So yesterday I noticed a blue road bike leaned up against a pile of trash by a vacant house. I meant to go back and look at it last night but never did. This morning I was driving to work and stopped by to see what it was - an old Peugeot! The frame looks solid, but the wheels have most definitely seen better days. I stuck it in the car and managed to get pretty filthy in the process (it's been raining lately).

I don't see any kind of model number or anything on it; I'm trying to figure out what year/model it is. I'm guessing a P6 or P8 from my very brief research.

It's an internally brazed frame, stem mounted shifters, suntour rear and front derailuer (as I recall). I didn't count how many gears were in the gear cluster. One thing that I did notice that I haven't been able to find anything about - the tubing sticker said "Turbolite 103". I've seen Carbolite, but not Turbolite. I'm certain this is of early to mid-80s vintage. Can anyone help me identify the year/model?

I'll try to take and post pictures tonight.

Doh.

The "Turbolite" thing was bugging me so I went back out and looked - it IS "Carbolite". I had to look more closely. The entire shifting system is Suntour with a double crankset up front (stamped Peugeot) and a seven gear in back. It has a "Suntour Seven" shifter. The stem is "ATAX" I think. The brakes say "Peugeot" but the levers say Weimann so I'm assuming it's Weimann levers and brakes.

Man, the Pugs on this board are multiplying like crazy. Isn't there something we can do?

Bwahahahahaha....

If it had steel wheels, It's probabaly a P6. P6 had sidepulls, the P8 usually had centerpulls.

Start here
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/276341-peugeot-tube-special-carbolite-103-thread.html

Brakes are centerpull. I looked at those specs but was thrown off because I didn't see any Suntour equipment. I feel dumb asking but how can I tell steel wheels from alloy? Will it be marked?

Assuming it's a P8, is it even worth holding onto, cleaning up and trying to get road-worthy again? Or should I just drop it off at Goodwill and move on?

Magnets stick to steel, but not to aluminum.

A magnet is usually pretty definitive.

Otherwise is it shiny or dull? Chrome plating just looks different than aluminum alloy.

On whether or not you should restore. If it fits you and you want it then it is worth it... Will it make you rich if you restore it? No. Would it be the best possible bike to restore? No. But, Peugeots are known to be pretty nice riding bikes... So if you want a vintage rider, then the answer is a resounding, "it depends"

I'm not sure on the Suntour thing either, but, and it might be a plus for you. Suntour made some really nice, nearly bulletproof stuff. Many might consider it an upgrade.

As to if it's worthy of restoration, if the frame is not damaged, I'd say go for it. It's 100 times better than a cheap bike you can buy new, P8's are lots of fun to ride, and allthough it's far from rare, you don't see them everyday either!

I just finished mine.

Yeah, most definitely not expecting any kinda of money from this bike. Got it more or less as a potential project.

I know that there's supposed to be a certain "feel" to the ride of older French steel road bikes. Would an early 80's P8 still have that certain feel to its ride or is it too recent of a model?

I can only really compare mine to a 40+lb Schwinn conti that I have (but not for long) and a 70's Rampar R2.
The Schwinn is a tank, designed and built to be indestructable, the Rampar is typical 70's Japan, dependable, somewhat dull, and pretty much uninspired.
The Peugeot rides like it was designed to be ridden, It feels right somehow, I'm too much of a beginner to explain why it rides so nice, but it does. Now, I'm a fan, but Old Euro bikes, even the cheaper ones seem like they were made a certain way, Like even the bottom end machines were built and designed with some care and dedication.

If I were you, I'd fix that sucker up, but thats just me.

It's funny that you mention the Schwinn - I have an old Runabout and one of them has to go. I'm going to examine the Peugeot closer when I get home but I think I'll end up keeping it and sending the Schwinn off to someone else...

These old early 80's Peugeots are great bikes even the carbolite framed models have a "feel" to them I think you have to go a long way to find a modern bike that handles as well as these bikes.
Fix it up and enjoy the ride.

385XZA

Soap, french things hate it.

the one you have sounds like mine: carbolite, atax stem, suntour seven RD ... i forgot what it was ID as, an '82 U-08? i'm not sure.

does yours look like this?

Umm, that would be a P8, given the P8 on the label? Don't forget models above the P8 had sidepulls also. My PH10 has Weinmann sidepulls. I like how my Carbolites ride, and they're definitely lighter than gaspipe. MUCH lighter, especially with alloy wheels.,,,,BD

Nice find for a freebie!!!!

E-gad. That's it. Color and everything. The only difference is mine is quite a bit rougher. So does it ride nice? Mine is far from riding condition right now..



Please excuse the craptastical picture. I just snapped a quick few.

A few more shots

My garage is a mess. I'm moving in uh...two days?

They ride great! As good as any other steel framed bike, I like mine! Well, I have two carbolites. One is ridable, and one needs a front wheel. The one that needs a front wheel is a bright pearl pink ladies model. The other is a white one much like these. It's a P8 as well, just a year or two newer.,,,,BD

I'm most definitely going to hold on to the Peugeot, maybe turn it into a single-speed to get it running and look at getting it back to being a geared bike sometime in the future.

intron, does your headtube have a badge or decal? Mine has a badge and I'm pretty sure yours does, too. Just curious.

I want to find a peugot in the trash.

mine has a decal, you can see it in the previous post.

and i agree with Bikedued and redneckwes, i was surprised at how well the bike rode when i got it together. i thought it would be a more gaspipey ride, but it was very nice.

BTW, mine came outta the trash too.


cheers

Good god. Did it come out of the trash like that? If so, I want to go dig through the trash in your area. I thought yours looked like a decal; mine has the original badge and is pretty cool, but at the same time, a bit rough.

What was Peugeot selling the P8s as? Just entry level road bikes or some form of entry level light touring? Does anyone know?

Mine also has a factory decal, and a frame mounted derailleur hanger. I'm pretty sure they were just an entry level road bike. But an entry level Peugeot (to me anyhow) was better than a lot of company's mid range in the 80's.

Well, unfortunately, the bike was too big for me so I gave it to a friend who I've been trying to get into cycling.

However, I did pick up another piece of french steel. Not from the trash, though.



More pictures of it..

Haven't got to ride it yet but I'm really anxious to.

Nice Tour de France! I have one in that faded blue/aqua color. Cheap French paint, a dream to ride. Mine has a Stronglight crank, but they did ship some with the Sugino crank like yours.

I know you will enjoy it!

Sweet Gitane 8Bit!

Love the green color too!
I'm going to find one each Motobecane, and Gitane. Just to keep my Pugs company, and the two Raleigh's and the couple of ??'s .......