b1g bleu

and now I want him to replace the bent/broken parts. Of course I will be doing the actual replacing, I just want him to pay for the parts. My son borrowed my bike because he skidded all the tread off his back wheel and blew the tube. Reluctantly I let him use mine but that's another story, he's walking now. Here's a couple of pics, I've been searching all day for parts to fix it but it ain't easy! Maybe one of you folks can help me out. The handlebars (Guidons Philippe D352) and the brake lever assy are toast as you can see. I like the Mafac brake levers with Diacompe horizontal (safety?) levers but haven't come across them. The lever itself is OK but the brake lever housing that's holding it broke into pieces. Is the horizontal lever just an add-on to the regular brake lever with a longer pin? Thanks for any input. P.S. I couldn't find a serial number on the bike but the left pedal crank is stamped 170 9/16-20.

zonatandem

Your kid and friend are a bit on the irresponsible side.
Good luck finding the parts and kid's friend paying for them . . .

b1g bleu

Is this the type of response I can expect from this forum?

retyred

Have you checked over the frame? How did they damage the handlebars?

retyred

Don't forget the forks and front wheel

jebensch

I'm sure those parts are out there since there are a million of the Peugeots made. My first concern though was how the bike got wrecked; i.e. is your kid's friend okay and how inconsiderate of your bike was he being that you feel the need to charge him for these parts?

cyclotoine

the brakes look like mafac? Hard to tell. I am unsure what is broken. I have some spare mafac levers like the ones pictured but finding them with the black sleave may be very hard. Persoanlly, and I think I speak for most here, I would remove the "safety levers" anyway because they don't work very well and are ugly and look cheep. Unless someone here offers up the parts you will definitely have to do some ebay searching, you will lose more money because of the time spent searching than you will actually paying for the part.

sonatageek

I would suggest taking the bike up to a shop and having them check to make sure the frame and fork are not bent. AS far as the handle bar and brake levers go, it might make sense to buy new and upgrade the levers to a set of aero levers. More comfort and a bit more stopping power.

I think making the kid who crashed it pay for the parts make complete sense. It is a good lesson that if you borrow something you MUST take care of it. If the new parts cost more than used, only charge him for what the used would cost.

b1g bleu

Ok, for the moral revelers, my son told him over and over to get off the bike and he didn't listen. He didn't ask to ride the bike, he just hopped on it and took off. I reprimanded my son for not using the lock I bought him. The same kid decided to hang on the rim of another friend'sbasketball hoop, broke it off the pole and didn't pay for it.
Back to the bike. It's not bent or even scratched anywhere else, my son doesn't even know how it got bent up other than him falling off it. As far as doing the repairs, I worked in a couple of bike shops when I was a kid so replacing parts isn't a problem, getting them for a 30 yr old bike is. I liked the safety levers because I don't have to bend over as much. Maybe I'll replace the handlebars with the mustache style and just get regular brake levers.

King of Kadence

Grab a pair of inexpensive nitto or any brand alloy drop bars from your lbs. For the levers get whatever you can, weinmann levers will work too.

Who's paying for it shouldn't be the issue for a C&V forum, but since you threw it out there, if it were me, I would just man-up, buy the parts and chalk it up as a very inexpensive life lesson.

Road Fan

I agree with this tech advice mostly, basically just get some good quality parts and fix your bike, problem solved. But watch out for the clamp diameter of the bars. If they are 25.4 mm, then you can't put in a set of 26.0 mm or 26.4 (early Cinelli). Nitto makes both 25.4mm and 26.0 mm. If they're something even odder (this is a Peugeot!), you will have more searching to do.

ebr898

Go with the inline brake (cyclocross) leavers. They do the same thing as the old "suicide levers, but have better stopping power. I put a set on my 77 Trek along with the aero hooded brakes, very nice in comparison.
You could take this opertunity to change out your set up. I am assuming you are older, because you have a son old enough to ride your bike and you mentioned that you like to ride on the top of your bars. Google : Sheldon Brown, Grant Peterson, and IBOB regarding Handlebar hight. I have followed thier advice and raised my handle bars, and I like it.
It may be time to go wild with a mustache bar, treking bar, or my new favorite the dirt drop.
Good luck on getting the kid to pay.

sciencemonster

It took me two bikes, at least, to learn the same lesson, so don't feel too bad. Kids just see bikes as another toy, no matter how much you explain your bikes are something special. The best you can hope for is they see them as a special toy, but still a toy.

I keep my bikes locked at home, but I also have 6 or 7 bikes around for people to borrow and I'm always happy to give one away or help a kid fix his bike.

It's not that I don't trust the kids, it's just that my bikes _aren't_ toys - they are my only transportation and too cool to screw around with, to boot.

John E

If you really must be able to brake from the tops of the bars, this is extremely sound advice. They didn't call the old DiaCompe extension handles "suicide levers" for nothing. After DiaCOmpe introduced suicide levers in 1970, Mafac or an aftermarket manufacturer came up with a replacement pivot pin which accommodates them on standard Mafac handles.

evwxxx

Had the same thing happen to me when I was in high school. Rode my falcon over to friends house and while we were out goofing around his older brother took off on my bike. I yelled at him to stop but down the road he went. After an hour or so I finally had to walk home. An hour or so later (almost dark) he comes Walking the bike back to my house, and leaves it in the lawn, and takes off. I inspected the bike and took note that the famous Huret Alvit derailler was trashed. This particular family had a "dad" that was infamous for being the bully of the neighborhood. Fortunately I had big brothers (one on leave from Marines at time) and 2 of them went over and explained to the dad that he would be paying for the derailler repair. He huffed and puffed, but paid the bill when the LBS sent it to him. Oh, the total repair came to $19, as I recall, of course this was circa 1965 or so,,,

Wanderer

Back in "the day", those horizontal levers came from K-Mart, $4.99 for the set, included the necessary hardware.

prettyshady

I have the handlebars (Guidons Philippe, D352) spare but posting from here would be slow and expensive, but the offer's there

cudak888 

No need to get testy.

That said, any handlebar with a French clamp size should do, though the stem looks like it might be a later replacement. Measure the handlebar cross-section diameter (the raised section near the clamp) with a caliper and let us know the size first.

-Kurt

b1g bleu

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions and reminiscing, I thought I was done with having all my stuff being destroyed by my little brother 20 yrs ago when I got married. Well, same *****, different generation.
I just remembered way back when, I turned up the handlebars so the ram is facing up, the brakes were in front but it was comfortable. (I have a stiff back and OT, the wife likes a stiff front, if you know what I mean)

embankmentlb

These days & times you are lucky if the kids parents don't get a lawyer to sue you for a letting him ride a defective bicycle. I would just chalk it up to experience & let it go.

Little Darwin

I would agree to take a close look at the fork etc. bending a bar like that isn't easy to do.

If you are interested in ridability, and not necessarily period correct, you could consider a pair of aero brake levers (they will work a little better as stated, and are a bit more comfortable when riding on the hoods) and then add in a pair of interruptors to get the additional brake levers at the top.

This will get you the additional braking at the top, and do it the modern way. The interruptors are less prone to issues than the old style extenders. I have a bike set up with them and love them.

The aero levers and interruptors combined are still relatively affordable.

If you don't mind a different brand, I am pretty sure I still have a pair of Diacompe or Weinmann levers with the extensions, but they don't have hoods. If you are interested, you can have them. I will be out of town for a week, but can look next weekend.

dobber

You're getting all twisted about a bike-boom Peugeot. Get a decent set of handlebars and some new brake levers and be done with it. The horizontal levers were referred to as suicide-levers. The name alone should be a clue as to their worthiness.

keiththesnake

Parts like that are either cheap or free. My Peugeot cost nothing. I'd lose the suicide levers.

Seems like destroyed stuff just goes along with having kids. I wouldn't get all in a bunch about it.

b1g bleu

Thanks for the offer LD, I'll hit you up if I don't find an easy solution. My 10 yr old just came in and gave me more details. (It was the 14yr old's friend that cuased this). the perp in question flipped over the handlebars (I like the front brakes tight) and fell, that would explain the bent part with little else damage. I know from experience.

Grand Bois

These are the levers that were mentioned above. They are more correctly called interruptor levers. They will only work with later "aero" main levers. They work very well. I put them on my daughter's bike because it's my job to keep her safe, but I wish I had them on my own bike. The elk hide bar covers are optional.