I confess. Since I'm riding the UO8 so much I decided it needed a few upgrades and a weight-loss program. But I do believe the sins are forgivable. The replacement parts are all still French or at least quasi-French.

First, thanks to ColonelJLloyd it now has a nice AVA alloy bar, noticeably lighter than the steel which was slowly rusting under its bar tape. The new bar is ever so slightly narrow than the original but is shaped much the same.

Second, it has an alloy cotterless compact-double crank, courtesy of Velo-Orange. I figure that's culturally better than the Sugino it once wore. It is my preference for gearing, exactly what I use on my Gran Sport, and it looks really nice. The right side is highly polished, though the insides of the arms and the chainrings aren't. It shifts very smoothly. V-O says it needs a 110mm spindle and they are right.

Finally, I replaced the rusting steel bottle cage of unknown vintage with a new Blackburn. Okay, that isn't French but it isn't a control or drivetrain component so I figure that's okay.

The bike feels lighter and measures exactly 1 pound lighter. The crank feels smoother but that is probably just my imagination. Same with the bike's steering, which feels slightly quicker.

Some would argue that me being a weight weenie with a UO8 is silly but these changes make sense to me if only because my sweetie can give me a pound more food to carry in to work in the morning! This bike and I are old friends, almost 4 decades, so I figured I owed it a gift or two.