Classic & Vintage - YAPP - Yet Another Peugeot Post

Hello all - I've been spending time exploring the site, so I recognize the joy with which you will all greet another identification question about an old, entry level Peugeot, but here goes.....

I know this is an AO-8, since I've owned it since 1974. However, I bought it used way back then and I'd like to understand what year it might be. Pictures attached, but you will find the wheels, seat, handlebars and cranks are all non-stock (I put them on just this year after recovering the frame from my parents house). Originally, it had the Rigida rims, Atom s.f. hubs, etc.

If I recall correctly, it had a nicer cottered crank that those I see on the UO-8 pictures, and I remember at the time that it was a different crank than the UO-8s I saw around. I believe it was a steel Stronglight cottered crank.

Other minor but possibly significant tidbits are the all-alloy shifters, and the simpler decals on the down tube (the silver sticker on the seat tube is the original faded dealer sticker).

Finally, the serial number is on the dropout, is only six digits, and starts with a "0" - (059488).

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Mark

Not sure what those shifters are, they look, style-wise, like the old Huret shifters common from the late 50's onward. Do they have a brand mark on them? Are the deraillers Simplex? The bike-boom Peugeots almost always (from what I have seen) had Simplex deraillers and shifters, not Huret. The small flange Atom hubs are also interesting to note, almost every "8" series peugeot I ever heard of had high flange Normandy hubs. I guess this leads me to believe that this may be a "pre" bike-boom peugeot from the 60's, hopefully you can find out more from Classic Rendezvous or one of the similar sites that have lots of Peugeot info on them. Good luck!

Thanks for your comments - the shifters are Simplex as they are (to the best of my knowledge) original, and the shifter mount is the normal brazed lug on the right with a Simplex labeled bracket wrapping around. The original rear derailleur is still there (Simplex) and I have the original Simplex push style front but never liked it so I put on a Sun Tour which works very nicely (and looks better IMHO).

The AO-8 is distinguished from the UO- series by the s.f. hubs (and no chrome on the forks). But I am curious whether my bike predates John E's, as the decals are simpler on the downtube. The serial number is also 6 digits (60's or just laziness on the stamping line?). If the latter, then I'd think this was a 1970 because of the leading 0....but I wanted the opinions of the experts.

Mark