Just thought I'd share a photo of a pair of Peugeots that I've been cleaning up, repairing, tuning up and getting road ready for the local earn-a-bike co-op. Not particularly high end, but definitely retro cool.

Very nice Azorch. What's the deal with earn-a-bike? Are these the grand prizes?

Naw. Inner city and urban core kids can come in to the shop, donate a certain amount of time, take a safety course, and essentially "earn a bike." They learn to do the work themselves and pick from a selection of used rides that need to be repaired. They accept donations of used bikes which then get re-furbed and sold to cover the costs of the program. The big push is alternative and human-powered transportation. They're a good group just getting started and I offered to help out with some of the French-threaded donations. You may have seen a thread of mine from a month or so back where I posted a nice long-sleeved wool jersey that I picked up on the cheap - I got it from this same group.

Very nice old Peugeot set and I like your earn a bike thing. We, at Bicycles for Humanity, have a similar program but we encourage the recipients to actually do the work on the bicycle, themselves, supervised by more qualified mechanic. This gets the bike to the bike wantee and teaches him, or her, how to maintain their new/old bicycle.

And, "retro cool" is a great description. I think I will use it from now on.

Randy, that same sort of self sufficiency is the same sort of philosophical approach these folks have as well. They'd only recently started up operations when I stopped in to see what was what, got sidetracked by several bike boomer French rides and suddenly found myself mentioning the peccadilloes of cottered cranks and the peculiarities of French threading. Suddenly I realized I had somehow talked myself into revamping a couple of bikes so they would have some show pieces. Funny how this seems to happen to me...the word "no" is strangely absent from my vocabulary (as my wife will assuredly attest!)

I want more photos of that Mixte.

Ask and ye shall receive...

...and another.

The Mixte is an older UE18 that is probably a little older (it has cottered cranks) than my wife's UE18 Supersport ... my wife has one of these that I tweaked out just a little for her and just built some new wheels on some high flange Record hubs for the bike.

Square tapered cranks appeared on the U models in '83 - '84 IIRC.

The blue bike looks like a later model AE8 as it looks like it has rack mounts in the seatstay.

A big one too! Looks like my 57cm, which also had cottered cranks. And a 7-digit serial number, which might mean 70s.

The decals are the '79 - '83 checkered pattern... the number of digits in the serial number has nothing to do with the year of manufacture.

Very cool, I love old Peugeots of any flavor.

Those pictures are rather awesome.

May I pretty please have that mixte?



Edit: I'm actually rather serious. That thing is gorgeous, and I've been looking for something just like it for my lady...not trying to proffer an offer, but merely express interest in a business dealing.

If you're serious, I can put you in touch with them. They have this one, as well as a more recent pearlescent white one that just came into the shop. They're all for sale, I think. PM me and I'll send you an email address. Caveats are in order: not my bike, not my shop, I receive no dollars: I've just been donating time to them.

My lady loved her Mixte so much she decided to marry me...

I picked it up quite early in our relationship and it was much like a Peugeot she owned when she was in her teens... have also procured a folder and a tandem as she prefers bikes over flowers and candy.

Hang on to her. She's a keeper.

My wife's Peugeot looked much like this when I found it...

Now it looks like this...

Peugeots - I have way too many. Here are seven in a row and there are two more that are hard to get at in The Old Shed. And to add insult to injury, I have several Canadian Peugeots in there, as well. I am presently trying to build two up but the project is low on the priority list...

















Anyone care to guess which two I plan to build up? Anyone want to purchase, or trade for any of the above? I will list a few in the selling forum, if interested.

This afternoon I just picked up a yellow Peugeot mixte with drop handlebars I found on Craigs List. I haven't had a chance to really look it over but I did notice the numbers on the bottom bracket. Do you know how to figure out the date of these bikes?

It has Mafac Racer center-pull brakes, cottered crank, Tournel or Tourney hubs (I think), and a freewheel you can hear clicking a mile away! It has a seat post but no saddle or clamp for a saddle. I'm a bit concerned because I read that bikes made in France use different tubing sizes.

I'll take some photos and see if I can post them.

Your wife's bike looks great, by the way! I'm hoping to put fenders on and was even thinking of switching to some sort of flat bar. Not sure yet. The new wheels you built...are they 700c or 27". My bike has 27" steel rims with a cross-hatch pattern on the braking surface.

Also, what kind of shifters and rear derailleur did you put on?

The decals on the bike are the best way to determine the year although the Mafacs point to the bike being a 70's model.

My wife's bike is rolling on 27 inch wheels and the new wheels are also some very nice 27 inch Super Champion rims that are laced to Campagnolo high flange hubs.

Shifters on her bike are NOS Sachs Rival 7 speed indexed with an NOS Sachs freewheel and a Huret Jubilee front derailleur.

I love pairs, especially when one of them is a mixte. Nice work!
Don't we have a separate thread for them?

AZORCH, have you forgotten how to turn off that fuzzy-around-the-edges setting on your camera?

Nope! It's a technique I started using on my blog to establish a sort of visual continuity. (Vasoline on the edges of the lens, selective burning and dodging during post processing.) Believe it or not, my reputation was actually originally built around straight photography and now my patrons all seem to want this ethereal look. Go figure!

But this, too, shall run its course.

You didn't ask, but I'll be rude and admit that I don't care for it. I find it distracting when the subject is a bicycle.