1974 Peugeot PE41
 

Now that I've removed the rust from the frame, I think it's time to start a build thread.

I found this 1974 Peugeot PE41 in a bike junkyard. It was pretty crusty, so I didn't have high hopes about getting it working again, but I figured for something old and French I might as well give it a shot, as these things don't come around very often in around here. I'm guessing that this monsieur would have been picked up by a serviceperson stationed in Europe, either Air Force or Navy, and brought back here.

Some before shots:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4640/...a1ae9e75_c.jpghttps://farm5.staticflickr.com/4691/...03df7071_c.jpg
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4643/...fcb6bcc8_c.jpghttps://farm5.staticflickr.com/4738/...71cdb319_c.jpg
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4684/...1de521f1_c.jpghttps://farm5.staticflickr.com/4728/...70ea7ed6_c.jpg

Very cool bike, looks like you have a lot of work ahead of you. Looking forward to seeing it finished. Good luck with the build.

The fates must have smiled upon my intentions, as I was able to get the stem out after 5 minutes of tapping and cranking.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4686/...9997e2ae_c.jpghttps://farm5.staticflickr.com/4690/...eaf21609_c.jpg

I had intended on just getting a whole new wheelset for it to make it easier to add indexing and more sprockets if I ever felt the need, but if I wanted to save the wingnuts I'd have to save the whole hub. Glad I did, because they shined up real purdy.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4692/...5a62a6a3_c.jpghttps://farm5.staticflickr.com/4692/...953304d5_c.jpghttps://farm5.staticflickr.com/4599/...1091132c_c.jpg

And after 3 days in an acid bath, the frame emerged:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4698/...f8823e9a_c.jpghttps://farm5.staticflickr.com/4651/...d66cf787_c.jpg
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4759/...024388c7_c.jpghttps://farm5.staticflickr.com/4699/...2015e7e8_c.jpg

This weekend it'll get a thick coat of automotive lacquer to preserve the patina and then I'll get to work polishing up the rest of the aluminum bits.

Now that the frame has proven itself to be salvageable, I get to make some decisions - and ask you guys for input. As this bike was designed to be utilitarian, I'm going to try to keep the build as inexpensive as possible while converting it to modern standards where I can. It was originally specced with 700c wheels, so that's easy. I'll likely swap the Simplex for some Suntour.

- Should I just get some Sun CR-18s to rebuild the wheels, or is there an inexpensive, vintage alternative I should look for?
- I am going to go with a modern square taper bottom bracket, and will likely try out these cheap Chinese Campy knock-off cranks. Or, again, is there an inexpensive, vintage alternative I should look for?
- I'll probably post in the ISO thread for some French-sized city bars to replace these goofy risers.

Wow, fantastic effort on an unusual bike. I love these "zombie bike" projects, and look forward to following your progress!

For my Peugeots, I found old Spécialités TA Cyclotouriste cranks on the Bay. They are not hard to get, aren’t too expensive, and of course match the bike perfectly. I’ve used both Phil Wood and Velo Orange bottom brackets. See?

https://i.imgur.com/iCgseqr.jpg

As for the handlebar stem, don’t forget that you can easily sand down a standard 22.2 stem so you can fit modern aluminum bars. I have done that a couple times with success.

That is a good point. I was planning on doing that as I was expecting to have to saw out the original stem, but since it came out in one piece I kinda want to keep it. But the availability and affordability of VO Parisian-style bars might make me go back to my first decision. Probably the Porteur, as it's a little wider than the Belleville.

I've also got to make a decision about a saddle...

An Idéale 39, BIM 39, or ADGA 28A (and probably other brands, all of which are basically the same as the Idéale) were all used on those bikes. I find them quite comfortable.

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Wow, amazed verdurous finish still abiding benath all of that, ahem, extraneous layer! :thumb: ;)

Wonderful work. :)

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Yes indeed; I notice that you even used a green rag to avoid possible staining of the original paint from the workstand clamp! :thumb:
When considering what clear coat you'll use, you have a number of different gloss levels to choose from. If you want to preserve the existing aged finish without the obvious appearance of added clear, you could use Gloss, Semigloss, Satin or even Dullcoat depending on how shiny you want it.

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these saddle models were OEM on drop bar models. subject cycle is upright bar and poster has written of build plan to stay with an upright bar.

he will likely want something with more support for an upright riding position.

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how have the plated parts come out? does it look to you like they will be reusable?

OEM chainset is DURAX, a longtime partner of the rampant lion.

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I have a pal with an old Ideale saddle that I might try. But yeah, my first thought would be to get something wide for upright riding, and maybe sprung!

I soaked the bell in evaporust and there was no plating left, as expected. I imagine the bolts are going to look pretty rough, haven't worked on the brakes yet. The headset is OK enough for now, pretty much no plating left after evaporust. I'll have a pretty broad definition of "smooth," but I expect it'll do fine, maybe take down measurements and put it on a wishlist for eventual replacement. Fender stays will get replaced, and I'll probably replace all of the fender and rack fasteners.

@Hudson308 I've got a couple cans of gloss acrylic lacquer. I'm aiming for the "ancient artifact under glass" look.

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thanks for the report on the plating. have found that it tends to hold up much better on forged fittings than it does on the stamped sheet ones. reckon there be a good metallurgical reason for this!

wrt saddle -

one possibility which would be period correct, application correct and nation of origin correct would be a Tron et Berthet TB4 or TB6 -

http://www.velo-pages.com/main.php?g...serialNumber=2

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Good point! I use a sprung Brooks saddle on my one upright bike. One good thing, the wide sprung Idéale saddles tend to be less expensive.

Nope, this is what you need:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/oX...=w1569-h903-no

Run it as a single (in either 52 or 42) or as a double. It's a really funky 116 BCD. Threads are English IIRC, but you will need the TA crank puller. Willing to trade if interested ;)

Slightly random side story:

I have a mid-70's Gitane tandem with cottered crank. It has a six-bolt pattern but looked suspiciously similar to the BCD of the above crank. It also had a 36t inner ring. I took it off, lined the bolt holes up (they matched!), swapped in the ring and suddenly had a 52/36. I put the crank on my '70 Gitane TdF, rode it on the Cino and it did quite well. I have since replaced the crank with a Stronglight 93 using one of Jon Vara's 37t inner rings as that was the original crankset.

If you get to a point where you need a suitable light kit so you can use those wiring provisions on the downtube, gimme a shout. I had a wicked score on eBay recently that would probably look nice on that.

Excellent job on the hubs and rust removal.

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:thumb:

Was wondering anent this as well.

Appears rear lamp assembly mostly gone.

A bit more of front lamp survives.

Have you checked dynamo so see if it still generates?

Wonder if our lighting experts know if spares available...

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Hey Dave, can you try again? I tried it as a straight url as well but could not see the pic.

I sprayed the frame with some gloss acrylic enamel, I think the preserved patina will look good against polished aluminum.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4747/...bb77f0ac_c.jpg

@juvela There isn’t much of the lamps left, but I do have the bracket-mounted generator. I’m hoping it still works as it has a nifty splash guard/fairing. @francophile I’ll send you a PM to see what you got, I haven’t done any research there yet.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4762/...fc33584b_c.jpg

@mountaindave Those cranks are pretty rad, and were one of the first that I thought of. I don’t think they’ll work here, though, as I want to keep the chainguard so I’d be limited to a 46t single ring.

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IIRC the purpose of the "splash guard fairing" is to act as a skirt guard. Below is one mounted on a vintage Terrot mixte. These are more commonly seen on ladies model cycles.

wrt respray: the "before and after" images of the frame will really be something in this case! :)

When completed, you may wish to post the project to the forum's "before and after" thread. ;)

Odd. I previewed them and could see them on my desktop - I still see them, even in Aubergine's quote. But I can't see them on my phone. I posted it the same way I usually do - from google photos.

I'll try flickr:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4703/...787cc58a_c.jpg

Great job on the rust removal, and on the polish work on the hubs also. This one is a true, "back from beyond the grave", story.

Bill

Made a bit of polishing progress over the last few days!

Some brake levers:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4615/...bdfb699b_c.jpg

Some brakes:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4657/...b276c85d_c.jpghttps://farm5.staticflickr.com/4754/...88450cb2_c.jpg
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4632/...ff5c8421_c.jpg

And the chainguard!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4631/...4d613297_c.jpghttps://farm5.staticflickr.com/4603/...0bb4f569_c.jpg

Maybe if I get a proper stand for the buffer I'll try the chainguard again, it's not as clean as it could be.

I also cleaned up the derailleur I'm going to use. The Simplex was beyond saving. With the way the cable is routed, I have to use the Simplex cable stop/washer combo that fits on the shifter boss. If I don't get a proper French derailleur, I'm going to use a Shimano 600 friction lever. Which I thought I had, but all I have are indexed. Or does anyone have a recommendation for a nice shifter that will work on a smooth post?

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4631/...6f600951_c.jpg

I also installed a Velo-Orange threadless bottom bracket, which was waaay more difficult than it should have been. I guess when they designed the shims they tried to make it universal for all bottom bracket dimensions, so it was REALLY tight going in and kept binding up the bearings. It's still not perfect, but I'm hoping that when I start putting some torque into it it'll center itself.

Juvela, the sidewall dynamo does work, but it spins very roughly so I'm going to replace it. The skirt fairing is removable though, so I can swap it! What do you guys think, should I look for a vintage bottle dynamo, or find a new one?

Next step is to polish the fenders!

I've one of these. They're great neighborhood knockabout bikes. I got it for free and wound up piling a couple hundred bucks in cool and fitting parts on it. Great bikes.

Here's how it all stands so far:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4610/...82566bca_c.jpghttps://farm5.staticflickr.com/4654/...41cc7e6e_c.jpg

I got one of those super-duper cheapo cranksets from eBay, we'll see how it works. My goal is to keep this as cheap as possible.

I got to tire shopping, and I'm going to use the new whitewall Schwalbe Road Cruisers. They're made of recycled material, it seems fitting.
https://www.cyclesolutions.co.uk/Ima...ts/51836_3.jpg

But first I have to get some rims and lace up those hubs...

Fantastic. And I love your workbench, too.

If you haven't decided, the CR-18 rim is a very safe and sensible choice. Sure there are good vintage rims, but the Sun rim is better and a known quantity.