Classic & Vintage - What year is this UO8?

Here is what is known about it. The wheels do not appear original. Both are Rigida but the back has a 1987 date code and no serrations on the rim with a 14-26 cogset. The front has no date code but does have serrations on the rim. The head tube decal indicates 1970-1973, but no catalog lists a UO8 in purple during that period.

The brakes are Mafac Racers with Weinmann pads. The brake levers are Mafac with Diacompe safety levers. the Diacompes do not have a date code. The seat looks original and is Agda 28A.

The chainguard says Nervar. The chainrings are stamped 52-40 but I am not sure who made the rings. Cottered cranks have no name. The pedals say Lyotard on the endcap.

Both derailleurs are Simplex. The stem is AVA. The front/rear reflectors both are Cateye.

The rear wheel is a replacement. As you said, it fits in the ~1970-1973 group going by decals, and most of the parts that you listed confirm this. Yes, the UO-8 from that period did come in purple - I've seen quite a few.

I worked part time at a Peugeot/Nishiki dealership from early 1972 to mid 1974. The purples, yellows, and champagnes came in during 1973, and the stem shifters (boo hiss) arrived in 1974, so I think you have a late 1972 or early-to-mid 1973 model.

I worked part time at a Peugeot/Nishiki dealership from early 1972 to mid 1974. The purples, yellows, and champagnes came in during 1973, and the stem shifters (boo hiss) arrived in 1974, so I think you have a late 1972 or early-to-mid 1973 model.

I agree....as far as purple (violet) Peugeots go....Here's a '74 with the downtube levers as mentioned by John E

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e317/jim2527/1974PeugeotUE8.jpg

As a side note...the square headtube decals were used from '70-'76 and the angled end gold downtube decals were used from '73?-'76?.

That is a great color! My wife has that color and vintage mixte.

I thought that the headtube decal meant it had to be 1970-1973 model but if the decal covers 1970-1976 that could mean this is a 1974 model.

The same page that shows the UE8 for 1974 in purple posted above, shows the U08 rear derailleur on this page attached to a purple frame

http://mysite.verizon.net/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=actual&linkpath=http://mysite.verizon.net/vzerndgo/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Peugeot_1974_US_Catalog_Page_8_UO8_Retropeugeot.jpg&target=tlx_picozdp&title=UO%208

and both the UE8 and UO8 photos for 1974 still show downtube shifters.

This 1973 brochure page for the UO8 only shows three colors ( white, blue, and green )

http://mysite.verizon.net/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=actual&linkpath=http://mysite.verizon.net/vzerndgo/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Peugeot_Brochure_1973_Page_4.jpg&target=tlx_picsghi&title=UO-8

That web site skips from 1974 to 1977 so there is no information on what the 1975 and 1976 models were like. The only feature that does not match from 1974 page is that the stem is sharply truncated in the back which is not the case with the AVA stem.

If stem shifters appeared in 1975 that would really narrow it down. It came with the original pump as shown in the UE8 and UO8 photos but the internal seals must be gone. There is no resistance at all when the plunger is operated.

I thought that the headtube decal meant it had to be 1970-1973 model but if the decal covers 1970-1976 that could mean this is a 1974 model.

The same page that shows the UE8 for 1974 in purple posted above, shows the U08 rear derailleur on this page attached to a purple frame

http://mysite.verizon.net/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=actual&linkpath=http://mysite.verizon.net/vzerndgo/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Peugeot_1974_US_Catalog_Page_8_UO8_Retropeugeot.jpg&target=tlx_picozdp&title=UO%208

and both the UE8 and UO8 photos for 1974 still show downtube shifters.

This 1973 brochure page for the UO8 only shows three colors ( white, blue, and green )

http://mysite.verizon.net/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=actual&linkpath=http://mysite.verizon.net/vzerndgo/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Peugeot_Brochure_1973_Page_4.jpg&target=tlx_picsghi&title=UO-8

That web site skips from 1974 to 1977 so there is no information on what the 1975 and 1976 models were like. The only feature that does not match from 1974 page is that the stem is sharply truncated in the back which is not the case with the AVA stem.

If stem shifters appeared in 1975 that would really narrow it down. It came with the original pump as shown in the UE8 and UO8 photos but the internal seals must be gone. There is no resistance at all when the plunger is operated.

TR... Tom (retropeugeot) and myself (cyclespeugeot) are friends and we collaborate and share information.

There are several things that are very important to keep in mind while perusing the catalogs.

1. Many aren't dated. For instance, the '73 brochure you refer to...I dont think its a 70's brochure at all. Looking at the decals on all of the bikes it very clear they are of the '60's style. I dont think a single person has seen a documented 70's Peugeot with what I call the 'type I' or 'triangle' head badge. The only reason I have the 'type I' listed as '70-'73 is because its shown in dated Peugeot literature.

2. Peugeot used old pictures in their literature. If you look at some of the dated 70's catalogs on the Dutch site you'll see the 'type I' head tube decal but has anyone seen a 70's Peugeot with it? NO!

3. Although Toms website skips from '74-'77, as does mine, I have a '75 French brochure with decals that are identicle to yours.

4. This is a difficult time of year for both Tom and myself. Tom is very busy with work as they are in the middle of a semester. Once the semester is over he'll be back to work on his site. I suffered a 100% hard drive faillure and lost everything. Between getting my catalogs re-scanned, re-acquiring old information and working on other projects its been difficult to get my site where I need it to be.

5. If you look at my site you'll find your bike has the type II headtube decal http://cyclespeugeot.com/images/Head_Badge_4.JPG which goes from '70-'76. The Type I is 'triangular and goes from '70-'73 http://cyclespeugeot.com/images/Head_badge_early_70_s_2.JPG this is the decal thats seen in the literature but not seen on any verifiable 70's model. My image was take from a known late 60's model.


Have you checked your originla rim and hub for date codes?

Jim

Colors....Prior to '74 Peugeots were imported by independent distributors. Distributors would choose the colors they wanted to import. It could vary from year to year. The supposed '73 brochure is from a Canadian distributor and to be honest, I think its a '60's because of the darker olivey green. A U.S. importer could have choosen different colors. 70's Peugeot are a very vibrant green. To confuse you a litte more....purple isnt listed as color for '74 although its pictured.

The greens are especially interesting - I've seen at least 3 very different shades used in approximately the same period - metallic olive, dark forest, and lime greeen.....

I wonder what was meant in the 73 brochure by "also Special Colours"?

ps. Miamijim - sorry to hear about the hardware failure - what a pain!!

The greens are especially interesting - I've seen at least 3 very different shades used in approximately the same period - metallic olive, dark forest, and lime greeen.....

I wonder what was meant in the 73 brochure by "also Special Colours"?

ps. Miamijim - sorry to hear about the hardware failure - what a pain!!


I'll assume the distributor imported what they felt would sell best and 'special colors' meant they could order one of the other stock colors with their bulk order. Peugeot didnt open their special order shop until '74 and that was for high end bikes so to me 'special' means 'other stock color we didnt import' versus a custom color not otherwise offered.

Jim,

Thanks for the information regarding the catalogs and decals. I guess if some catalogs use photos from prior years then John E's memory might be the more accurate!

I do not believe either rim on this bike is original. The rear has a 1987 Rigida date code and the front has none.

I also have a green Peugeot from the same period. The frame looks like a UO8. I thought that a previous owner had modified the handlebars but those are white plastic Mafac levers so it is possible this bike is the way it came from the factory. I bought it as a restoration project because the paint was in pretty good condition. It came with no seat, no front wheel, the rear wheel is Rigida and has a 1973 date code but I am suspicious that it might not be original due to the solid axle. The rear derailleur cage was really mangled so my guess is that it went into the spokes of the original rear wheel.

Sorry to hear about your hard drive crash. Are you hosting your own server?

Jim,

Thanks for the information regarding the catalogs and decals. I guess if some catalogs use photos from prior years then John E's memory might be the more accurate!

I do not believe either rim on this bike is original. The rear has a 1987 Rigida date code and the front has none.

I also have a green Peugeot from the same period. The frame looks like a UO8. I thought that a previous owner had modified the handlebars but those are white plastic Mafac levers so it is possible this bike is the way it came from the factory. I bought it as a restoration project because the paint was in pretty good condition. It came with no seat, no front wheel, the rear wheel is Rigida and has a 1973 date code but I am suspicious that it might not be original due to the solid axle. The rear derailleur cage was really mangled so my guess is that it went into the spokes of the original rear wheel.

Sorry to hear about your hard drive crash. Are you hosting your own server?

The UO8 that I originally bought for my wife around 1992 confused me with the handlebar thing too - it had standard Northroad style bars and goose neck stem. In fact that was the reason I picked it up because my wife didn't want drop bars. Later when looking through the catalogs I couldn't find a model like that then a couple forum members who had previously worked in bike shops back in the day reported doing conversions like that for folks who decided drop bars weren't for them. I suspect your green one is like that.

My UO8 needs a paint job and I haven't decided on a color yet. It's interesting to see all the different colors they came in.

No, I do not host on my own server. Fortunately my website contents weren't lost but I was getting ready for a major update and lost all of that information as well my extensive picture collection.

tr...your downtube decal is what I have listed as 'type III'. I have never seen that decal in print prior to 1974.

Kommisar...back in my shop days we did alot of upright bar conversions as well. Looking through some literature Peugeot did offer upright bars on select European market bikes in the 70's.

70's colors were.....white, peacock blue, champagne, copper, black, imperial red, bamboo yellow, nasturtium red, lemon, grass gree, violet and taureg blue.

Interesting, I bought my Peugeot U08 new in 1975 (at least the dealer told me it was new). It is orange in color, and has a raised emblem riviteed onto the head tube (no sticker). I bought it late in 75.


It has downtube shifters (simplex). I changed out the bars, seat tube, rims, and crank to aluminum, otherwise it is stock.

I also have an earlier 70s A08 donor bike in purple, with the sticker on the head tube. The color is nice, but condition is so so at best.

Looks like Mafac brakes with Dia Compe or Weinmann levers (i can't remember which). I've seen that a couple of times and was mildly curious about it. Perhaps Mafac ran out during the boom or the market demanded suicide levers