deadllama

What is market value for a mid 80's Peugeot PH10LE frame? And if I were to acquire one—assuming everything but the frame had to be replaced—is there a good ballpark budget for how much it would take to build it up into something I could ride/commute with?

Thanks! Broad question I know, just trying to decide if I should take this Francophile plunge.

oddjob2

The Peugeot you describe should accept conventional jis standard components from stem to RD hanger. The least expensive route to rebuild it is to find a donor bike with a component set that you like and has matching seat post diameter, fd clamp,size, etc. More than a few forumites get free components when they resell the stripped frame and fork. I have Shimano, Suntour, and Campy groupsets collected this way.

jj1091

I agree with oddjob2 that a like-type donor bike is the cheapest way to go. For example, I was rebuilding a UO-8 which needed a wheelset, one derailleur, stem, and one brake lever. About the cheapest I could get these, individually, was close to $200. I found a whole donor bike, a UE-18 Mixte, for less than $100, took what I needed from it, then donated the remainder to a co-op.

As to what you should expect to spend, that all depends on how far you want to go with OE or period-correct components. Considering that me rebuilding a mid-70's UO-8 cost me somewhere around $225, with original bike, donor bike, tires, chain, cables, and odds and ends, for a low-end bike that most folks wouldn't pay much over $100 for in the shape I restored it to. For a higher-end bike like you're wanting to build, I'd guess you could easily spend $400 to $500 for a period-correct restoration. All depends on how badly you want it, I guess. My PX-10, which I bought for $160, took nearly $800 more for a nearly all-original restoration, which involved sourcing almost every part except the crankset and headset.

wrk101

If you dropped it off at a shop and told them, here's a frame, just build it up for me, you could be out $600, maybe even more. Lets detail the list: handlebars, stem, seat post, headset, bottom bracket, crankset, brake levers, brake calipers, wheels, tires, tubes, chain, freewheel or cassette, crankset, pedals, derailleurs, shift levers, cables, housings, saddle, bar tape. Add shop labor at $75 an hour, and the figure could well be much higher than my estimate. Heck, labor alone could be over $300.

If you are resourceful, less. Depending on how resourceful you are, it could be a lot less. And of course, doing the work yourself is critical to controlling cost. Do not expect a local bike shop to scrounge parts for you.

This is one reason several on this list visit bike co-ops regularly and seek out donor bikes. If you are one or two parts short, fine, buy those. But if you pay FMV for each and every part, plus labor, look out!

I will be building up the Sekai 4000 I just picked up as a frameset and headset. Its going to require everything on my list above, except the headset. Out of pocket, I will be out less than $50. But I will hit my parts bin hard and do all the work myself. And the parts I use up could be sold for $300 or more, so depending how you account for that, I could be out that $300. But out of pocket, maybe just $25.

Donor bike is key to controlling cost, along with doing the work yourself and being resourceful. If you have to go to the local bike shop for supplies, the price will go up. Consumables: tires, tubes, cables, housing, bar tape; are examples where shops tend to be expensive. The bike shop business is a tough way to make any money, so consumables are an area where they build in some margin.

Almost all of my parts come in the form of a complete bike. Sometimes the bike itself has serious issues. I just picked up a donor bike to upgrade my 1987 Cimarron. The donor bike cost me $40. I'll donate the frame, sell off a couple of odds and ends that will more than cover the $40, probably more like $100. So I will have upgraded my Cimarron at zero cost, made $60, and donated a nice frameset to the co-op. And some of the extra parts will go on a touring bike I am upgrading. Thats the process I go through to keep from spending scarce $$ on my vintage bike addiction. I got really lucky on this donor as it has fresh tires that I like. Of course, I am putting zero value to my time.

deadllama

Is it that straightforward? I wasn't sure whether this model was new enough to be "normal" or whether I'd have to scrounge for French pieces to put it back together. It sat for a long time in abandoned bike shop (long story) so my operating assumption is that it's (1) weird and (2) going to need to be totally rebuilt.

How much do you guys typically spend on a donor bike? I'm totally new to this so that concept hadn't even occurred to me.

wrk101

I bought two donor bikes this week, one was $40, the other was $75. Both were very good deals. BTW, I paid full asking price for each of them. The $75 one had been on C/L for almost a month..... One or two parts at most covered the price of each bike. Why other people don't notice these deals is beyond me.

I've spent as much as $300 for a donor bike, but it was a very unusual case, and I got $700 for its frame alone (so I was +$400 and got all of the parts!). More typically donors are in the $50 to $100 range. About half the time, the frame is worth what I paid for the bike, the other half of the time I just donate the frame.

If your bike is truly mid 1980s, its that simple. If its early 1980s, not so much. All the french manufacturers went through a transition from french parts, to a mix of french and swiss parts, then finally to british standard that the rest of the world (other than Italy) use. The bottom bracket will tell the tale. 35 x 1 is either french or swiss. Even then, if you use the existing crankset, if the bottom bracket is good (after being serviced), you will be fine. Most of the french and swiss bottom brackets I have encountered just needed to be serviced. But if you want to change cranksets, that is a different situation.

Some parts you don't usually replace: headset for example. Just service it and 95% of the time, its good. Seatpost, as long as its alloy, is also good. Stem sometimes, other times you need a longer or shorter stem to fit you better. Rarely does everything have to be replaced.