Classic & Vintage - Puzzling Peugeot

Okay folks, time for yet another Name That Bike Thread. This cute Peugeot mixte has been languishing in my in-laws' succession of barns/attics for as long as I've been married (15 years). I've tried to talk them into passing it along to me but the best I could do this visit was get some new Walmart tires on it. They swear they bought it in Afghanistan in the mid-1970's. My father-in-law is a retired foreign service officer. Here's the problem: it has 1985 date-coded Shimano stem shifters. They had ample opportunities to buy bikes at European PXs in the 80's so I wonder if their memory is off by a decade and a continent. :) To further complicate things, the 1985 French and US Peugeot catalogs don't seem to have an exact match. Oh yeah, 27" wheels on a French bike? And the rear rim is steel, front is alloy. Old tires were Michelin World Tour. Sorry for the crappy photos blah blah blah.
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq27/putmeontv/2011-06-24_19-33-58_569.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq27/putmeontv/2011-06-24_19-35-08_352.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq27/putmeontv/2011-06-24_19-34-21_361.jpg
http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq27/putmeontv/2011-06-24_19-39-35_981.jpg

My son loves it.

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq27/putmeontv/2011-06-24_20-14-46_393.jpg

I was placing it around 84 looking at the pictures. The 85 date code comes close to that.

Mid 80s for sure, nice bike.

I've been pondering the steel rear wheel... maybe it replaced a Helicomatic wheel? And again, why 27"s on a French bike? I thought they were all Metric.

I've been pondering the steel rear wheel... maybe it replaced a Helicomatic wheel? And again, why 27"s on a French bike? I thought they were all Metric.

Every Peugeot I've owned had 27" wheels including the 1972 AO8 that currently lives in my garage and the mid 80s UO9 I picked up yesterday.

yeah i had a uo9 with 27" wheels

I just sold an '84 Peugeot (Unsure of model, but had a Carbolite 103 frame) that had 700c wheels, and my '82 Motobecane Mirage came with 27". Replacing a Helicomatic hub makes sense for the steel wheel, or maybe the original was damaged or something.

You may end up not being able to ID it, I gave up trying to figure what my Peugeot was, nothing in the catalogs seemed to match.

My 1984 PH10L has a Carbolite 103 sticker that matches yours exactly.
More circumstantial evidence.

27" alloy rims drilled for Shrader valve on Maillard hubs with Helicomatic rear.

Have never seen a Peugeot catalogue for the Afgan or even Asian marketplace.
Somebody's memory is off because mine tells me that Carbolite 103 wasn't around in the mid 70s.

Very cool bike. My '81 UO9 has either Chrolux or Rigda 27" steel wheels, I just can't recall exactly and am not there to check. I may be misspelling the brand as well, but the more I think about it Chrolux seems to stand out, but definitely steel wheels. Having one steel and one alloy means there obvioulsy has been some changes. Your boy looks like he is having a blast!

Maybe now that the bike is ridable, and your son likes it, Grandma and Grandpa will pass it along. He may have to leave the bike at their house for a while, until they soften to the idea. Just make sure they see the big smile on his face whenever he is riding it.