Classic & Vintage - Peugeot UJ 10?

At first I though my wifes bike was an AO-8 or a UO-8 but in all the pictures I looked at things never quite matched up. Her bike had a painted fork like the AO-8, but Normandy Hubs like the UO-8.

So today I ran across a brochure with a "UJ 10" which has a smaller 19" frame like my wife's and has the painted fork with Normandy hubs.

The only thing still somewhat puzzling about my wife's bike is that it has clamp-on cable guides for the rear break and no pump pegs. This is inconsistent with the pictures I've seen of Peugeot's lower end bikes.

Anybody who used to sell these things that could explain this? Here's a pic of my wife's bike. Not the greatest picture but a storm was coming and the light was bad.

Note: The wheels and the derailleurs are not the originals.

what catalog did u come across? what size wheels are on it?

what catalog did u come across? what size wheels are on it?

Here's the catalog: http://tinyurl.com/26zalh

The bike has 27 inch wheels.

I have that same catalog. Its a squatty little mens frame...Peugeot didnt make the AO AE UO UE in anything smaller than a 21.

I have that same catalog. Its a squatty little mens frame...Peugeot didnt make the AO AE UO UE in anything smaller than a 21.

Good to know. I noticed something else that's different. In the catalog, the derailleur cables are housed for the entire run, while on my wife's bike, they're not. The differences probably don't matter much, I'm just curious if I actually have a different year/model or if there was just that much variation in the bikes.

Here's a larger picture of my wife's bike: http://www.bogie.us/images/bike.jpg

Check under the toptube for evidence of previous cable guides.

Specs varied from year to year so its very possible yours is not a '74 model as pictured.

Check under the toptube for evidence of previous cable guides.

Specs varied from year to year so its very possible yours is not a '74 model as pictured.
The serial number stamped on the dropouts would indicate it's a 71 but I have a hard time believing that it's that old. The person we bought it from was the original owner. I imagine she's in her late 40's, and it sounded like she bought the bike on her own. Even if it's a 74, she would have been pretty young at the time. Since it's an odd size, maybe the frame itself is that old and was later assembled into a full bike.

I don't have a 73, 75, or 76 brochure to look at, but I'm guessing it's mid 70's. The decals match the 74 brochure exactly. By 77 I know they had gone to stem mounted shifters.

I'll take a closer look at the top tube, I hadn't seen anything when I looked before.

The decal schme spanned many years. Without specific information its almost impossible to tell the difference between model years.

As far as I know Cycles Peugeot didnt import bikes into the U.S. until '74. Any brochures before that time are either foreign or brochures made up of a particular distributors offerings.

You dont think it looks old enough to be a '71? A '74 is 33 years old so a '71 would be 37. I dont know but sometimes 37 year old women are hotter then 33 year olds. No younger than '74 due to a decal change beginnig in '74.

I wouldnt call it an odd size. It was designed for individuals of the age range you mention for the previous owner.

Frame build up? Nope.

The decal schme spanned many years. Without specific information its almost impossible to tell the difference between model years.

As far as I know Cycles Peugeot didnt import bikes into the U.S. until '74. Any brochures before that time are either foreign or brochures made up of a particular distributors offerings.

You dont think it looks old enough to be a '71? A '74 is 33 years old so a '71 would be 37. I dont know but sometimes 37 year old women are hotter then 33 year olds. No younger than '74 due to a decal change beginnig in '74.

I wouldnt call it an odd size. It was designed for individuals of the age range you mention for the previous owner.

Frame build up? Nope.

Except that she was an adult or at least full grown ;-) She said that she had trouble finding a bike that would fit and a girlfriend recommended this one.

I'm guessing at the age of the bike based on the age of the owner who I'm figuring was at least 17 or 18 at the time of purchase. So if the bike is a 74, that would put her in her early 50's. Since she seemed even younger than that (even according to my wife), a 71 would really be pushing it, especially since she may have been 19 or 20 when she bought it.

Anyway it's all speculation and I'm certainly not a wizard at guessing people's ages, just trying to do some deduction based on available information.

Just got home from a short day at work and took a look at the top tube. There's no evidence of braze-on cable guides underneath that I can see.

Anyway, I appreciate all your input.

Very interesting. The decals indicate 1974 or earlier but several over clues indicate later, such as the safety levers, chain guard, and lack lack of pump pegs. The derailleur and saddle appear to be later additions, but would she have added the safety levers and chainguard? What's the front derailleur. It doesn't look like the standard push-rod Simplex? If it's Simplex but not push-rod, that would would be another piece of evidence to support a post 1974 model. My guess is that it is newer than 1974. Perhaps it is a foreign variant of the UJ10?

As for AO, UO and UE series in 19" fames, Peugeot USA did offer them, but not until later in the 1970s.

I concur on 1974 being the first year for Peugeot USA. In 1973 and earlier, there were regional distributors.

Dont mean to change the subject, but were can I find old Peugeot catalogs?

I just bought an old one off of CL and I am trying to find out a date on it. My decals look alot like yours (tj) though not as good condition.

Thanks

Very interesting. The decals indicate 1974 or earlier but several over clues indicate later, such as the safety levers, chain guard, and lack lack of pump pegs. The derailleur and saddle appear to be later additions, but would she have added the safety levers and chainguard? What's the front derailleur. It doesn't look like the standard push-rod Simplex? If it's Simplex but not push-rod, that would would be another piece of evidence to support a post 1974 model. My guess is that it is newer than 1974. Perhaps it is a foreign variant of the UJ10?

As for AO, UO and UE series in 19" fames, Peugeot USA did offer them, but not until later in the 1970s.

I concur on 1974 being the first year for Peugeot USA. In 1973 and earlier, there were regional distributors.

I can clear up some of the mystery. I'm sure the saddle is not original. The front and rear deraillers were recently replaced by me. The original was a red label Simplex Prestige. The front derailleur was a Simplex pushrod.

I doubt the original owner would have added a chainguard or brake extensions at a later date. I suppose it's possible she had the bike shop install the non-standard brake levers at the time of purchase. If I remember right, people really liked those at the time, but I don't know how common they were in 74.

It's likely Peugeots were finding their way to this area before 1974. I have a brother who is nearly 10 years older than myself and I can remember him biking to a junior college that was at least 15 miles away. That would have been in 72 or 73. His bike was (and is) a PA-10 and he thinks it's a '70 or thereabouts. He still commutes with it. He says he remembers scanning the classifieds for PX-10s and could never find one that wasn't already sold.

Personally, I think my wife's bike is a 74 or 75, - possibly a 76. I know in 77, Peugeots (some at least) had stem mounted shifters. That might have started earlier.

Dont mean to change the subject, but were can I find old Peugeot catalogs?

I just bought an old one off of CL and I am trying to find out a date on it. My decals look alot like yours (tj) though not as good condition.

Thanks

Try here: http://www.retropeugeot.com/

That's where I found the catalog with the UJ 10

1974 was a transitional year for decals. All models in the U.S. catalog have decals like yours although the newer style was available on some non-U.S. models.

1975 saw a combination of decals like on your bike as well as many models with the newer decals.

1976...all new style decals

I still think its early 70's but who knows......

Oh, one more thing that might be significant. The original wheels had Normandy hubs, but they weren't quick release. They didn't even have wingnuts. Just plain old nuts. I know that in the U.S in '76 or so (or earlier), they quit using wingnuts for safety reasons or something like that.

Another possibility is that the bike originally had wingnuts but they got lost at some point.

Oh, one more thing that might be significant. The original wheels had Normandy hubs, but they weren't quick release. They didn't even have wingnuts. Just plain old nuts. I know that in the U.S in '76 or so (or earlier), they quit using wingnuts for safety reasons or something like that.

Another possibility is that the bike originally had wingnuts but they got lost at some point.

The CPSC had concerns about wingnuts long before 1976. A lot of the bigger manufacturers, like Peugeot, implemented some of the changes in advance of the actual legislation, believing that the CPSC proposals were inevitable. I believe we started seeing this change on the 1975 Peugeot models. While this may add a bit more ammunition to the post 1974 argument, as you point out, they could very easily have changed.

Unfortunately it doesn't have your bike, but is definitely a great source of catalogs:
http://home.wanadoo.nl/peugeotshow/

The CPSC had concerns about wingnuts long before 1976. A lot of the bigger manufacturers, like Peugeot, implemented some of the changes in advance of the actual legislation, believing that the CPSC proposals were inevitable. I believe we started seeing this change on the 1975 Peugeot models. While this may add a bit more ammunition to the post 1974 argument, as you point out, they could very easily have changed.
For self-serving reasons, I like the 1975 date.

I was thinking it would be hard to lose all 4 wingnuts but on the other hand given that people had trouble getting them tight enough, maybe they were just replaced.

The safety break levers are Dia Compe but the levers themselves are Mafac. Were those style lever extensions ever an aftermarket type add on? It looks like they would have been easy to install later on.

I picked up the same model and size of bike this past spring at an auction (cost me $1.00) - but the one I got was white. Unfortunately, I have no additional information that might be helpful in placing the date. I presumed that it was late 70's or very early 80's, but I don't really have anything concrete to base that on other than the brake lever extensions.