Originally Posted by
Poguemahone
Like others have said, it's a nice bike, nothing fancy. However, as others have also noted, it has a very nice ride. I keep one, it's really the only "low end" bike in the stable, aside from the Velo Kombi Espesial, and ride it a lot.
I bought a new UO-8 in 1972, put over 2000 miles on it in sporadic riding before upgrading. I just recently restored it to its original components except for the derailleurs. I does indeed ride nicely, very much as I remember it.
I was just measuring it against the Gran Sport. The chain stays are longer and the BB is 1/4" higher but as I've set it up other dimensions such as wheelbase, seat to crank distance, seat to stem or bar, top tube length, etc. are all practically identical. So the seat tube angle is shallower, and the rider's height and seat tube height above the road are slightly greater. Not sure what this says about the fork. In any case, it works. They knew what they were doing.