troysmith80

I don't know anything about vintage or road bikes. What have i got here? Anything notable or special? What should i do with it? I'd like to have a nice, quick commuter and something to take on an occasional road ride 10-30 miles.

It looks like all the decals are in very good shape, and i don't see any Reynolds stickers or anything like that, so i don't think it's an especially nice bike. The frame is just so pretty i had to pick it up. I've never had a roadbike before, i'm excited to try it out. It's snowing like mad outside with about 10" of slush and muck out there, so it'll be a bit before i get to try it.

The brakes and levers say Mafac Racer, a lot of the componentry says Simplex. It looks quite blue in photos, but it is actually a total purple, not blue at all but absolutely purple. Wheels are steel... in fact, pretty much EVERYTHING is steel. Wheels are also grooved for braking apparently.

Hubs say Normandy, wheels are 27" and say Rigida Chrolux <75>

Not sure what my plans are for it, but for $125 it seems like if i wanted to abandon it and try something different, i should be able to get out of this ok. Of course, how much will i spend on fixing it up first?!

troysmith80

cb400bill

Mid to late 70's basic model.

https://www.cyclespeugeot.com/ModelID.html

I love the color!

jyl

See my thread "My Daughter's New UO8", that I started this week - your bike looks almost identical to the one I just bought, which I'm informed is a mid-1970s UO8. So, I guess, is yours. I got lots of good advice in that thread. I like the color of your bike a lot!

Chombi

Someone please staighten that innertube valve!........

jyl

The stem makes me nervous, I wonder how much stem is actually in the steerer tube?

Maddox

It's a heavy, low-end Peugeot. They're not light, but they're very comfortable rides. The best cheap upgrades would be to (1) watch Craigslist for a set of aluminum/alloy wheels to swap for those heavy, poor-braking steel rims, and (2) swap out the plastic deraileurs, front and rear, for something better.

Here was mine, a singlespeed which was fitted with alloy wheels, shimano aero levers, sidepull calipers, new bartape, and some other stuff.



Very comfortable for 10-30 miles, but you'll really want to change out the derailleurs...they won't shift very well.

AZORCH

I'd try those derailleurs before you decide to trash them. I've had a few of those "low end" Simplex changers that shift like a dream.

wahoonc

I ran a "plastic" Simplex front and rear for many years, until the front one finally cracked. I would be a bit worried about the age of them, and would have a spare ready to go at a moment's notice...

FWIW I have a mid to late 80's Peugeot mixte that still has them

Aaron

randyjawa 

The bicycle is a nice example, as others have stated, of a mid seventies Peugeot UO8.

The concern with these bicycles is, indeed, the front derailleur, which is prone to complete failure. When this baby goes, it splits on the clamp and sometimes feeds itself into the chain rings...


If you look closely, you will see the front derailleur, now completely destroyed and taking a couple of inner ring teeth with it, hiding behind the big chain ring. The guy I got this bike from told me the derailleur broke in half, at the clamp, the summer he bought the bike...

JayBlurr

Definitely a UO8, about a 77, fix inner tube, front brake center bracket and get some alloys, i have a 75 im restoring/upgrading, love the blue nice catch. Also looks like PO added some safety necks too thats why it says schwinn approved.

tanguy frame

my first 10 speed ws a UO-8 in white, and looked exactly like OP's bike. I got hit by a car and totaled the bike and ended up with a Motobecane with a Reynolds frame and Camy Record parts.

triplebutted

I had a Mercier (for free) that basically looked exactly like that bike. Same parts and stuff. And I heard about all the problems with Simplex plastic in Front and Rear derailleur. Made it into a 1x8 commuter with Porteur bars. But someone from forum sold me a nice NOS rear Simplex. It shifts *hard*. I think it needs a heck of a lot of lube or maybe they are just like that. I'm seriously thinking of getting a 8 buck Sunrace to replace it.

redneckwes

You have a real time capsule UO-8 there, aside from those Schwinn (And they are even era appropriate) turkey levers.

jimmuller 

Before you ride it make sure the straddle cable for the front brake is seated properly in the hanger. It is only half-in in the sixth photo.

troysmith80

Thanks for the info everyone, much appreciated. I think i may move slowly with this one, spend a little time with it before i start swapping things out. Seems like alloy rims are going to be inevitable though. I've never felt such flexible cable housing, seems nice as long as it doesn't make things spongey. Pretty much all the housings are cracked near the end. I'll need to replace them or at least trim them down and readjust cables. Index shifting might be nice too, maybe even bar-end, but i'll wait and ride it as is before i do all that. Maybe i'll like it just fine as-is.

The color in pictures is quite different than the real color, strange how that works. I like the picture color better! But actually it's purple.

Thanks for mentioning the front brake cable, i noticed that in the picture too, but not when actually looking at the bike, lol. I'll fix the valve stem also. Unfortunately it's going to be a while before i get to ride it. The weather here has been horrible the last several days and doesn't look to be getting much better right away.

troysmith80

Actually got some clear skies for a bit this morning and the roads cleared in the rain yesterday, so i managed to get out for a quick spin around the neighborhood. The bike seems to work very well. I was shocked at the braking power. I mean, it's not exactly hydro-disk mt bike brakes, but i was expecting utter crap based on how flexy the calipers are. They actually work just fine. Seems to shift fine too. Bar end shifters or brifters would be more convenient but the down tube shifters aren't that bad.

Anyway, i will have to get used to drop bars, that is a radically different position than my mt bike or cruiser type town bikes which are all i've ever owned before. (can't remember if i already mentioned, this is my first road bike ever) It's not as terrible as i'd imagined though! :-) I messed around with seat position a bit. It almost seems like it feels best when it is tilted down in front quite a bit. That takes weight off the perineum and puts it more onto my bones, but i notice that everyone seems to have their seats pretty flat. The frame size seems very good for me.

Anyway, i'm pleased with the way the bike handles and operates and nothing is screaming for immediate replacement. Lightly snowing again now.

anixi

The hot set up on this bike IMO would be either a Brooks or Ideale saddle. You would be able to level the saddle out, the perineum would be happy, since your "bits" would be held up higher. Perching on the saddle, as opposed to constantly loading it with your whole weight, will be an essential skill to learn once you have a leather saddle. They have always been the comfort saddle of choice for myself for decades. Depends on your budget, but, you should be able to get leather via classifieds on this board, or EBay for about $50. Very good investment also, Peugeots are supposed to have them anyway to be period correct.

jimmuller 

He! Welcome to both road bikes and C&V simultaneously. You have just discovered why Peugeot sold a zillion UO8s in the old days. They were pretty darn good bikes! DT friction shifters work well and survived the TdF okay so they must have worked, so don't let the modern roadies tell you you have to have indexing shifters.

Now, if you swap wheels for alloy you'll have the real hot ticket. As for the bars, mostly people ride on the tops or the brake hoods, and use the drop only when driving into a strong wind or when trying to maintain a very high speed. Dropped bars offer a lot of options.

RosyRambler

Very nice Puegeot Troy. I hope you like it.

I recently purchased the mixte version of that model, in yellow. I haven't ridden it yet, I need a bolt for the crankset, but I'm having fun figuring out how to lighten it up while still keeping it French.

It doesn't matter to me that it's not 'top of the line', I like her just fine!

Gravity Aided

The brakes aren't the problem, in my opinion . I've had the derailleurs in the past , and some old Suntours would do a better job for you . That was the standard swap-out on these bikes , and it worked out quite well . These Peugeots give a ride definitely greater than the sum of their parts . Alloy wheels will make a big difference on this bike .

prettyshady

PURPLE PEUGEOT!

how pretty!

good post randy, I find so many cracked simplex front derailleurs

If the a simplex derailleur is over tightened, the plastic will fail. be careful to not over tighten them, check over newly acquired ones and they will be ok.

Grand Bois

They'll eventually crack whether or not they're over tightened.

jyl

I'm also pleased with the ride of the UO8 we recently acquired, for my daughter. Even though it is a bit too small for me, I rode it to work all last week. Compared to my usual commute bike - mountain bike (Bridgestone MB-Zip) w/ street tires, suspension fork, fenders, lights, rack - this old, entry level, 28-ish pound Peugeot is **significantly** more efficient for cruising at 15-20 mph. More comfortable too. And it has a lot of soul. For the money, I think these bikes are great!