I picked up an early 70's Peugeot u-08 recently and plan on turning it into my daily commuter. I'll probably end up just using the frame and some of the components. I was wondering if anyone had any info on what kind of steel the frame is made of and how it compares to current Chromoly frames in terms of weight etc.?

Lots of folks will chime in with exact composition I am sure, however my AO-8 with a selection of reasonable upgrades (alloy rims, cotterless cranks) weighs in at around 26.5lbs.....and is lovely to ride.

Mark

That's basically what I was planning on doing to it, so it's good to know the overall weight. Do you have any photo's for inspiration?

Here's one.....


I bent the front rim this summer and have relaced the front with an Alex DM18, haven't done the back yet - will repost a photo once completed as the nice satin Alex rims look better (though are not as good as) the anodized Ambrosios that are on the bike in the photo

Mark

That's a sweet looking bike, thanks for the photo.

What Crank/derailleur did you use and did you have to swap out the BB?

Also what hubs did you use and did you have any trouble getting ones that fit?

Crank is a campag Victory (or Triomphe, can't remember which) on a Sugino BB. I have owned this bike since the early 70's and had converted to a Sugino back then...however I moved the pieces to a custom frame about 1975 and put the original cups back in. The spindle fits the stock cups so there was no issue when I got a new/used crank a couple of years back.

Front derailleur is a Sun Tour SL (back in the day I used a Comp V, but I like the SL better as its all alloy); rear is a Simplex SX100 (prestige follow on - cheap at Velo Orange) which shifts great. Also have a Suntour V that I put on once in a while - I like the alloy but it somehow looks a bit large so I'm using the simplex for now - swapping takes maybe 15 minutes on a bad day....

Hubs are Shimano 600 and were mounted on wheels which I bought used....no issue fitting even though the rear is a 6 speed. Front fits no problem, I did not need to cold set the rear but I do fiddle a bit getting the back wheel in....no real issue though. I've also swapped in wheels from both my Trek and my wife's Norco (both also 6 speed) with no issue so I don't think you will have problems finding wheels to fit yours.

Mark

Thanks for all the info. It sounds like it's not going to be as tricky as I first thought.

Wow, Mark, your AO-8 is a gorgeous shade of green.

Hauk:

No idea what my '74 UO-8 weighs, no tools for that here, but i do really like it, even though the frame at only 60cm is way too small.

Mine also has period Sugino cranks, on a 3T spindle, with the original BB cups. Original Lyotard pedals, period Mikashima clips.

Weinmann 27 x 1-1/4 alloy rims, original Normandy hubs.

Upgraded Simplex rd, original Simplex Prestige fd.

Upgraded shift levers to cast alloy after I snapped off one of the plasticy ones a coupla weeks ago.

Long bar stem & seatpost, original bars iirc.

Original Mafac Racer brakes with salmon coolstops.

From todays sprint to the HW store and back:

Chromoly existed in the '70s, same as it is today, similar to a 4130. These Peugs are what's called carbon steel or high carbon steel, which is good steel, just not as strong as CrMo. I think what's really good about the Peug tubing is that they are seamless tubing (I'm pretty sure), which in those days was stronger than seamed tubing. Nowadays seamed tubing is as good, but not in the old days.

I got a project like these right now. Mine seems to be a 1970-73 UO-8, weighs 30 pounds with one alloy rim and one steel.

Oh, yeah; chainrings are 52t & 42t, freewheel cogs are period Suntour 13t to 28t 5 speed.

+1 High ten steel, not cromoly. It was at the lighter end of the scale compared to other entry level bikes back then (I traded up from a Schwinn Continental back in 1975). The challenge is french threading. If you currently have a cottered crank, you are either going to have to look for a square taper spindle (could take a while) or buy one of the cartridge units that sell for around $50. If you got lucky and got one already converted, then you are way ahead.

Now I'm really curious to weigh mine, wish I had a scale. I'll bet a neighbor will have one. Mine has a lot of extra junk on it, like a bag of tools, rear rack, headlight. I'll see if I can get a weight on it.

Roadfan: 30lbs seems heavy considering stock they were in the 28lbs range (without rack, tools, etc)...original wheels were heavy, and the steel crank also, but shouldn't make that big a difference. Also, you will find the fork tubes are seamed but I think you are correct that the rest is seamless....

Hambone - I used a bathroom scale for mine....also I should note the used wheels/rims I have(had) were extremely light, which showed up in my taco'ing the front wheel at 2 mph in the back yard!

I love the blue on your bike as well....perfect backdrop in the photo as well.

wrk101: I have seen sugino cups show up on fleabay every so often as well, and checking at the LBS in the old parts bin may turn up original cups that can be used with a new spindle...I still have my original Sugino cups but decided to save them since the original Peugeot ones worked so well.

Mark

I had one of these that was converted to a fix. My findings are as follows:

Any 22.2 diameter quill stem will work as long as you wrap sandpaper around it and give it a good ring for 5 minutes. It will bring it down to 22mm which is the size of your headtube/headset. After you do this, you aren't limited to the type of bars as you can use pretty much any modern bar.

VeloOrange.com sells a french threaded bb. It gives you a square tapered so you should be able to find some decent cranks and not have to deal with the french threading on the pedals.
There are other things you can do like keep the current cups and get a JIS spindle but that is way more complicated than it needs to be because you will need the right spindle that butts up the bearings properly.

I didnt have to change out my headset, but I can imagine that this will be a pain as well.

Pretty much once you take care of the bb/crank/pedals, everything else is easy.

Bluenote: good tip, though I have used 3 different SR stems on mine and all have gone in without issue - perhaps enough wear after 40 years?

Also for those new to AO/UO-8s: you may find a spacer in the seat tube to let the original steel seatpost fit - you can take it out to allow a greater option of sizes: again I have sourced several different posts from the local used parts emporium that fit without issue - current post is an SR LaPrade...

Mark

Thanks for all the additional info. Seems like the frame is worth using for a commuter, especially given the awesome clearance it has!

The blue U-08 I have is in pretty good working order and has all original working parts (including the rear and front derailleur’s, but sadly not the saddle), so I need to decide what to keep and what to replace.

The only thing I have a problem with is that the steering seems a little wonky, for use of a better word. I hope that I don't need to replace the headset, as I have read that French threaded ones are hard to get hold of and I may need to swap out the entire fork, which I don’t really want to do.

Unfortunately, my local dealers have all tossed the old stuff. I used to pick through their stuff, pay them for used parts, and it was a win-win.

They would rather just work on and sell new stuff....



You can usually just use loose ball bearings to rebuild the headset. At least I would give that a try before trying to find a french one.

The original derailleurs were those cheap plastic Simplex units. Save the levers, as they have a unique lever attachment. But any decent Suntour RD would be a significant improvement.

I weighed mine on a bathroom scale, too, but a real old one. Tomorrow I can try it on my digital scale. But I thought people got sick of weight bickering around 1985. I certainly don't intend to play. I have learned to believe data rather than brochure weights. What size is yours?

What diameter is engraved on your LaPrade? They were made in a wide range of sizes.

Roadfan: frame size is 22" c-to-c....and I'm not a weight weenie either - just thought 30+lbs seemed heavy since I couldn't see dropping more than a couple of pounds with the normal upgrades....

Also, seatpost engraved 25.4mm (and I verified with calipers). Out of interest one of the spare stems I had used measured 22.05mm (plus or minus a couple of hundredths).

I must be very lucky since when I first started upgrading the bike, I had no idea about "french issues" and everything I bought just seemed to fit first time (almost all from used parts stores)....

Mark

The headset is most likely just fine, and prolly just needs disassembly, a good cleaning and greasing, and reassembly with proper adjustment.

What to replace? Mafac Racers are pretty good brakes, I would leave those but add salmon coolstops for a little more grab.

If the Simplex Prestige derailleurs are working and not worn out, I would keep them for now, and start searching for upgrades.

Replacing the original cottered cranks and steel chainrings is a good upgrade. You can keep the stock cups and just replace the spindle and the cranks/chainrings. According to Sheldon, all 3 series bb spindles have the same bearing spacing. Most have the same left end length, and it's the drive end length that varies. My bike has a 3T spindle, which has a typical 32mm left end length, and a drive side length of 39mm. With this spindle there is 10mm clearance between the chainwheel notch on the right chainstay and the chain on the small chainring. This is a bit much, and requires the FD to be adjusted out quite a bit, but works and shifts fine. drive end lengths of various 3 series spindles:

3T = 39mm
3S = 37.5mm
3N = 36mm
3P = 35mm
3K = 33.5mm
3H = 30.5mm

These all have the 32mm left end length and 52mm middle width.

So with a 3P spindle I should only have 6mm clearance btwn chainstay notch and chainring.

What is the stock distance between the chainstay notch and inner chainring?


Also, does the bike have the original steel rims? Alloy rims would also be a nice upgrade without too much $$, plus it gives you the opportunity/excuse to re-lace, new spokes, nipples, new rim liner, new tubes and tires.


And of course, all the greased bearings - bb, hubs, head, should be well cleaned and regreased and properly adjusted.

And all the cables replaced & adjusted & oiled of course.

Thanks so much for all the info.

I figured I would keep the brakes and add some koolstops, as they seem in pretty good shape. I'll probably get my LBS to check out the headset, hoping it just needs repacked.

Didn't get a chance to check the stock distance between the chainstay and the inner chainring this weekend, will check that out tonight. Already on the lookout for a new Crank.

You know it's weird I took off the wheels and they weren't that heavy, so I am not sure whether they are the original steel rims. Having said that my LBS said they could thread new 700c rims to the original hubs, so I'll probably get them to do that. The brake levers look like they could cope with the slight change in size and it would give me more tire options.