I just rescued a peugeot road bike that was about to be thrown away. I am just now getting into bikes so I really know very much yet. When I first got it I replaced the tires and the tubes and the brake lines and pads and gave it a good cleaning (it appeared to have been sitting in a woodshop for some time, full of sawdust). From my research I believe it to be the middle end peugeot they put out in 88. I know that some of the older french bikes can have bottom bracket problems and I from the sounds of grinding metal I'm hearing when I pedal I would say that's the issue. But I have nooo idea what that means or how to fix it. I have tried to read some of the articles on Sheldon Brown's amazing site, but some of them are a little too technical for me and I can't find one about how to actually fix the problem.

Any information or a tip to where I can find the right information would be extremely helpful.

Thanks!

TYPO: in the thread title I typed 88 instead of 83

Peugoet used french treaded bottom brackets which are now obsolete. Not sure if they switched by 83 or not. I have an older Peugoet frame, 70 something, not quite sure of the year. It uses a french bottom bracket, it's screwed and I still havent' figure out what to do. There are some expensive options to convert the bottom bracket to a more modern one, or you can just rebuild it using French parts.

Hopefully someone will be able to help you better.

You could head over to the Classic & Vintage forum with your questions. Bring pictures .

East Hill

Not all Peugoets use the French BB. My 1980 PNK-10 used a standard 68mm ISO BB (thank god). Given the OPs description, it sounds like the BB might just need some TLC. My guess is that the bearing might need to be re-greased and adjusted. Park Tool has a pretty good how-to on their web page.

I hope all that's wrong is what you said, barba. I have been reading a bit more about it and that sounds like what it is. But I need to buy some more tools in order fix it. Anyon one who has any input on what brand tools or where to buy would be appreciated.

East Hill, I will certainly be over in the classics forum posting some pics as soon as she is in one piece again!

Thanks for all the help!

Yesss! We always like to see photos of those classic and vintage bikes .



East Hill

French thread BB cups are still available. Is that what you need?

I could get new French Threaded cups. The problem though is that I use the frame for a fixed gear, and French Threaded BB tend to come loose on the fixed side, which is why they are not used anymore. For some reason this problem was amplified by running the bike as a fixed gear. Probably because of the backpedaling and skipping, not sure though.

Plus the only prices i've seen for French threaded BB parts tend to be a little high for a conversion fixed gear.

-ray

Use blue loctite on your drive-side cup, and since you're backpedaling, you may want to use it on the non-drive, too. Sugino French BB cups on ebay buy it now@ $20 delivered. Lots of choices in spindle length, too. I bought a Sugino 110mm, good for many FG & SS apps pretty cheap. Use loose balls for added life - toss the retainers.

If it's from 1988, it's almost certainly an ISO bottom bracket. French disappeared in the late 70's, when Japanese bikes replaced all but the most expensive European bikes.

em

If your cups are coming loose, they have not been properly installed. The BB shell needs to be faced prior to installation. Then, grease up the cup threads, install and t-i-g-h-t-e-n. If they still come loose, clean the cup threads, wrap the cup threads w/teflon tape, regrease and tighten.

One of my personal rides uses a French BB, and it only comes loose when I ask it to.

As far as pricing, as someone else pointed out, you can find good quality Sugino French threaded cups cups for around US$20 a set. The Phil Wood stuff is for the fat wallet set.

thanks for all of the help. some of the stuff is still over my head, but its all starting to make sense.

I have a peugot from the 70's with an ISO bb, so I am sure yours is too.

Like other people have said though, if there is grinding noise that is best solved by replacing the bb with whatever

I really didn't have that much trouble with the cups coming loose. I did once and I tightened it. The chronic problem of them coming loose was something I read about on sheldon's site. My bottom bracket is just screwed. If I tighten the adjustable cup to the point where there is no/little play in the spindle, the spindle doesn't turn, way to tight. If I back it off to the point where the spindle turns well, there is a lot of play.

Basically time for a new bottom bracket. I'm looking into the Sugino cup set... Does anyone know where I can find a 110mm spindle that will work w/ that cup set?

Thanks

Ray

110mm would normally be used for SS/FG applications, but that also depends on your crankset. What are you planning to use?

Yup yup, FG. I have a sugino RD that I was planning on using for another project build, but that might not be ready for a while so I could use that crankset.

Oh, and to the OP, sorry for hi-jacking your thread. Hope your problem gets solved easily. If as others suggest you have an ISO BB a cheap cartridge BB is the way to go.

-ray

I bought my 110mm Sugino on ebay pretty cheap. Thought Harris might have some, but see only 113mm and longer right now ($15). I have also seen the odd Campy show up on ebay - if the seller has it listed as 110mm but not as track they go cheaper.

1988 Peugeot is British/ISO treaded. Bring your bike into your LBS (local bicycle store) have them measure it and buy one. Switching over to a cartridge BB is nice option. Considering your lack of knowledge (spend a little time here and you'll learn quick) buying local may save you from alot of hassles.

Well. I bought a crank extractor to take off the cranks and get a look at the bottom bracket. Problem was the idiot that owned the bike before me stripped the threads so the cranks won't come off. I took it into my bike shop thinking that they might have another crank extractor that might be able to at least get the cranks off. He tried with no luck. Says he's going to have to man handle the things off (without bending the frame!! I said) which is going to destroy the bottom bracket anyway. So I'm going to need a new bottom bracket and a new crankset.