Classic & Vintage - Please help ID'ing a mid-70's Peugeot

A vintage Peugeot followed me home today - it is dirty and dusty and needs tires, but is complete in in pretty good cosmetic shape. Here's a description:

White, with black pinstriping around the lugs. It has a 1977 liscense tag, so I'm making the huge assumption that it was made earlier than that - :D There are pump pins on the down tube, and it has cottered cranks. It is a 10 speed, has Simplex derailluers and skewers fore and aft, Simplex downtube shifters, and Normandy hubs. The wheels are dimpled steel, and the seatt ube has the following label "Tube Special Allege Peugeot". This bike has "MAFAC Racer" center pull brakes and levers (no safety levers), and a Pivo handle bar stem. There is a beautiful 3-D red/clear plastic head badge with rampant lion. The saddle is worn leather - what I can make out looks like "DGR cratillonnaise 28A" but it is hard to read so I'm guessing.

Is this a good enough description to ID it? What model did I acquire? Thanks in advance for all replies and pointers....

John D.

Sounds like my first "real" bike - 1972 UO-8. Same description except head badge was a sticker rather than plastic badge. Wheels were textured in a cobblestone-ish pattern on the braking surfaces. $129.00, as I recall. Put lots o' miles on it....

Given, the description and era, three possibilities come to mind;

A08: in which case the fork tips will not be chromed and the hubs will be fastened with hex nuts or wingnuts.

UO8: in which case the fork tips will be chromed and the hubs will have quick release.

UE8: in which case it will be the same as the UO8 but with tabs on the rear seat stays for a rack and generator.

What T-mar said.

What you want to do with this bike depends on your use of it. I'd fix it up and ride it a bit. If you like it, and intend to use it as a rider, do the following:
1) The rims on this bike are steel. Change them over to alloy. The only potential problem is peugeot spaced their front forks at 96mm, at tad narrower than the standard 100mm. I have found removing or changing a couple of washers on the front spindle does this well. You may also, depending on the bike's vintage, have to finagle the back wheel as well-- the rear dropouts are spaced at either 120mm or somewhere around 126mm. You might have to redish the wheel.
You want the alloy rims to improve your braking. Steel rims don't brake well, esp. in the wet, where they do not brake at all

2) You might consider changing over the crank to cotterless to ease maintenance. This can be done, but because the bike is French, there can be a few issues, all of which can be solved with a little ingenuity.

A good primer on the idosyncracies of French bikes:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/velos.html

I like these old Peugeots; I have a UO8 beater fixie I adore. Have fun!

The saddle is likely an ADGA. Some folks don't like them, I sawed the sides off mine and it is the most comfortable saddle I own.

UO8: in which case the fork tips will be chromed and the hubs will have quick release.
generator.

That's the one - chome forks and quick release skewers. Is there a reference somewhere to the subtle differences on the 70-80's Peugeots? I run across old Peugeots frequently, and I'd love to be able to tell when I've stumbled across a special one....

Thanks!

John D.

The saddle is likely an ADGA. Some folks don't like them, I sawed the sides off mine and it is the most comfortable saddle I own.

I'm having trouble visualizing - when you say you "sawed te sides off", what do you mean exactly? Do you mean you scalloped the sides front to back to make it a thinner profile and remove material that would otherwise chafe the inside of you thighs?

Does the saddle have value that would be destroyed if I did that? If it does, I'd just as soon pass it on to a collector who might appreciate it.

Regards,

John D.

"Do you mean you scalloped the sides front to back to make it a thinner profile and remove material that would otherwise chafe the inside of you thighs?"

Yes. The sides had buldged outwards.

The special Peugeots tend to have half-chromed rear dropouts. In the place of the "tube special allegre" sticker you will have a sticker that reads "inoxyadable".

I have owned two UO-8s. I retired the 57cm white one when a chainstay cracked, but I still happily ride the 54cm red one frequently; it's a true classic. I second the advice concerning alloy rims and cranks. I also like my SunTour Cyclone rear derailleur, Shimano Titlist front derailleur, SunTour barcons, and period-correct cylindrical Bellwether handlebar bag and Pletscher "mousetrap" rear rack.

One word of caution if you decide to replace the wheels. Removing washers to decrease the spacing, may result in the ends of the axles protruding beyond the dropouts. If this happens, the quick release skewer may be prevented from properly clamping onto the dropouts.

Cutting the axles is a simple operation, but the U08's stamped dropouts are relatively thin, so measure twice before you cut. You don't want to cut the axle too short! If you use old locknuts on each side of the hacksaw blade as guide, it will ensure a straight cut. When you remove the innermost locknut, it will also clean up any damaged threads.

Regarding collectible Peugeots from the '70s and '80s, look for models with name brand tubing like Vitus or Reynolds. That immediately puts you into the mid-range models. Chrome on both the forks and stays is also a good indicator.The big prize is a Reynolds 531 butted decal or a Reynold 531SL butted decal, which indicates a top line model. You may want to read the recent 'What's with all the Mystery Peugeots?' post, in particular my post on identifying the different P*10 models.

UE8: in which case it will be the same as the UO8 but with tabs on the rear seat stays for a rack and generator.

T-Mar, mine has not only the tabs, but the rack, generator and fender mounted headlamp and tailamp. The frame is painted black and the fenders are unpainted. Were the fenders, generator, rack and lights "dealer installed options"? Is it a UE8? Or something else? The bike came from a garage sale on a military base, so it may have been originally purchased overseas.

Any insight you could provid would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

T-Mar, mine has not only the tabs, but the rack, generator and fender mounted headlamp and tailamp. The frame is painted black and the fenders are unpainted. Were the fenders, generator, rack and lights "dealer installed options"? Is it a UE8? Or something else? The bike came from a garage sale on a military base, so it may have been originally purchased overseas.

Any insight you could provid would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

If everything else matches the description of the Bigbossman's, then it's definitely a UE8, unless it's the mixte version of the frame, in which case it's a UE18. Both came standard from the factory with the pump, rack, lighting system and fenders. Depending on the year, it may also have a small pouch with tool kit, pump and/or an abbreviated chainguard.

Thanks, T-Mar. I discovered — after I posted my question — that you had already provided the answer in another thread. It pays to use the search function! Thanks for indulging me.