ginno

Hi Guys, I've been a 'peruser' of these forums for a while now and a couple of days ago I bought a Puch from ebay, its in the post and i'm twiddling my thumbs waiting, so I thought why not make an account and share it. Advertised as 'Puch frame with parts' I thought i'd snap it up for a little summer project, the primary reason- to fix up and ride. Anyway it set me back £30 and arrives on Tuesday.



I initially plan on getting it into a fit state for as cheap as possible (to get some riding done over the summer) of course in a fitting style. My friend has offered me breaks, gears, cables and pedals off one of his old peugeots which should hopefully get me halfway there. I'm guessing its one of the lower end 80's Puch's so perhaps not worth spending a lot on.

As I say i can guess on the 80's but was wondering if anyone could shed some light on what model it looks to be? I've been looking on the web for a couple of nights and am struggling a bit, I suppose when it arrives I'll be able to compare serial numbers with those i've seen online, but the frame/decals dont seem to pop up very regularly in my searches.

Ill pop some better shots of it in here when its arrived along with some progress shots till its finished...
Any opinions on how i should approach the build would be appreciated, or any general Puch chat!

Nice to finally be a part of the forums, Cheers.

bikemeister

I don't know anything about dating Puch's, but the older Peugeot parts should work fine for your plans. Your bike looks quite nice - should turn into a nice rider!

puchfinnland

please post a bigger picture.

lesson to learn.
next thread you create- post the text first.
then reply and post the picture(s)

our beloved sponsors like to place adverts on the first post making the picture small

ginno

Woops, hopefully this will work.

If not, an external link: https://img822.imageshack.us/img822/2460/puchw.png

Thanks

non-fixie 

Welcome Ginno! Puchs are nice bikes. Even if it's not a high end model, it should provide you with a decent ride. Colour is great.



Edit: just saw see you got the pic up yourself already.

jrecoi

It lacks brakes, and brake levers, and shifters. Good news is that you've got cotterless cranks, the 3 bolt design limits you to a 36 tooth chainring (if you can find it).

From the cable hangers, the brakes were centerpulls, hopefully the brake reach on your friend's brakes will suffice. I see that he didn't include brake levers, inexpensive aero style brake levers are about 20 USD. Use caution, those pedals could be French threaded. Plastic fenders (SKS or Planet Bike) might be squeezed in, they can be useful against the rain and puddles.

ginno

Thanks, and hopefully so!

Apparently it has an 'S.R Helt forged chain set', if that means anything to anyone? Forgot to mention before- was the only information given with the listing...

Edit: Thanks for the info jrecoi.

unworthy1

that's "melt" forged, and S.R. stands for Sanke Ringyo...it's a Maxi-type crankset...yeah the bike is a little "low-end" but enjoy it for what it is...and not bad for 30 pounds!

puchfinnland

so what does it say on the top tube? I see something there.

tell us what all the decals say.

Puch had some bikes manufactured for them in Japan- I predict this is one of them

i think it is a puch meteor luxe

Kanegon

I built a 70s Cavalier frame up from a Raleigh Record and a Fuji Sport almost 30 years ago. Sold it last year on local CL for $100. Quickest sale I've ever made. I charged down power line trails and portaged through 3 ft of water on it, over the years, riding it in Maine, Vermont and finally New York City. It wasn't the prettiest or nimblest, but a great ride for almost any condition. That was all before mountain bikes, of course...

ginno

So it got dropped off today and on the frame it states 'Vincennes' which is a model I've never heard of and theres relatively no trace of it online. Its in good shape just a bit grubby, could probably do with new tyres and tubes which hopefully will be straightforward. Belleri handlebars and selle royal dolphin saddle in great nic too.

non-fixie 

Any other decals? That indicate what kind of tubing was used f.i.?

ginno

Yeah theres a '482 Special Tubing Decal'... I can sort some close up shots out soon. Thanks

Kanegon

That would be their Hi-Tensile steel tubing, the same as my old Cavalier.

ginno

So apologies for bringing back this thread from the dead, but I've finally got the internet so can pop some pics up....



I've done bits and bobs on it and all thats left is getting the brake cables and tubing sorted, which are ordered and on their way.

As I mentioned before my aim has pretty much just been to get this running for as little as possible, which was greatly helped by my friend giving me a handful of his spares for £10. So thats pedals, brake levers and brakes. Remember I paid £30 for what you see in the image at the top of this thread.


Its a shame about the areas of chipped paint which pop up here and there on the frame, but again, its a cheapo thing so I guess I'll keep an eye out for some touch up paint whilst I'm out.

One of the first things I did was attempt to clean up the rims, which went pretty well, they were really grubby when it arrived. The tyres and tubes were rotting and mouldy so I replaced them, adding new rim tape and these 'Michelin classic' tyres which I thought suited it pretty well.



I had a bit of a dilema with buying the gear shifters after looking for ages they were all pretty expensive, so i decided to go full on budget build and got this ugly shimano set for £8...


As I say I have tubing for the gear cables and brake cables on the way, (black which should look pretty nice). I have a couple of questions about fixing that up; looking at the brake levers am I right in thinking that I cant hide the cable beneath the handlebar grip? I've seen them loop up and cross over before being threaded through the guides on my frame... Is there a certain way this is usually done? And also the guides on the frame have one side with a large opening and one that will just fit the inner cable through... Is it regular that the cabling goes from being exposed to covered within tubing?

Cheers, Ginno.

unworthy1

yes, you have "split casing" type braze-ons on your top tube: you would use a length a casing or housing from the brake lever to the front braze-on, then the cable is exposed (no housing) in the center run of the TT, and another length of housing from the rear braze-on to the rear brake. Your CLB levers are not 'aero style' (as far as I can tell) so the housing cannot be routed underneath the bar wrap, it must loop up into into the top ferrule of the brake lever body.
Pick a housing that comes with a (teflon or PE) liner, that liner will improve the brake function...that plus new pads such as KoolStops.

Hate to use the old "fork's bent" cliche, but I see a little wrinkle on the top of the down tube, near the lug, and...that fork might be a bit bent backward...have a shop check it out, often a lightly bent fork can be straightened and the frame might not be injured so much to prevent riding it. But keep it in mind before investing big money...luckily you have only "small money" into it at this point.

bigwooly

looking good. I've eyeballed a couple of cheap puch's in my size but haven't had the $ before they have sold yet. i'll catch one some day.