Classic & Vintage - Original brakes on a Peugeot Montreal Express?

Hi Everyone,

I'm trying to help my brother get his Montreal Express into more roadworthy condition. It's a nice bike that looks almost perfect, painted in two-tone white and green. The green looks almost like the Bianchi Milano green. It may be running on its original tires. Looks like an early hybrid. He got it at a garage sale a couple of years ago when he was living in Atlanta for $15. He wants to use it as a commuting bike whenever he can.

It looks like someone's upgraded the brakes to centerpull cantilevers. They're probably better than the originals, but are a pain in the backside to get adjusted. I think they're close to being right, but not perfect. We have a C&V friendly bike shop nearby that might could fix them, but we'd rather do it ourselves if possible.

I guess my questions are what brakes would have been on the bike when new, and what's the best way to adjust the brakes it has? I can supply photos if needed.

Thank you,
-Bill

The older cantilevers didnt have adjustment screws for spring tension. Adjusting those is kind of an art form. What was on there to begin with? thats one of the few catalogs I'm missing.......

The older cantilevers didnt have adjustment screws for spring tension. Adjusting those is kind of an art form. What was on there to begin with? thats one of the few catalogs I'm missing.......

The frame looks like it could have been set up for several different types of brakes. I thought maybe it might have had single-pivot sidepulls at first, but also could have had a different type of cantilever. The holes and braze-ons are all there and don't look home-made.

He's put Kool-Stops on them, and I've worked on them. They're much better than they were when he first got the bike. But I don't like to take too many chances with brakes. Maybe paranoia.

As an aside, when he moved back here, the bike came with him. He moved into a questionable area of town, and befriended some of the locals. One Sunday afternoon, one of them told him to hurry, that the area crackhead had stolen his bike. He saw the person riding away at low speed. He took off in his dress clothes and shoes and narrowed the gap quickly. The rider poured it on, but caused the chain to jump off the sprockets. The guy bailed and ran off. My brother was glad to get the bike back and made sure to keep it extra secure from that point on.