My new but old bike and questions

[wazzow]

So I was given the bike below by a friend and am currently using it to commute to work. It is a Peugeot Optimum I think from the early 90s. The colour takes a bit of getting used to but I am loving it so far! It is so much better to cycle than the Hybrid I was using previously.

Anyway, I have some questions I hope you knowledgable people may be able to answer:

1. I am looking for a panier rack for it and have no idea what kind I am looking for. I have included a closer up view of the rear
2. I would also like to fit some SPD pedals. Would modern pedals fit ok?
3. What are people's opinions on the bike itself? Was it a popular model back in the day? Expensive?

[MC Bodge]

Modern pedals will fit.

The gearing may be very high. I was once given an 80s Falcon that had 53:39 chainrings and a 14-21 block, which was fairly arduous on long climbs until I swapped for a 14-27.

Make sure you spend time adjusting the bike fit to suit you properly.

[2volvos]

Nice old Peugeot...

You might find it listed in an old catalogue on here...they go up to '93.

http://www.peugeotshow.com/

I've got the PE41 from the 1975 catalogue and love it to bits. It's got drop bars rather than the flats in the pic but has that five speeds and top tube gear shifter. Got a new ally and carbon roadbike but have just as much fun on the Peugeot, and much more of a conversation starter.

[wazzow]

2volvos said:

You might find it listed in an old catalogue on here...they go up to '93.

http://www.peugeotshow.com/

I found it in the 92 catalogue. Thanks for that. And thanks too for the advice about the pedals. Will go and see if I can find any I like.

[richardxjr]

If it's normal SPDs your after (instead of SLs), Shimano PD-A520 would be alright, £25 @ Wiggle atm.

[yellowjack]

Coincidentally, I've just brought a 1997 Falcon Pro-Line back to life after about 6 years of it being stuffed in the back of the garage...


Before - stripped of lights and brackets for locks and cycle computers, but entirely original, down to the bar tape and cables. Okay, it'd had new brake pads and tyres, obviously, but otherwise totally original. Gearing is a fairly hardcore 53/39 x 13-23, especially combined with the weight of a cheap Cro-Moly frame!



After - a new headset (bearings were shot in the old one) and the front wheel trued for £35, some DIY drilling out of the rear bridge and fork crown (to 8mm) to allow the fitting of modern Ultegra brakes, salvaged, along with the brake cables, bar tape, and saddle from my (sadly crashed)Merida aluminium road bike, some SPD pedals (kindly donated by PHer richardxjr, cheers!) to replace the toe-clip originals, plus the Garmin mount, speed/cadence sensor, and some wheel reflectors from the dead Merida and a cheap Aldi/Lidl saddle bag (with annoying jangly zips).

This is 'Phase 1' of the "Frankenbike Experiment". Phase 2 will see the swapping of the downtube gear shifters for some bolt-on stops, and the 10-speed Ultegra gear shifters from the Merida will go on, along with the (trued) wheels from the crashed bike, giving me a far more forgiving 11-28 cassette at the back. I'm hoping to keep the 53-39 chainset for the time being, but as soon as I buy the required (smaller diameter) band-on front mech, the chainset and bottom bracket will (compatibility allowing) get ditched in favour of the rest of the salvaged groupset from the deceased Merida. At that point, some 38c tyres and tubes will be salvaged from the remains of my wife's broken commute bike, and it'll become my 'gentle off road' byway and canal towpath cruiser, which will be equally at home on tarmac.

Original cost of the bike was £229 in May 1997. The new headset was £35 including fitting, along with front wheel truing. The bits from the Merida are free, because the driver's insurance company has more than adequately compensated me for it's status as a "total loss" and has no interest in the salvage. It's beginning to look like exceedingly good value for money, as I got loads of regular use out of it, over the 11 years it was in use as my commute bike and my leisure/sport bike. Then it was sidelined by a (loaned from work) Giant SCR3, and when that was recalled (I was in the Army, and it belonged to the unit Triathlon team)in 2010 I bought the Merida Road-Race 905 which I was riding when I was hit by a van last year, which bent the frame. For most of it's life it wasn't fitted with a cycle computer, so I've no accurate measure of the miles it has covered, but a conservative estimate would be in the region of 8,000 miles, and the frame will hopefully be good for at least another 8,000. In fact, it's so 'overbuilt' that I reckon so long as suitable parts are available, it might just go on for my lifetime (and possibly beyond).

Not that any of my waffling has answered your questions...

wazzow said:

...anyway, I have some questions I hope you knowledgeable people may be able to answer:

1. I am looking for a pannier rack for it and have no idea what kind I am looking for. I have included a closer up view of the rear
2. I would also like to fit some SPD pedals. Would modern pedals fit ok?
3. What are people's opinions on the bike itself? Was it a popular model back in the day? Expensive?

1. I'm not much use re: the rear rack. I'm sure a LBS would be able to advise on something suitable, though. Depends what braze-ons/drillings you have on the seat stays and dropouts, I think.
2. Pedals should fit OK. Certainly modern pedals have gone straight onto mine, and I don't think the thread standard for pedals has changed at all since your Peugeot was built.
3. Not sure how expensive it was 'back in the day', but there is something lovely about steel bikes of that era. Which is why I'm contemplating a set of Dura-Ace downtube shifters instead of Ultegra STI combined brake/shift levers for my gearing upgrade, to keep it looking 'period' whilst giving it a new, more forgiving lease of life. It looks to have a decent set of brakes on it too. It's a very nice looking bike, and I hope you enjoy it for years to come.

One thing, though. If you ever sell it, please, please, please keep it out of the hands of the "fixie conversion" mob. Those skinny-trousered, silly-bearded trendy types will happily ruin it, and it deserves to be kept close to the original standard, if at all possible. I'm keeping all the original components from mine, so that I can put it back to original condition at any time in the future, before anyone accuses me of hypocrisy. "Project Frankenbike" is only happening to make it easier to live with on a day-to-day basis, and because all the bits are lying around the garage anyway

[uncinquesei]

wazzow said:

1. I am looking for a panier rack for it and have no idea what kind I am looking for. I have included a closer up view of the rear

It's a lovely looking thing.
On my commuter (a good 15 yrs older than yours) a bit of the usual imrovisation got the pannier to fit no problem. It's an Aldi rack (was less than 20 quid 5 years ago and is far better quality than any others I've seen or owned). It fitted on the lower mounts by the drop outs no problem, the frame doesn't have mountings for the top/front parts so I used a bit of old inner tube to protect frame (seems futile when you see the state of the rest of it...) and an old bike light mounting wrapped around seat tube with a long thin bolt through it to hold the rack. (I just ran downstairs at work to take these photos so I hope it's clear)

[uncinquesei]

yellowjack said:

One thing, though. If you ever sell it, please, please, please keep it out of the hands of the "fixie conversion" mob.

Oops.

[2volvos]

Oh, and there are local bike shops and local bike shops. I'm lucky that in Worcester there are at least two that really know their way around old steel bikes and their older components.

I've been helped out on my old Pug with a replacement chrome front mudguard and when the rear crank sheared with refurbed components that had been amassed in the workshop. Worth having a scout round the Yellowpages and under railway arches.

And yes, enjoy the bike. Lots of personality.

[yellowjack]

uncinquesei said:

yellowjack said:

One thing, though. If you ever sell it, please, please, please keep it out of the hands of the "fixie conversion" mob.

Oops.

Sorry!

For clarity, though, conversions like yours, what keep the character of the bike, and are quite obviously carried out with practicality in mind, may (just) be permitted to display a 'Certificate of Exemption'. Is yours even a "fixie"? The brakes at both ends and the fact that it's obviously working for a living suggest single speed 'flip-flop' hub, rather than "because trendy" no brakes fixed gear.

Ultimately, I'm just bitter and twisted. A few years ago, a Raleigh Record Sprint was put outside a house not too far from me with a "Free to good home" sign on it. As I was riding past on my way home, I finished the ride, and nipped back in the car to carry away my "prize". Sadly it was already gone, and was spotted some time later, butchered, with the handlebars rotated up through 180° and the original gearing and wheels replaced (no doubt dumped in a skip) with modern 'bold coloured' deep rims. I should have stopped, and asked the original owner to put it out of sight while I fetched the car, then I could have saved it, and re-lived my youth Lesson learned.