Classic & Vintage - Late 80's Peugeot SLX Columbus Tubing- Help please!

Hi all and first time poster here! Great site and have looked through a lot of posts with regards to SLX tubing but haven't got anywhere with mine...

I bought this only a week ago (i'm in Ireland) off a guy who bought it in a bike shop in Ireland in 1988

Its in mint condition and is a gem to go out on.

I would really be very grateful on your thoughts on it...

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/1333/19959839.th.jpg (http://img51.imageshack.us/i/19959839.jpg/)

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/8772/14767093.th.jpg (http://img248.imageshack.us/i/14767093.jpg/)

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http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/2166/41492733.th.jpg (http://img826.imageshack.us/i/41492733.jpg/)

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http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/4993/91674951.jpg (http://img829.imageshack.us/i/91674951.jpg/)

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http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/2330/28682638.jpg (http://img231.imageshack.us/i/28682638.jpg/)

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http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/2628/78227954.jpg (http://img837.imageshack.us/i/78227954.jpg/)

The dropouts are so thin that they looked stamped, but that can't be.

Sorry, I can't help with the tubing.

I'm not aware/familiar with Columbus tubed Peugeots. Most of the high end Peugeot built in the early and mid 80's were made from at least Reynolds 531 tubing (At least the one sold to the US market were). I was suspecting a top of the line Peugeot from the 90's to be using Ryenolds 753 then. Your bike must have been a Euro only model, so It would not be impossible if Peugeot did emply Columbus tubing at that time for those bikes., plus Peugeot pretty much closed down their US market by the 90's. Heck, if the other big maker Gitane used Columbus tubing on their mid 80's "Pro" model, it wouldn't be that far fetch if Peugeot did the same.
Your bike looks nice. Only thing I would change on it is the color and graphics. Peugeot seems to have lost it's way with paint and graphics starting from the mid 80's with their leap into the metallic black color and diagonal color banding that seems to be not based on anything from their past bikes. Seems like they were desperaqte to totally throw away the traditional aesthetics of their bikes before then which I think was not the best idea as I really missed the checkerboard designs and lion logos on their bikes combined with the real nice pearl white paint they were using in the early 80's.
Now where did Peugeot ever get the idea to color thier bikes this Salmon color??

Chombi

I could believe they produced anything. They pulled out of the US in the mid 80's, so I don't know much about what they made since then.

Only thing I can suggest is to look for the SLX ribbing inside the tubing.

Thanks for the help..

Yeah I know the colour may seem a little funny but it's grown on me!! Looking great when your flying on it!!

It's an incredible bike, it's very light and is going like a dream.

bbattle
How do I look for the SLX ribbing inside the tubing?Presume take off the seat post?
new to this!!
Thanks

They offered a Columbus SLX frame and aero crown fork in 1989. It had chrome half stays odd looking (to me) dropouts and an unchromed fork. The paint was a two tone fade. I think that's what you have.

thats an odd place for tubing decal right between the shifters? what is the decal at the bottom of the seattube?

thats an odd place for tubing decal right between the shifters? what is the decal at the bottom of the seattube?

Peugeot started putting the tubing decal there in 1974.

http://inlinethumb04.webshots.com/35139/2678783790068014369S600x600Q85.jpg (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2678783790068014369PelDWM)

thats an odd place for tubing decal right between the shifters? what is the decal at the bottom of the seattube?

Its a bit torn but it's in french.. Also had a 'made in france' decal on other side of rear stay..

I'm delighted with it but would like to know what model etc it is..

The fork appears to be chorme but sprayed.

Also came with a Rolls san Marco saddle..

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/5299/90237010.th.jpg (http://img94.imageshack.us/i/90237010.jpg/)

Its the real deal but may have been built from a frameset simply because of the older Shimano 600 parts. SLX Peugeots from that time period would have had something like Campy Athena, Chorus or Shimano 600 Ultegra. A few examples:

http://cyclespeugeot.com/images/1989_Peugeot_5.jpg
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr314/jimr2527/bf%20stuff/1989_07.jpg

http://www.peugeotshow.com/images/1989_5.jpg

Well, I guess that's when Peugeot really just let go of all the French flavoring on their bikes post 80's. The steel tubing French manufacturers like Vitus (SV980/983?) never really challenged Reynolds and Columbus, and they just sort of faded away from the industry.
It's always easier for me to picture a Peugeot with English Reynolds tubing than Italian Columbus tubing as they used Reynolds for a very long time. I guess Columbus gave them a better deal in the 90's.
No matter, the Columbus SLX is just as legendary as any of the the Reynolds' best offerings at that time anyway and should make for a very fine frameset and ride! Now wondering where the lugs and very thin dropouts came from.
Enjoy the "Italo" Peugeot, and tell us how it rides!
Chombi

I guess Columbus gave them a better deal in the 90's.
Chombi


I'm guessing that they chose Columbus because it brought more prestige.

Thanks for everyones input and good wishes!

Yes the guy i bought it off, bought the frame only and built it up himself.

I preume mine is the Athena model as the cosmic was aluminium?

It's a great bike, light, fast and you can really feel every move through it. I'm just waiting on some slightly wider tyres before I really put it through its paces!

Luckily for me the frame is 60cm so it was always too big for him so it was never really ridden, leaving it in a top class condition!

Not the Cosmic, obviously. The Columbus frameset on the same page.

Greetings,

I found this thread doing some research on a 1989 or 90 Peugeot SLX, maybe a 1990 Chorus that recently passed through my hands (long story).

During the late 1980s, probably 1988 and 1989, Peugeot made a wide variety of bikes with fade paint jobs using different kinds of better quality frame tubes.

The models varied from market to market. They produced different bikes for France, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, the US and Canada.

These bikes had frames made with Reynolds 501, 531, 531C, 531P, 653 and 753R. Also Columbus SLX and maybe Columbus SL plus Super Vitus 980.

The US models were the Chorus, Sante, Deauville, Biarriatz, Athena,Triathlon and others.

The Arivis was one of the top models in the UK in 1988 with a Reynolds 531P frame plus a Shimano 105 gruppo. In Canada the Aravis was a lower priced model.

In the Netherlands and Germany Peugeot sold the similar Galibier model with Campy Athena components.

All of these frames used the same geometry as far as I can tell.

196630

This is my 1988 Biarritz with a Super Vitus 980 frame and a Shimano 600 gruppo. Some of the earlier models were all red.

196631

196632

Here's a 1988 Aravis frame from the UK. It's made of Reynolds 531P tubing which was almost as light as 753. The Canadian Avavis bikes were a different model altogether.

196633

This is my 1988 Chorus with a Reynolds 753 frame and a Campy Chorus gruppo. These were all white for the French market.

196634

The 1989 Chorus 753 was two tone blue with gaudy color splashes.

196635

This is my newly acquired two tone blue 1989 Chorus 753 frame with gaudy color splashes. I have a NOS/almost NOS Chorus gruppo for it.

196636

196639

I mentioned above a 1989-90 Peugeot SLX or Chorus SLX. Here's some pictures of it.

196637

196638

Every time I do a search, I seem to find a different variation of this series of Peugeots. I don't think that they built a lot of them but they sure built a lot of varieties.

I love the way my 1988 Chorus rides and handles. It's in the same league as my 1985 Raleigh Team Pro and my 1984 and 1990 Gitane Team Replicas.

Last year I was looking for one of the UK model Aravis bikes or frames. I found the 1988 US model Biarritz pictured above on eBay.

I liked the red and white fade on the Aravis and I figured the Biarritz would ride and handle the same.

It rides and handles identically to the 1988 Chorus. It's a 9.5 out 10 condition wise which is great for a 23 year old bike.

I liked the 1988 Biarritz so much that I picked up a second frame and assembled it with a mix of Shimano 600 and 105 parts for an everyday rider. It rides that same as the other two 1988 Peugeots.

Je ne sais quoi... There something about the steel framed French bikes from the 1980s. They got it right with the perfect blend of light weight tubing and frame geometry.

Also the workmanship is very acceptable! :)

Chas. verktyg

I had a peugeot columbus slx chorus bike. Ill get some pics up.

Although a self professed Peugoet bike addict, I don't really like the fade paintjob that Peugeot chose to put on the OP's frame. I like Gitane's more classic plain blue paintjob that they put on their mid 80's similar Columbus tubed Pro model that seems to always look really good after many years.
If I ever come across an SLX Peugeot frame like this one in similar condition, I wouldn't hesitate to repaint it the classic early 80's pearl white that Peugeot had on their high line bikes and put on the last versions of their decals that had the checkered patterns and strip the paint entirely from the forl to reveal the chrome underneath.....but that's just me..... It would certainly make the bike more interesting that how Peugeot originally finished it. Peugeot just seemed to have lost their traditional/classic Gallic "personality" in the 90's, which is sad as that's what attracted many to the brand.
JMOs

Chombi

. Peugeot just seemed to have lost their traditional/classic Gallic "personality" in the 90's, which is sad as that's what attracted many to the brand.
JMOs

Chombi

Thats because Peugeot of France didnt make any bikes in the 90's. They licensed manufacturing and marketing rights to Cycleurope and Procycle.

Thats because Peugeot of France didnt make any bikes in the 90's. They licensed manufacturing and marketing rights to Cycleurope and Procycle.

C'est La Vie!.........Au revoir Cycles Peugeot!

Chombi

Addendum... Columbus SLX tubing

Many folks are under the impression that Columbus SLX was some kind of super light tubing.

SLX was regular Columbus SL tubing with raised internal helicoidal ribs in the the butted sections in the seat and down tubes where they went into the bottom bracket. The chain stays had a short helicoidal ribbed section too.

The purpose of the ribbing was to increase lateral stiffness across the bottom bracket.

SLX was about 34g heavier than standard SL tubing.

The wall thickness of the 3 main SL and SLX tubing was 0.9mm in the butted sections and 0.6mm in the thinner areas. That was thicker than some of the Reynolds and Super Vitus tubing.

Columbus also made SPX which was their "heavy gage" SP tubing with the same ribbed treatment as SLX.

TSX was lighter than SL and SLX. It had helicoidal ribs the full length of the 3 main tubes.

There was also a myth the Reynolds tubing was lighter than Columbus. The standard gage Reynolds 531 tubing used on most production bikes in the 1970s and 80s had main tubes with a wall thickness of 1.0mm x 0.7mm - the same as "heavy gage" Columbus SP!

Columbus made a very light KL tube set for a while in the early 80s before they started using more exotic alloys than 4130 Chrome Moly steel. The newer steels had higher strength and therefor could be made thinner.

The following Reynolds tube sets were lighter than Columbus SL 1925g and SLX at 1959g:

Reynolds 753 1650g
Reynolds 531P 1700g
Reynolds 653 1700g
Reynolds 531C 1800g

More hearts broken and myths busted!

BTW, these late 80s Peugeot made bikes are some of the nicest riding, best handling bikes I've been on and I've been using derailleurs since 1964!

Chas. verktyg