Classic & Vintage - can anyone tell me what model peugeot i have?

I have a 10-speed peugeot. According to cyclespeugot.com, the decal scheme matches '74-'76. The front forks are half-chromed but the rear triangle is not. There is a small gold rectangular sticker that says "Tube Special, Allegre Peugeot" on the seat tube. A lot of the parts have been changed on it I think but here are what I believe to be original components:

Suntour Spirit front derailleur
Mafac Racer centre-pull caliper brakes
Simplex shifters
Ava stem
Nervar chainring
the pedals are a bit rusty but it looks to me like Votare
- the chainring and pedals both say Made in France; don't know if that means much.

I can't find a serial number on the bottom bracket but it does have a couple holes on it where a plate might have been attached. I read they had serial numbers on external plates instead of stamping them into the frame for a while.

It looks like what this guy has sold as a "Peugeot Record du Mondo"

http://novabicycles.com/sold_bicycles.htm (third row, on the right)

I have pictures of my own but they are apparently too big to attach.

Any insight would be much appreciated!

Greetings,

You most likely have a mid 70s Peugeot U0-8. This was an entry level model and was probably the most widely imported European bike during the US Bike Boom of the early 1970s.

Most clueless eBay sellers insist on using "RARE" in their listing titles (also Record du Monde)! Millions of these bikes were made and sold worldwide over about a 15-20 year span

U0-8s are surprisingly nice riding bikes considering the frames were made of low carbon "Tube Special, Allegre Peugeot" gas pipe tubing. These are examples of why French bikes were appreciated for their ride.

Best advice, learn to work on it yourself! When you walk into a bike shop and say the word "French" and you see their eyes glaze over or roll back in their heads, slowly without turning around, back out the door and RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!.

This is around a 35 year old bike manufactured before many bike mechanics were even a gleam! So use caution when entrusting your sleek beauty into the hands of someone who never saw a freewheel before! ;-)

The plastic Simplex derailleurs were known to deteriorate and crack or break over time. Someone most likely had problems with the original front one on your bike and replaced it with a Suntour derailleur. Figure on the plastic shift levers breaking soon too.

If it has chrome plated steel rims, don't even think of trying to stop when they're wet! The little embossings in the sides of the rims hold water to reduce friction when wet!

Lastly, get a new modern saddle and throw away the ass hatchet that's most likely on the bike!

Have fun,

Chas.

Check this site out-http://retropeugeot.com/ and look at the AO-8 and the UO-8 galleries

I have pictures of my own but they are apparently too big to attach.

Post your pics to a free site like Photobucket and then provide a link.

thanks for your help! i guess considering how common this model is, it wouldn't be a shame for me to modernize it then? i have had this bike for a couple years and love the way it rides but wouldn't mind shaving off some of the weight with lighter components.

any parts that are particularly worth keeping on these bikes? conversely, any parts that are particularly worth changing?

the cranks on these bikes are cottered, correct? i've never worked on a cottered crank before; anything i should know?

would i be able to throw 700s on there instead of continuing to deal with the hassle of finding 27 x 1 1/4 rims?

shame about the safety issues with the rims; the front wheel on it now has the embossings you're talking about and it's very attractive! not really worth getting smoked by a car in the rain, though.

thanks for your help! i guess considering how common this model is, it wouldn't be a shame for me to modernize it then? i have had this bike for a couple years and love the way it rides but wouldn't mind shaving off some of the weight with lighter components.

any parts that are particularly worth keeping on these bikes? conversely, any parts that are particularly worth changing?

the cranks on these bikes are cottered, correct? i've never worked on a cottered crank before; anything i should know?

would i be able to throw 700s on there instead of continuing to deal with the hassle of finding 27 x 1 1/4 rims?

shame about the safety issues with the rims; the front wheel on it now has the embossings you're talking about and it's very attractive! not really worth getting smoked by a car in the rain, though.

Cottered cranks look as if they have a bolt running through the BB end of the crank, these "bolts" are the cotters, the cranks are probably steel, so you can replace the cranks with square taper easily enough, but you need to replace the bottom bracket as well. Only issue is that French bikes sometimes have French threading on the bottom bracket which means that you need to match that. Cotters are not that hard to deal with, Sheldon Brown explains how to remove/install (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/cotters.html) them. As for the wheels, steel rims are not the best, but they were common for decades, and lots of riders figured out how to stop with them, quite well even in rain. I think brake pads have a lot to do with it, modern pads in good condition can go a long way to making stopping easier, even with wet chromed steel rims. The problem with stopping wasn't the steel, it was the chrome finish applied to the steel.

The problem with upgrades is you essentially have a $100 bike, it's easy to spend $500 on fixing it up, but you still have a $100 bike. If you can find another old bike a few years newer with a trashed frame with the parts you want for $50 or less, then that might be a better idea.