Looeez

I recently bought an old folding bike, it's a Peugeot P20. I don't have a photo of mine yet but it's the same one listed in this 1986 catalog

Anyway, since I'm not very tall (5"6") I assumed it would fit no problem however I think I have the seat post as far up as possible and yet it still feels like my legs don't extend enough. Is this common with these older folding bikes? I really like everything else about the bike but I'm unsure about keeping it due to this.

airwulf

I have two Dahon Classic E3s (86/87 vintage) and both the seat post and seat tube extend quite a bit. I'm 5'4" and have no problem with leg extension on these bikes; I wish the handle post was longer, however. I don't have experience with any other vintage folders to really answer your question in a definitive way.

griftereck

It might have a 25.4mm seat pin diameter. This is very common. And you can easily get replacement seat pins in lengths upto 400mm. but you might have to change the saddle to one with round rails, to fit in the seat clamp on the new post.

But then again. Its an old Peugeot. So might have a 24mm seat pin. I dont know if they just used that size on road bikes.

wahoonc

Pull the seat post all the way out and see if it has a minimum insertion line on it, if not mark it with a sharpie about 2"-2.5" from the bottom and put it back in to the mark and see if it is still too short. If so replace it with a longer one. FWIW on my Raleigh Twentys the post was too short for me but I am 6'-2" tall and have long legs. But the stock post was only about 2" too short. I have run into the situation more than once where someone has cut the post off for one reason or another, making it too short for most people.

I would think that a stock folder would fit someone of your height just fine.

Aaron

mikeybikes

I just got a P20 myself off of craigslist. I'm about 5'11, so I know the feeling. You'll want a new seat post. I measured the existing one to 25.0mm using my el cheapo dial caliper. I'll be heading to the LBS on Friday to verify my measurements (they've got one of those nice rods to measure it). If it is indeed 25.0mm, longest I can find is 350mm. Stock is ~200mm. So, the extra 150mm should be plenty.

Looeez

Great, thanks for the replies. Very helpful, I'm going to measure the seat post and see if there is any more I can raise it. If not I'll buy a replacement.

mikeshoup - other than the seatpost are you changing anything else on your bike? I too bought mine from Craigslist and it's in pretty decent shape. I think it will be a fun bike for the summer.

mikeybikes

I'm swapping out brake cables, brake pads, seat post, shifter cable, and the shifter only because its broke.

mikeybikes

Update for Looez,

A 25.0mm seat post is the correct one. I got a 350mm size one, but it is just about a half inch too short for me... I'll need to find a larger seat post in 25.0mm (I don't think it'll be easy).

For you, being shorter than me, it should be perfect.

Be aware, the stock saddle on mine has flat rails. New seat posts use round rails. You'll probably need a new saddle.

itsmoot

You could get a higher seat position by using a suspension saddle. A cheap fix that used to be popular here was the worst product name ever, the Butt Buddy:


One of the members here may have an old one to sell. I don't think the company that sold them, Sidetrak, is in business anymore. They used to show up on eBay occassionally.