missmixte

Hello everyone. I have an appointment to go look at this Peugeot mixte later today. What do you think of it? Is it worth $200? This would be for me to keep and ride. I'd want to put a pannier on that rack, so I hope it's somewhat sturdy.

I've been looking at catalogs and it seems similar to the 1977 UE18.

Seems like someone has put a cotterless crank on it, right? Also noticed the rear rim doesn't have those dimples, so perhaps it was changed out for an alloy one. He says in the description that it has a newer tire in the back.

Thanks for your thoughts!

1970s - 52cm Peugeot Mixte 10spd, fenders, rack, ,made in France

lostarchitect 

Looks to be in pretty nice shape. I don't know what the DC market is like, but I could certainly sell a good looking mixte like that here for more than the asking price.

francophile 

Late 70s. Looks recently overhauled. Not sure on the model, looks like it has a generator provision on the rear, which would suggest a fendered bike, but it has the UO9/UO19 three-arm crank on it. Almost looks like the PR65, but ... has the Aztec lugs. I'd guess it's a '78.

Worth $200? If it's ready to ride, everything is working including the lights, there's zero work for you to do, and you're planning to keep it for a long time, sure. I'd like to walk out closer to $150.

(Edit: Just saw it had Aztec lugs)

missmixte

Can I ask what makes it look recently overhauled? Just wondering. That would be really nice if it were the case.

francophile 

Brand new tires and cable housings. Freewheel and chain look clean. There's not an ounce of dust on in any of the nooks and crannies of the bike where you'd typically see them - where any of the tubes meet, especially around where the seat stay meets the seat lug, the head badge, etc. Hubs and spokes are so clean you could probably eat off them safely, and I'm not seeing any old grease around the BB shell and hubs.

It's entirely possible this is a pressure-wash-and-flip situation and that's why it's so clean. A savvy buyer should be able to figure that out. I'd check how tuned the brakes are and how freely the BB and wheels turn and, for the sake of pressure-wash types, make sure the freewheel still clicks on reverse, make sure the bars turn back/forth nicely, ensuring the headset was serviced.

Point of note, I just noticed the front light wiring is a little wonky. It looks like the tabs under the downtube are still intact, but there's lots of excess wire behind the light and around the head tube. Not sure why, could be something to check out. Also, where the rear brake cable housing touches the headset, looks like some rust.

randyjawa 

What makes it look overhauled? Not much. Most of the overhauling will be invisible. Plus, the seller says it is recently overhauled - but that does not mean a heck of a lot to me. I would look closely at the hubs, and bottom bracket and even the head set. If you can see hints of fresh grease, then it is likely that the bike is refurbished. Also, irregardless of the seller's statement...

The bike is so clean, with apparently new cables and casings. The tires also look new. All in all, a very original bicycle, with an upgraded cotterless crank and in excellent visual condition. $200.00, if it is ready to ride, is pretty fair, in my opinion.

lostarchitect 

It just looks to me like they didn't want to trim the wire and mess with the connectors. I admit to doing that on a bike or two!

oddjob2

In DC, worth every penny of $200 in that condition and then some.

missmixte

You guys are the best.

missmixte

Update: went to see it. It was dirty, had some assorted rust spots, and cables had not been replaced. Front tire was old. Front fender off center. That stuff by itself wouldn't be a deal breaker but something was wrong with the crank or right pedal. Something felt off center like my right leg was veering toward the bike frame. It was very obvious. Seller rode it himself and tried to pretend he didn't know what I was talking about. That was the dealbreaker for me. Maybe it would be a minor fix but I'm not experienced enough to know and the seller didn't seem forthcoming or interested in fixing it or helping me figure out how I might fix it, so I passed.

lostarchitect 

Good call, if he's being dishonest about stuff like that you can't trust him with other stuff.

It's funny, it looks pretty good in the pictures. Just shows how they can be deceptive.

missmixte

Yeah it is weird how the pics showed us a pristine clean bike and the reality was somewhat different.

He said maybe something was wrong with the pedal but it didn't look like it to me and I don't know how a pedal would create that off center feeling. He said he had just rebuilt the bottom bracket and put that crank on. Maybe he did something wrong in the process.

francophile 

Two easy workarounds, one visible, one invisible.

Visible: Coil the excess cable around the RD shift cable. The original cable is malleable and will stay in a neat coil around the bottom half. Each wrap around eats about 1/2" of slack, 9-10 wraps will eat up a good 5" of cable.

Invisible: The front light housing on these - even the early-mid 80s bikes - have tons of (well, at least "adequate") space inside the light housing. Move all your cable towards the front fender, pull as much as you can through the steel-eyed hole in the light chassis, then zip-tie or wrap a bread tie around the coil like you tape your bars and set it inside, then pop the light in through the middle of that donut. Might take a few tries to get it perfectly round, the this has worked on every bike I've tried on. Sometimes requires a combo of both

Of course, if someone replaced the original light wiring with, like, 18ga speaker wire which seems to be popular, wrapping around the cable housing isn't as easy.

Very possible he cross-threaded the pedal, or used wrong spindle taper? That's a UO9 crank on a UE18, this bike originally came with a cottered crank. If he cobbled it together, there's a strong chance he screwed something up. Good on 'ya for walking away.

There was a running joke when MySpace became really big about 'profile photos' and how you can make the ugliest of people look good if you get the right angle. Honestly? Bikes are no different. But, shy of the dirt I'm seeing in a millimeter perimeter around the head badge, hardly anything else shows!

In retrospect, the housings look too small (4mm) but are shiny and new looking. The fenders and front light also look like they're from an earlier 70s bike as well.

juvela

missmixte,

the machine's chainset is Stronglight model TS.



the Peugeot model UE18 for 1978 came with a cottered steel chainset.



the model U19C for 1978 came with the TS chainset.



as mentioned by Randy the bicycle's chainset represents an upgrade.

missmixte

Thanks everyone for all your great and valuable info.

Juvela, thanks for those visuals! Very interesting. I agree the crank was an upgrade but it didn't work correctly. Something was very off center, the right pedal wasn't pedaling straight.

I know the seller is a local flipper because I've a seen a lot of other posts and reposts from him on CL. I wish he had taken the time to replace bearings, cables, housings, the old front tire, and install the crank correctly. I would have paid more for a better product. But he didn't so maybe he'll find someone with lower standards, better bike knowledge, or better bargaining skills to buy it. Actually I would have bought it as it was if the pedaling were correct.