved bar at 25.4 mmm diameter into a stem like the one seen on the purple tourist. If that is too traumatic, and you are worried about the prying of the stem clamp for that extra 4 tenths of a mm (and on some stems, it really isn't a good idea), it's a pretty simple job to reduce the diameter of the Asian stem that came with the Asian bar, from 22.2 to 22. A few of the Asian manufactured stems will fit a 22 steerer without any modification at all, but you can't count on it.

Disclaimer: it is always best practice not to pry the clamps on aluminum stems open by any appreciable amount, other than maybe as a temporary assist in mounting the stem on the bar. But in real world applications, a lot of the time it works out OK, and the stem clamp does not crack or fail under use. The alternative, using old French aluminum bars, is not without some risk of failure, if you intend to ride aggressively. I have done this replacement on every 60's or 70's French bike I own and ride myself. I have broken at least one 70's French bar in use.