Bledfor Days

I had the good fortune to find a NOS UO8 Peugeot still in the box. It's the same bike my wife had in high school and I talked her into buying it. I recently picked a CCM Targa similar to what I had back in the 70's so I played the nostalgia angle and got another bike in the house. The Mafac levers on the Peugeot were terrible so I put on some same era Dia-Compe sissy levers that the wife likes. I wanted to keep it original but she's the one riding it. The Adga saddle was dried out and the cable housings had cracked after 40 years in a box. I kept telling her how great she looked on it (which she did) and can probably bring home the Motobecane Nomade I'm hiding. I like fixing up the cheapys. I paid $400 for the Peugeot.

Chombi

Can't tell from the pics, but is that something like a UO8? (I assume that it is, because I don't see any Reynolds decals on the frame).
Not too many of those left NOS in the box these days. Does look perfect/new in the pics.
Can you post more pics of it?
The $400 acquisition cost might sound a bit too much, but consider how much a new basic aluminum town bike might cost these days if bought at a bike shop it would be similar cost or even more. And you'll never get the genuine classic look and feel from those new bikes like this one has.
Congratulations to your wife and you on the "new" C&V Peugeot! I'm sure she'll enjoy riding it for many years!

Rest_assured

+1 for more pics!

Sixty Fiver

That is about as much as one would ever want to pay for a UO8 but you aren't going to find them in any better condition.

Those Simplex derailleurs are also 40 years old and the jockey wheels were not much good from the start and the Delrin in the body has a tendency to deteriorate over time... the jockey wheels can be replaced with Suntour ones which can bring some piece of mind.

A common upgrade and improvement is to use a Suntour derailleur set and shifters from the same era... these are much better and the shifting will also improve.

CustomSteel

I second those jockey wheels, they were awful. I've seen several on 70's vintage Peugeots that just crumbled into little pieces.

Thanks for the tip about the Suntour wheels Sixty Fiver, I know someone that needs some replacements for their old cage.

Sixty Fiver

My step son rides a UO8 that was minty fresh when I received it... upgraded the derailleurs, crank, and wheel set as I did not want him to find himself stranded on what is a longish ride and the wet braking was really improved with the alloy rims (the Mafacs are really good brakes).

He has been commuting with it for 5 years now.

miamijim

I think the Peugeot's a little newer than '73....may be a '74 with an outside stretch of it being a '75. What are the rims and hub date codes.

$400 is high but not unheard of for a NOS UO8

big chainring

But, but, but, its all original and thats what he paid for. Don't replace anything. Those derailleurs are 40 yrs. new. Please don't replace them. Those steel rims are probably rigida super chromix. They are wonderful lightweight steel rims. The crank is a nice cottered steel, and its brand spanking new. Lets get some perspective here before anything is "upgraded?".

Grand Bois

It was only NOS before you bought it. Then it became a used bike in original condition. Now that you've changed the brake levers, it's a used bike. I wouldn't have done that. Turkey wings could have been added to the MAFAC levers. It was a dealer installed option.

Those brake cables would look much better behind the bars and the levers are mounted a bit low. Do I see a MAFAC adjuster on top of the right lever?

Chombi

It's easier to look at the top tube than to look for a tubing sticker. Only the higher end bikes of that era had top tube cable clips and no decal.

Bledfor Days

Thanks for the tips. I may change the jockey wheel as suggested but that's it for upgrades. I considered putting the cables behind the bars but my wife prefers them out front. You're right on about the Mafac adjuster on to of the rear brake lever Big Wood. I only put it on one to see how it worked. Works great, looks funny. The lever position was preference also. The space between the Mafac levers and the bars was so great that my wife couldn't get her fingers on the levers whether on the hoods or the drops. She didn't feel safe on descents. The wheels are DEA Super Chrome and are date stamped 1973. The serial number is on the left rear dropout.
I'm not going to sell the old levers so all I would need would be some old tape and I could put it back to original. the rubber half hoods we're in pretty bad shape so I might keep an eye out for a set of those.
I didn't think there was any museum demand for an older Peugeot so we decided to ride it.

repechage

Trashed ones are frequent on the SoCal CL for $250. A bit steep upon first glance but history is history. I think is well could be a '73. Still had down tube shifters, and came with the brake lever covers. Did it have the flag than many came with affixed to a brake cable housing?

rootboy 

Cool. What can you buy at the bike store for four hundred bucks? Not much.

Bledfor Days

I didn't see any flag on any of the housings. I'm suspect that the dealer I bought it from didn't give me the frame pump either. From what I can see online it sounds like it was standard equipment.

miamijim

I thinking it may be newer just because of the head badge, that style may not have been used prior to '74.

Check the center of the hubs for date codes, something like 13 73 would be 13th week of 1973, 25 74 would be 25th week of '74. The rims have month/year codes, 7 73 would be July of 1973.

Bledfor Days

It appears you're right Jim. The rear hub is stamped "Normandy P 51 74" Thanks for that. I'll stop misrepresenting it {:^)

dddd

If the OP can find a pair of Mafac safety lever add-ons, or a full set of brake levers so equipped, note that the addition of the safety extension levers reduces the brake lever's reach by a substantial amount.

On Weinmann-type levers, this is a liability in terms of total cable movement, whereas on Mafac levers, most would regard this as a big improvement.

Here's a picture of my Gitane TDF with DiaCompe extension levers added on using an aftermarket pivot shaft kit. The main and aux levers both still have plenty of travel before either lever would hit the bars.
There are also Mafac levers with original Mafac extension levers out there on Ebay. I found and bought a new pair for what should have been the price of the new hoods alone!
I'll also include a photo of my UO8 that wants to be NOS, but has been given a bit of outdoor exercise by both myself and the previous owner. No safety levers on that one, so a visual comparison in terms of lever reach can be made.

SJX426 

Very cool! Your bike. Do what you please, and enjoy!

Bledfor Days

[QUOTE=dddd;16483435]If the OP can find a pair of Mafac safety lever add-ons, or a full set of brake levers so equipped, note that the addition of the safety extension levers reduces the brake lever's reach by a substantial amount.

On Weinmann-type levers, this is a liability in terms of total cable movement, whereas on Mafac levers, most would regard this as a big improvement.

Here's a picture of my Gitane TDF with DiaCompe extension levers added on using an aftermarket pivot shaft kit. The main and aux levers both still have plenty of travel before either lever would hit the bars.
There are also Mafac levers with original Mafac extension levers out there on Ebay.

Wow! That's a beautiful Gitane. I found the DiaCompe levers at a community bike shop in Vancouver for $5. They also had the white cable housing (rare up here for some reason) and the ferrules I needed. I'll keep an eye out for the originals. I incorporated the Mafac adjuster onto the rear DiaCompe lever for fun. It works but it would be nicer with the original covers.

zandoval 

What a small price to pay to get your wife to ride with you again...

Extensive pictures of all the original parts and set up for this bike would be nice - Serial numbers, decals, equipment - Would certainly help us UO-8 fans on restoring their bikes...

dddd

Somehow I didn't compute that you had removed the Mafac levers the first time that I saw your adjuster addition, so only now do I see what was done.

There are Weinmann leversets with built-in adjusters, many of these were made for Schwinn.
Perhaps it was another "Schwinn-Approved" enhancement, as was also done with the larger, spring-loaded barrel adjuster that was fitted to later-year Allvit derailers.

I've sometimes resorted to making all cable adjustments using the cable's anchor bolt, but other times have added adjusters to a sidepull caliper or added an adjustable cable hanger.
After enough miles, an adjuster will have payed for the effort to kluge it on there.

kroozer 

A bike boom classic, you could even argue it's the bike boom classic.

Bledfor Days

Only now did you realize the extent of my heinous crime. The picture has condemned me. :^()

Bledfor Days

I'll do that when I get some better weather and can use a proper backdrop. Pissing rain here in Cascadia.

gioscinelli 

I've had my Peuguet since new, bought in 73! Did a few changes over the years and maintenant c'est parfait!

Sixty Fiver

Those derailleurs work beautifully but I don't put a lot of faith in 40 year old Delrin... and if the OP's wife rode a bike like that in high school she might appreciate an upgrade to the derailleur that would also allow for any changes in the gearing a slightly older rider might want.

The OP lives on the wet coast... the Mafac brakes are fine but will suffer in the rain. The Chrolux rims are pretty but not rare and the only ones of these I have kept on a Peugeot belong on my 1957 PLX8 which does not see rain or bad weather.

I have re-laced both the 700c Rigida wheels with stainless spokes as although it was stored for most of it's life, the stock spokes had corroded and were very lightweight... the bike probably has less than 1000 original miles on it based on the lack of wear to any of the consumable parts and will be kept as original as possible as it isn't a UO8 and is quite a bit rarer.