SvenMN 

Welcome h3hound. Nice to see another Peugeot gravel build. Looks like you have overcome similar problems that I encountered.

Here's mine after 100+ hard miles last September.

h3hound

indeed! thanks! i have ogled that build during my research. my paint was far too gone 3 paint jobs ago. the rearmost top tube cable guide had succumbed to my corrosive perspiration by 1995. the bike had sat for almost 2 years.

the 32mm tufos fit just enough. i did have some rub under the rear brake arch but i worked it out.

(my 7yr old daughter picked the color)

Roger M 

Nice looking bikes. how does the SV980 tubing like the bumpy dirt roads?

Here's mine after a 110 miler last September also.

SvenMN 

Quite well Roger. I am always amazed when going through Minnesota washboard… suffering along, looking down at that front hub moving all over the place. I would think the rear hub is doing the same, but I've not dared to look back. And nice looking Peugeot! Love the granny small ring and the bottle and spares placement.

h3hound, that is really cool you let your daughter pick the PC color! Way to draw her in… she'll be needing her own gravel grinder soon

Roger M 

Thanks for the feedback. I have a 1983 PSV 10( I'm assuming the same frame as yours but older). I've thought about mounting the tires on it from the green bike. Might have to give it a try after seeing yours.

gomango

Roger, didn't you mention that you were going to fit Bruce Gordon tires on the Peugeot?

How did that work out?

Roger M 

Not too well, Grady. They only fit if I remove the brakes(permanantly), even then it's too tight.

gomango

Wow, that's a shame.

I've heard nothing but positives and I was hoping to catch your opinion before I order a set this weekend.

Roger M 

Yeah, it's a little disappointing. But I kinda new it wasn't going to work before I got the tires. Bruce Gordon's website has a chart/diagram showing dimensions/clearances at all points. However, I got these off the other forum with only an hour (probably less) on them for a good price. I don't have any thing that they'll fit on right now. They're big n heavyish but I'm sure they would be a lot of run to ride on.

gomango

I'm hankering for a set.

I'll order them up and we'll see what happens.

Going on my Fargo when I receive them.

It's big tire day though, as I just picked up a Surly Knard and a Maxxis Ardent 2.4 for my El Mariachi.

Now that will be fun!

smallpox champ

Just finished up building my Specialized Expedition as more of a gravel style bike. I put on wider and shallower bars, and 38c Kenda K830 tires. I was looking at these and knobbier Kenda tires because they're only $12 each and I like the brownish side walls. I would have preferred some knobbier ones except that they're apparently undersized, so I couldn't get the width I wanted. These 38's turned out to be 32mm wide and 35 tall, which I anticipated, and they worked well on my first trail ride.

Barrettscv 

Really nice. What handlebars are they, they look like a nice combination of reach and shape. Is that the original fork?

h3hound

Yes, for sure. We have ridden a small part of the Great Allegheny Passage together. We will do more in the future; my wife's family is from that area of PA.

Zyclope

Relaxed wednesdayafternoonride with my lovely "Winterschlampe", the german version of the "Gravel Grinder".

Chitown_Mike

I have been thinking about one day biking the GAP and then onto the C&O into Cumberland. I know it is something like 300-ish miles, but I'd love to camp and bike for a week. I would just want a friend to come with to fight the boredom. However this thread gives me some great ideas for a gravel grinder on which to bike it. My pops has an old Schwinn, what model I haven't a clue, but that might make it's way out from under the back porch and into my apartment this summer.

noglider 

h3hound, I really like that bike and its story. I read your blog. You've given me ideas.

Italuminium

Beautiful picture. And to the best of my German language, that is a very, very loose translation! Over here it's just winterfiets...

Zyclope

Thanks for the flowers for the pic. And the translation was just a joke because of our weekly winter ride called Winterschlampenparade. ;-)

smallpox champ

Thanks. The bars are Civia Emerson, can't say anything bad about them, but they're still new to me. Original fork, of course.

BradH

I rediscovered cycling last year after about a 25 year absence. I'm a gearhead so naturally I took to fixing and modifying my bikes. In the process of working on my other bicycles I acquired a few extra parts. I decided to assemble them into a gravel grinder/foul weather/beater bike. Very few if any parts actually match each other. I took it for a 22 mile spin today even though I'm not done with it.

No mechanical issues but I did have to carry it a few hundred yards due to some deeper snow on the trail.

As near as I can tell it's a 1984 Schwinn Le Tour Luxe made in the Greenville, MS plant. It has long chainstays & wheelbase with a relaxed 72 degree or so seat tube and headtube.


I found some used Weinmann 610/750 brakes. The bike would have originally been 27" wheels but I put 700c wheels on. The brakes had just enough adjustment to reach and I have tons of clearance. I'm using regular Dia-Compe non aero levers. Tires are el cheapo Nashbar 700-38 city bike comfort tires (actual measurement is more like 700-32). They have a solid rib down the center with knobbies on the outside. Traction was very good today and I can't complain for what they cost.


I put a Deore DX mountain bike triple on. I wanted a triple and 175 crank arms. The two bigger chainrings were shot so I stole a 52/40 set from a Sugino VP double I wasn't using. I left the small 24 tooth in tact but I need to swap it for a 32 or so. Front derailleur is an 80s Shimano for a triple, FDZ204, or something like that. I had purchased a 118mm Shimano cartridge type bottom bracket for another project. As it turned out, I failed to calculate the offset of the original unit and ended up using a 122 on that bike. The leftover 118 gave me a 45mm chainline with the Deore mountain triple. Perfect.


Rear derailleur is a Suntour ARX. Max cog listed as 34 with a capacity of 32. I'm using a 12-32 seven speed cassette and up front I have 52/40/24. Obviously, this area needs improvement. I knew this before I spun the crank on the stand in the basement, let alone went for a ride today. Right now I have a total spread of 48. I have no use for a 12 tooth out back so I may combine a 14-23 seven speed cassette I have with the 12-32 to make a 14-32. I want to drop the 24 in favor of a 32 up front. That would shrink my spread to a total of 38. Right now I can use the 24 tooth up front with the 28 or 32 out back. I think I can make it work at 38 even though 32 is the rated max. We will see. Of course, I could just go buy a longer caged derailleur.


I had a set of wheels from a Trek. I had built a different set of wheels for that bike. The original wheelset was ok except the hubs were questionable. Had I not learned how to build wheels they would have been usable but with my new found skills there was no reason not to change hubs. I put a Shimano 105 hub up front. Out back I took a Shimano Exage 135mm seven speed hub, removed some spacers, cut the axle down and set it up at 126mm. Both hubs obviously got new balls and grease.


Cool auto trimming downtube shifters.


The Luxe took an oddball 26.4mm seatpost, or something like that. Oddly enough I had one from a pile of stuff I had acquired. I put a Selle Italia Flite Titanium saddle on.


I'm going to add some fenders to keep the spray off my back, the drivetrain and my feet. I've pretty much got the shifting sorted out, just need a 32t chainring. This thing is actually a blast to ride. I may be leaving the 700-23 & 700-25 shoed bikes at home more often now.

BradH

A minor setback.

shelbyfv

Cool bike BradH. That's impressive tire clearance!

Kobe 

Well if you had to shoulder it and carry it a few hundred yards, that should qualify it as a cyclocross bike.

I think most of the gravel grinders in here are a mix of parts. Yours looks great Brad.

BradH

Thanks guys. This is seriously addictive!

WNG

Very nice results BradH! The Le Tour Luxe should fit a 45mm tire easily. Then you'll have a Schwinn Monstercross to tackle those conditions.