The fenders that came off my Peugeot cleaned up very nicely and I'm nearly ready to put the fenders back on the bike but I'm facing a little dilemma.

In stock form the bike already had a little constructeur style rack attached to the bike, but a few weeks back at the VO garage sale I picked up a new one for a very attractive price. Should I clean up the rack that came with the bike and place it back on the bike or should I replace it with the new rack?

There is a small downside to putting the new rack on the bike as opposed to putting the old rack back on. I will need to drill two additional holes in a set of very nice stock fenders and there will also be holes from where the old rack was previously attached if I go with the new fenders. Pics of both racks follow.


VO and Peugeot Rack by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Side View Peugeot Rack by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Opposite View Peugeot Rack by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Top View Peugeot Rack by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr

Hi. I remember you grabbing that rack.

I will pass on the advice I got from Colonel Lloyd: steel wool and elbow grease.

You'll be very pleasantly surprised how good you can make the old rack look.

Do that first. Then think about it.

Drilling the holes would make me think twice. IMHO.

Cheers!

Clean and reuse the old rack, build a bike around the new rack.

Those old Peugeot racks are very nice but they do lack a little stiffness for heavier loads... always a favourite when I am fitting out vintage bikes and want a rack that looks right.

Hey Leica.... And I remember you grabbing the Nitto Campee front rack. Man what a score!

I've already cleaned up the fender stays and other items that were in need of cleaning. The nice thing is that most of this bike has cleaned up very nicely. I do believe the rack can be made to look pretty darned good.

Here's one other piece to the equation I forgot to mention: Remember me grabbing that Porteur rack? Well, I think I'm going to put that on the bike too. What I'll end up with if I put the old rack back onto the rear is a thin wire rack on the rear and a nicely finished tube rack on the front.

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Hmmm, I guess I could take that approach. I've only got 17 bikes in the house right now! That is good advice nonetheless.

Being made from wire, I am of the opinion they are not a very strong rack, that is for sure. They do at least look right since that is what they had from the factory. Frankly, I'm not sure the VO rack would look that out of place on the bike. It is very similar in style and would be more useful than the OEM rack for actually carrying stuff.

old rack hands down... some bronze wool (or super fine 0000 steel wool if you're feeling gutsy) and you're done, 15 minutes tops and that thing will look new again... plus no need to drill new holes!

So far it's unanimous: keep the original rack. When I was at Lowe's today I picked up super fine steel wool, so I ought to be in good shape. The possibility of drilling new holes did concern me since the fenders are in nearly new condition. The bike is NOT original by any means, but the parts that are in good condition I'd like to keep intact to the extent possible. Actually, now I come to thing of it, the fenders are the best part of this bike!

Hey there! Yup, I did snag that Nitto Campee rack, but it turned out to be a rear rack. I have too many rear racks, but this one is the nicest. I'm still waiting for the frame it will go on to arrive. Months(!) I have been waiting.

I also grabbed a porteur front, but in the rush I didn't inspect it. Only when I went to check out did I realize I grabbed the one without the upper bars. Mine is just the flat surface version. When I realized, all of them were gone. Sigh. Which version did you get?

Anyway, fine steel wool and 15 minutes. I'll bet you'll be surprised. Still, it depends on just how much weight you plan to carry. My fallback position on rear racks is always the Blackburn. But I'm old-fashioned in this regard.

Cheers!

Oxalic acid on the old rack...personally I wouldn't touch it with steel wool. Steel wool is only going to remove some amount of chrome. Example (remember, not a single bit of mechanical rust removal, save a very soft toothbrush over the whole thing a couple times while in the OA bath):

Before:




After:

No idea why I thought that rack was for the front! I picked up a rack without the bar also but asked one of the guys in the shop if they had rails left for the racks that were garage sale eligible and one magically appeared, stickered and all. I'd be willing to bet they'll sell you a rail cheap if you call them. Don't forget "freeshipping" coupon code until Tuesday.

I noticed khatfull has chimed in... gonna read his missive. He is a god when it comes to making something shiny!

Great advice! I've not gotten my hands on any oxalic acid, but I'll see if I can get my hands on some today after I return from brunch. Man, you have the touch with cleaning and polishing! I've read your polishing thread more times than you'd know.

I only use heavy abrasives like bronze wool as a last resort. OA and chrome polish are my first choices. That chromium layer is only a few microns thick.

Aaron

So I'm nearly finished with the cleanup... There is a fair pit of pitting on the surface. Does it make sense to put some clear coat on the rack to protect it? Advisable or not?

I'd coat the clean rack with boiled linseed oil. It's cheap, easy and it's been pretty effective for me so far. I got the idea from southpawboston and he don't teach no junk!

Sounds like an interesting idea. I'll dig around the forums for a thread from SPB describing the method.

I second this. You may be shocked at how clean that thing will look. I also use Windex and aluminum foil for this type of clean up, then wipe off the resultant black crud with a clean rag. No matter what, you'll need some patience to get into the nooks and crannies, along with the aforementioned elbow grease. To echo an old tv commercial: Try it, you'll like it!