Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - My first fixed disapointment :(

Well there I was bored with the sun shining and some petrol in my tank. So I went searching for a frame for what will eventually be new fixie. Much to my delight hopping between various dumps I found this:


http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a3/splatbucket/original.jpg

Though not too knowledgeable about what it was i did clearly notice PEUGEOT emblazoned across the frame so went for it. £2 later I had my bike. Fast forward about an hour or so...


http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a3/splatbucket/Stripped.jpg

viola one stripped down bike (which I now know to be a 1970's Peugeot U09) but alas... I have been unable to remove a few things (as far as i know its all the original parts btw), and was hoping people might be able to help me.
The things I am having trouble with are...
The cranks, i'm not sure if they are just rusted onto the BB or if there is a knack to getting them off.
The Bars, I cant slide them off (i cant get round the tight bent in the bars)
The Stem, having undone all the bits I still cant separate the stem from the forks

Also if people have any opinions on whether it is worth converting a U09 or not then I would love to hear them.
Thanks

You need a crank puller to take the cranks off. You might need
to tap the top of the stem with a rubber mallet (or a hammer,
in a pinch) to get it all the way out. As for the bars, just keep
twisting, but don't force them. They wind out quite easily.

I think that bike is perfect for conversion: Cheap and stocked
with junky parts.

Cranks - You need a crank puller. $5 at a bike shop.
Bars - You need to spread the clamp a bit and be clever when you turn the bars. I've always had to.
Stem - Throw a wheel in the dropouts and leave the bars on for this. Turn in opposite directions.

The problem with French bikes are the BB and headset imcompatabilities (the wheels too, but it doesn't look like you're going to use them). For this conversion you're probably going to want to just repack these rather than replace.

That crank looks wicked, but I have no idea where you can get new rings.

Prying apart the ends of the stem with a screwdriver will help get the bars out too.

If the headset and bottom bracket are ok, you're golden. Like blickblocks said, those issues can make dealing with french bikes a little tricky but not impossible.

Also, do yourself a favor and spray a **** load of WD40 around where the stem goes into the headset and into the steertube of the fork (from below). Let it sit for a couple of hours and it should come right out.

thanks, i'm guna try blickblock suggestions (+ a load of wd40) and see how it goes. Just a quick thought, should i just leave the cranks on there?

If the cranks are spinning fine, without any resistance, then there's no need to pull them off. You'll have to eventually, but why rush the inevitable?

I'd leave the cranks on, assuming they're not obviously damaged and assuming that they still turn on the BB with no play, tightness, or ominous crunching sounds.

As for the stem, you will indeed need to loosen the bolt a few turns and then tap it with a hammer. This is neccessary on almost any bike with a quill style stem, as the expander is wedged firmly into the steerer tube when the bolt is tightened. When you tap the top of the bolt, you should notice it drop back down into its hole a bit, to signify the wedge has become "unwedged". The WD-40 is not neccessary unless the expander is rusted into place.

And the bars always exhibit some resistance to coming out of the stem. They usually require a bit of careful turning while removing, rotating the stem on the bars to a different spot depending upon where on the bend you have the stem. Don't bother trying to do it until the stem is out of the bike. A slight bit of prying on the stem is okay, but shouldn't be necessary and definitely shouldn't be overdone.

Prying apart the ends of the stem with a screwdriver will help get the bars out too.

much better yet - the sometimes mentioned penny/cent/zloty/unameit-method:
unscrew stem clamp screw just until you can fit small coin in the little gap of the clamp. the retighten the screw again, so that it pushes against the coin and starts to spread the clamp open. convenient - you have all the time and hands to wiggle the bars out + no marks and scratches in yer alum stem.

much better yet - the sometimes mentioned penny/cent/zloty/unameit-method:
unscrew stem clamp screw just until you can fit small coin in the little gap of the clamp. the retighten the screw again, so that it pushes against the coin and starts to spread the clamp open. convenient - you have all the time and hands to wiggle the bars out + no marks and scratches in yer alum stem.



-This only works if the stem itself is threaded, as opposed to a bolt and nut arrangement.
-You want to remove the bolt and stick it in the other end (where it's threaded), then tighten it down against the coin.

You probably only need to spread it just a hair in any case.

+1 on the compatibility issue -- using the existing goods will likely prove much easier than finding properly sized parts. Like everything else, Sheldon Brown has a good page on this here (http://sheldonbrown.com/velos.html).

Stems can take patience, ingenuity, and sometimes chemicals to free up. If the methods mentioned above don't do the job (btw, be careful not to bend the fork blades!), search for "stuck stem" and you'll get handy info on various tricks. Hopefully it'll come out just twisting/tapping.

That setup is a total score for a conversion, and you can't beat that price with a stick. A little more effort than a Japanese frame thanks to the sizing issue, but that just makes it more fun, and it's real purdy. FWIW, it looks like it's in nice shape, including the chrome and paint, so I wouldn't go repainting or grinding bits off. But that's just me...

i disagree with pretty much all the advice you'd gotten by the time i started writing this ginormous response-
1) you probably shouldn't have to pry your stem apart unless your bars don't fit your stem- it's going to take a little finesse and a lot of force to find the right way to twist them out, but it's worth it not to mess up your parts if you don't have to. also, wd-40's not going to help much unless they're rusted together (which it doesn't look like they are).
2) you don't need a crank puller (although it's an awesome tool, and not too expensive if you have money to just go out and buy one). if you don't have a crank puller, or if your cranks are stripped, you can just gradually tap them off with a hammer (not a rubber mallet). tap once, spin the crank a 1/8 turn, tap another spot, spin, tap another spot, spin... eventually the crankarm ought to un-wedge itself from your bottom bracket. repeat on other side. it may help to take the drive side off first.
3) putting your front wheel back on and wrenching the bars back and forth often works for getting a stem out. however, that is definitely the hard way. the much easier, much more reliable, and much more fun way is:
first - put your stem bolt back in. thread it back into the wedge a few threads. there should still be a little bit of the top of the bolt sticking out above your stem.
last - now hit that with a hammer (not a mallet). this ought to knock the wedge loose so you can pull the stem out and figure out how that all works. it's pretty neat stuff. if you hit the bolt and it doesn't knock the wedge loose, bang it again.

i would say no to -
using WD-40
tapping the top of your stem with a rubber mallet
Prying apart the ends of the stem to get your bars out.
also, i'd say this is definitely worth converting, if it fits you or someone you know...

Everything is now removed (minus the cranks which i have decided to keep on there)
WD-40 did indeed help (there was a little rust in there, nothing major but enough to make it stick) in the end the "hold the wheel and twist the bar" method worked a treat, 1 slight twist and out it all popped.

Indeed it is in quite good shape, though there is some minor rust where the detailer was. Ultimately I would love to grind off the rear break bolts, and all the other surplus parts, and then repaint the entire frame. But thats all in the future.

Well considering that everyone has been so helpful here I might as-well float some other thoughts/questions here goes:

Fixed gear (obviously) ideally I would like to keep this all quite/very cheap, until I'm sure that I'm going to enjoy it.
As such what hub would people suggest? and will it work well if just get a set of semi-cheap 700c wheels/tyres etc and then swop over the geared hub for a fixed one.
Or should I completely build up a rear wheel from separate components?

Thanks

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a3/splatbucket/removed.jpg

The freewheel can be removed from the rear hub you've got and a fixed cog spun into place. This is very simple on most bikes. On the French hub it may be an oddball threading, but this is actually very rare. Almost all the French "bike-boom" bikes -- yours comes from that era -- used standard ISO threads on the hub, so a standard fixed cog should thread right on to your existing wheel. You may need to buy some spacers to get the cog lines up with the chainring.

wait !! i seriously did a conversion with i'm pretty sure that exact bike a couple months ago. it was a *****. that crank is euro style and good luck finding the puller for it. it's in no way standard. i went to 3 lbs before they found it buried in the 'not used tools' bin. since then i've completed the bike and it works great but i definitely have trashed that crank (not to mention it was f'ed anyway).

if you decide to keep that crank, go for it i guess bu i hate those 3 prong euro-thread-blow-my-face-off bastards. you should just hop down to your bike store and ask them for their used cranks bin, you'll probably end up with something lighter and better. i just found some nice shimano cranks in near mint w/ring the other day for 10 bucks, deal in my book.

unfortunately there was only the rear wheel on the bike when i bought it, and that wheel was pretty buckled. So I'm guessing that I should look for some sturdy wheels and just thread a fixed cog on, brilliant, hope its as simple as you made it sound lol
Yer I too have heard that some of the original cranks are extremely hard to remove and as these spin fine, and haven't made and clunky breaking sounds, yet :D
I'll let u know how it all goes

Yeah, maybe the local shop can sell you some cheap used wheels. The rear spacing on your bike is probably 120, which is narrower than modern road and mountain bike stuff. Luckily, low end road stuff is often still 120, so you should be in good shape.

wait !! i seriously did a conversion with i'm pretty sure that exact bike a couple months ago. it was a *****. that crank is euro style and good luck finding the puller for it. it's in no way standard. i went to 3 lbs before they found it buried in the 'not used tools' bin. since then i've completed the bike and it works great but i definitely have trashed that crank (not to mention it was f'ed anyway).

if you decide to keep that crank, go for it i guess bu i hate those 3 prong euro-thread-blow-my-face-off bastards. you should just hop down to your bike store and ask them for their used cranks bin, you'll probably end up with something lighter and better. i just found some nice shimano cranks in near mint w/ring the other day for 10 bucks, deal in my book.

I imagine that the OP will have an easier time finding a Euro-style crank puller than you did, considering that he does live in Europe and all!

there might be a spacer in the cranks/BB that might be preventing the crank puller from doing its job.

I'm still struggling to find a good local bike shop, its a bit of a pity really there pretty much all chain shops, which unfortunately normally means they know as much if not less then me about the bikes (and i really don't know much yet) and the don't like selling old/used stock cause they don't make as much money. Its a pity really

Maybe you're trying to keep this on the cheap, but if you need to replace the wheels and you're going fixed, why not get a fixed hub? Converting a non-fixed hub is a little more hairy, since it doesn't have a counter-threaded lockring to keep things tight. If you plan on running a brake, probably not such a big deal, but a proper hub keeps me happy.

As for grinding/painting, it seems like a shame if the bike is already in decent shape (but maybe the pictures are overly flattering?). That frame/fork would make a sweet townie or commuter as-is, and there are plenty of nasty frames out there begging for an overhaul. Just my 2 cents. Or pence?

I imagine that the OP will have an easier time finding a Euro-style crank puller than you did, considering that he does live in Europe and all!


that is an incrediably valid point. as well as one i completely overlooked.

and through all of this i was wondering 'how did he find a choice peugeot runnin round for basically free.. but i bet europe has more road bikes than mountain.

Yer the more i'm looking into it there is only going to be a small price difference between a new fixed hub and a converted hub.
About the europe road bike thought, actually you'd be quite surprised. Its quite rare that I see a road bike, and when I do it tends to be worth £1000's and ridden by someone going through their midlife crisis. It was still quite a find really, most of the dumps just have a load of mountain bikes, and a few buckled/bent/rusted road bikes. It seems that during the 70's when there was a boom in road bikes most of them were shipped over to the states.

Its quite rare that I see a road bike, and when I do it tends to be worth £1000's and ridden by someone going through their midlife crisis.
I nominate that for "one-liner of the week".

I have to ask..

What is that knob on the right fork? I think this was brought long ago but I don't remember.

I have been told that the 'boss' on the right fork is actually to allow the mounting of a light.

my BCA frame has one on the right seat stay, closer to the dropouts. i think it's for the same thing, but i haven't tried mounting one yet.


edit: erg. i'm an idiot. that's for holding the chain when you take out the back wheel.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a3/splatbucket/removed.jpg

http://i13.ebayimg.com/06/i/000/a8/ef/818c_1.JPG
http://cgi.ebay.com/NOS-VINTAGE-T-A-CHAINRING-51-TRACK-PISTA-PISTE_W0QQitemZ130132098493QQihZ003QQcategoryZ56197QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Would that ring work with the crank he currently has?
No info in the ebay description as far as BCD goes, but the item is located in France.

Hope this helps.

My late 70's Peugeot suprised me when i went to get a new front wheel fitted. the old wheel/fork were different diameters, I don't know if you'd looked at yours but just thought i'd mention it.

if you would like to do this on the cheap i suggest just shelling out for a complete fixed wheelset on ebay or something. And for an even better deal check local classified ads (im pretty sure you have craigslist over there too). people will put really nice non deep v wheelsets for sale when they get their nicer wheels from ebay. looks like you are gonna have a really nice fixed conversion real soon.

dang, i just missed the ebay auction by like 30mins oh well something will come my way hopefully. On the plus side 51 was a bit high for me, ideally i would love to find a 42t or 44t ring. We'll see

That's a bummer. Good luck with the conversion!

oooh look what i've just found:
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-TA-TA-263-3-arm-chainring-3920.htm