John E

At least in the 1970s, mixtes, aka "unisex frames," were very popular in France. I remember a visiting professor at UCLA arriving on campus every morning on a brown Motobecane mixte, and these days I often see a guy riding a green 1970s UO-18 on the local multiuse path between Sorrento Valley and the UCSD campus. They are far less wiggly/whippy than traditional step-throughs.

Yes, the UO-18 came in two sizes, and the 22" was extremely popular among our taller female customers, so we had a tough time keeping up with demand, particularly during the 1973 dock strike in Los Angeles. My girlfriend-turned-wife had been riding my old red 21" Bianchi, and wanted a red Peugeot UO-8 to replace it.

IdahoBrett

Taking a break from the wheel situation, I’m tackling the RD. It did shift to all 5 cogs right after a serious dousing of penetrating oil. I doubt it would now. Handling the RD while putting wheels in and out the jockey wheels are starting to crumble. The jockey wheel cage/frame is pretty beat up as well.

A quick measurement of center to center of jockey wheels yielded a dimension of 74.68mm. Of course I was likely not centered. Because the common dimension I’ve seen listed on ebay for long cage derailleurs is 73mm.

I’ve seen jockey wheel kits for sale. And several other types of long cage derailleurs. The ones with a Peugeot logo usually have a model number on them. The Simplex one doesn’t have a model identified. Just “Brevete” and “ sgdg”.

In my opinion the Simplex long cage RD’s I’ve seen for sale on ebay are expensive for what they are. I’m contemplating buying one of the cheapest best condition ones and robbing the jockey wheels and frame.

Anyone with knowledge on the subject please jump in and feel free to give some schooling. If I should’ve used the search function I apologize. I did a little bit and I didn’t see much that fit the direction I’m headed with this part of the project. Thanks.

oneclick 

Suntour jockey wheels fit Simplex (and some Hurets).

And it looks as though the outer limit (do-do-do-do-) screw was not set correctly - the chain has rubbed the paint off the inside of the dropout, and probably is responsible for the jagged edge of the cage.

juvela

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dropout be NERVEX Ref. 1008D


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markk900

As you are building this bike for the Mrs, I would recommend just going to a SunTour V-GT and be done with it. She’ll appreciate the smooth shifting. Oh yeah, front Comp-V or equivalent will also be appropriate.

IdahoBrett

That big of a difference in shifting markk900 ?

markk900

Front absolutely: I found an almost completely unmolested AO-8 for my wife and the front derailleur could barely handle the 52/36 change so she never used it; a spare Shimano 600 Arabesque and it shifts quite well; the rear not quite as big a difference but if you have to replace even parts of the simplex the V-GT and V-GT Luxe are cheap and plentiful.

If you do the swap be aware the Suntour derailleurs use more cable travel so your shift levers will move further (not an issue but can be surprising at first) and the fronts are “normal top” so you pull the lever to shift down to the smaller sprocket (lower gear).

juvela

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IIRC only the MAEDA Spirt, Compe-V & SL model front mechs are "top normal"

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IdahoBrett

Unfortunately for me markk900 by the time you posted I had already bought some Simplex derailleurs off of ebay. Somewhat committed at this point.

My kids are on Thanksgiving break from school this week, so my bike mechanic-ing is limited. My LBS and Co-op are late morning openers and I haven't made the time to reach out to them to help with cold setting the fork. My number one choice is my LBS. I've become a familiar face at the back of the store by the repair shop. The head mechanic Bob has been a big help these past few months. I think he enjoys hearing about my (mis)adventures in wrenching on older bikes. Because all I see in the shop are decades newer bicycles.

markk900

Brett: you’ll be fine with the simplex derailleurs; millions of bike boom bikes had them. I did notice your (wife’s) bike has the more normal 52/40 combo up front and so the front simplex will strain less; and with practice the rear can shift very smoothly.

juvela : you are as usual correct! My experience is primarily comp-v and SL so *assumed* the rest of the line was also “top normal”…. Checked a BlueLine I have and yup it’s “normal normal “ 😁

IdahoBrett

I decided before I get too deep with the wheel replacement that I better pull an axle and check the health of the cups, cones and bearings.

I worked on the front wheel. The old grease was a thick grey colored paste. Not a good color. The cones have some ugly bearing tracks. I went ahead and cleaned and relubed.

The axle spins nicely. I set the bearing tension using a method I read somewhere; using the QR skewer sans springs with the box end of a 10mm wrench to simulate installation in the dropouts. No play in the axles and holding the wrench and skewer handle in one hand at a 2 mph roll the wheel spins seemingly effortlessly and to infinity.

juvela

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good job!

cones pitted so you may wish to be on the lookout for a new set

you may wish to check the forum posts on these hubs made by member verktyg mentioned previously

in case anyone asks your hubs are the G3 version which launched in 'lxxiii

heart symbol spoke logo be an "unknown" -

https://www.mrrabbit.net/docs/spokeheads/main.html

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metric gear block 13-32 5V from member:

French parts garage sale, stronglight, lyotard, mafac, etc


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IdahoBrett

Sometimes I slide rule the snot out of stuff. After a lot of reading about cold setting, And coming up empty after calling my LBS mechanic. I thought I’d just “feel” how far off the fork dropouts were from receiving the new wheel.

About the amount of pressure applied during a firm handshake was applied and the axle slid right in. Huh.

Wheels spin nicely and are true enough. I’ll polish them later, after I’m done with the greasy, oily hands part of the rehab.

markk900

Told ya Peugeot forks are like al dente pasta!

Road Fan

For me it's the decals and that brilliant green paint color! One of my all-time favorites.

IdahoBrett

Same here. The color is an attention grabber. What immediately follows for me are the details. The gold accent paint. The head tube badge, an actual badge and not some sticker. And I’m not sure what to call it, but the “scalloped” edges on the head tubing.

juvela

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accepted term amongst enthusiasts for the "scalloped edges" seems to be "Aztec head lugs"


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IdahoBrett

A “his” Peugeot is currently under consideration. Stay tuned….

What’s wrong with me? I’m not done with this rehab. And I have no space for another bike.

juvela

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UH-OH!

me thimketh ye may require vaccination against the N+1 infectious disease

advisory: when spouse threatens departure ye hath gone a bit far...


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IdahoBrett

A teaser?

Photos just arrived via email. It’s on the other side of town. I’ve got honey-do items to get done today…or tomorrow.

His ask is too much. I think the wheels are steel. It needs love. It’s blue(favorite color), frame size looks big enough(I’m 6’2”).

Here it is:

juvela

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appears a 1971 A08 with upgraded round things


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IdahoBrett

Leaving to go “look” now….

markk900

juvela is correct. AO-8 and pretty unmolested at that. Wheel upgrade is a bonus.

If you get it you will be happy methinks.

Warning that the front chainwheel combo is the 52/36 of my wife’s AO-8 and the simplex changer will be challenged.

IdahoBrett

I brought it home! The al-you-minee-um wheels sold me on it. Plus it’s blue, my size, vintage steel, etc…

Trakhak

Congratulations! Pretty bike.

However, the handlebar stem looks as if it might be a bit too high. See FBinNY's helpful post in a thread from a year ago (see post 6 in the linked thread). (See also post 5 there for advice on not overtightening the stem bolt.)

Quill stem safe insertion