swiss , british or french BB for a peugeot ph8?
 

Hi there ,

Ive been given what I believe to be a peugeot ph8 by my uncle . Ive narrowed the year down to somewhere between 79 and 83 .
The serial number is 0931716 PH8CE 60.

Here are two pictures of what I think is the exact same model except my one has cottered cranks .

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4007/4...36e611f6_z.jpg
https://www.flickr.com/photos/glendo...-cyclespeugeot
I'm trying to source a new bottom bracket for it but I cant yet figure out what style threads it has ,British , Swiss or French ,

I'm hoping to figure it out so that I can pop in one of these cartridge cottered bottom brackets .

Sunrace cartridge bottom bracket for maintaining old bikes

I'm going for cottered as the original cottered cranks are in good shape and id like to keep them . The problem is that I cant figure out what threading the BB will have , swiss , french , or British . Anyone know which it would be or how I could find out ? If all fails my backup plan is new cranks and a threadless BB .

Looks to be an very early 80's or very late 70's Peugeot that might have pre-dated the PH10, most likely made from High tensile Carbolite 103 tubing. Most likely French threaded BB.
Not sure, but I think they used the Swiss threaded BB shells mostly on higher end Vitus steel tubed bikes like the PSV and it's closest cousins.

Those decals look just like my bike.
Peugeot Course OU10.

The OU10 was just one step above the entry level OU8 or OU9.

The bike just came out of the LBS to get the BB regressed,
I was told it had a Swiss crank.

The bikes you are showing are a higher model than a PH8 (ie xx-10); if yours bike is a PH8 with a similar paint scheme than it is probably a 1981. Site Builder One of the questionable points are the downtube shifters on the two bikes you posted; the PH8 came with stem shifters.

Is there something wrong with the current BB? Unless it has been run dry and dirty for a time, it should be good after a rebuild..If it's loose, it may just need to be tightened up..

Thanks for all replies , I definitely think Its a PH8 , Im getting this from the serial number PH8CE 60 ,I assume that part of the number is the model of the frame unless I'm mistaken . My bike does have downtube shifters though and not stem .

The BB just has a lot of play , If I shake the bike the cranks rattle and the pedals feel odd under the foot , could be a case of cleaning and regreaseing ,tightening but if I could figure out how to get a cartridge BB in there It would be great

OP; Since the BB is needing to be serviced anyway, recommend having the threading checked when you are having the work done. More that likely a good cleaning and new grease will solve the problem anyway...well, it might need new bearings also. It is always a good idea to know your threading for down the road times. If you end up needing a new BB and you have something odd in the way of threading or spindle type, then suggest check the Velo Orange web site or call on them as they have band-aides for most all the problems of that that nature.

While I have no idea what year your bike is, I do remember in the 70's running across many "Peugeot's" with almost random threading such as French forked with Swiss BB, English forked with French BB's, etc. Likewise I saw many random assignments between cotter pinned cranks and more modern ones with square taper spindles. These are built and imported in random sized lots for random reasons at random times. If a buyer of say 200 cycles wanted non-cotter pin cranks and English threads they would be built/assembled to meet that need and budget spec. It was not uncommon for a random lot of French bikes to show up that was simply a collection of whatever leftover bikes were available at the factory at the time and not all from the current years output.

Hope that helps.
/K

if the cups and spindle look good on disassembly, just clean everything really well, repack it with new grease and bearings, and readjust it without all that play. tighten the lock ring down to perfection, and you're good.

How are the downtube shifters connected; with bosses welded onto the metal or is there a metal clamp around the tube? Peugeot's PH8 with the paint scheme you show did not have downtube shifters. I assume your serial number with the PH8 is off a paper tag that Peugeot used at the time; see that the rest of the serial number matches the number stamped under the bottom bracket I would like to see a photo of your bike to get a better idea what you have..

I've found swiss bbs on P8s. I've got a Carbolite Peugeot right now with swiss bb.

Okay I found this in a UK 1981 catalog, meaning your bike was probably not originally sold in the UShttp://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=394178

That looks exactly like the bike I have , Ill put up my own picture of it asap

Hi ,the downtube shifters are welded into the metal . I found that serialnumber on a paper tag , it was taped on the underside of the bottom bracket shell .If its any more of a clue I am living in Ireland so the bike would have been sourced/built/purchased in europe. Will try get a picture up .

Duh..Next time I need to remind myself to ask the original poster where they are as some European manufacturers have different bike configurations, with the same model number, for different markets (ie US vs European). Unfortunately this still doesn't answer your original question. The model year of your bike is right during that time period when Peugeot switched to BSC bottom brackets. However as an educated guess I would say that because your bike had a cottered crankset which Peugeot was phasing out, it's about 99% sure it's French..

Threading
Peugeot bikes prior to approximately 1980 have French threading for both bottom
brackets and forks/headsets. Around 1980 Peugeot began converting over to
British threading or 'B.S.A.' During the conversion period they also used 'Swiss'
not used at the same time. Full conversion to British threading was completed by
1986 and possibly sooner.

Information on dating the transition away from French threading (metric tubes) is
partialy based on an E-mail from the Reynolds Tubing company based in
England. Reynolds has documentation of Peugeot using metric and Imperial
tubing in the U.K during 1978, Imperial only in the U.K. for 1981 and metric only
for the French market in 1980. Its very clear the transition began around 1980.
Information is also based on first hand accounts from Peugeot owners with bikes
from a known year and Peugeot catalogs. http://cyclespeugeot.com/Threading.html

Yea some times the export specs are different than Domestic market

Swiss type used French thread standard but cuts the fixed cup with left hand thread,
not right hand thread like the left, adjustable side does.

fixed cup should have a marking , but you have to remove the crank-arm to see..

Cotter pin crank, ? thats not an easy job .

Fortunately I have got the crank arms off after much hammering and swearing and you tube ing and the bracket out . There doesn't seem to
be any markings on the cup or spindle , my next move is to try and get british cups from a spare bb in there and at least then I can cross one type off the list if not solve the issue altogether .

Peugeot models with an 'H' prefix should* have either Swiss or British threads. The OP's bike more than likely is Swiss due to its age. Not a big deal as most British BB's will thread in.

* outside chance it's French

When you removed the BB cup on the gear side did you turn it normal direction to remove it or backwards?

normal direction to remove = French
backwards direction to remove = Swiss

Hi I have only managed to remove the non drive side cup as I dont have a spanner big enough for the drive side . I dont know which direction normal is but when I twisted out the non drive side cup I had to turn it anti clockwise as I faced it . I have just tried a spare British cup on that side and it fits ! So I think problem solved then ?With that and going on miamijims advice I'm gonna go ahead and order a sealed cartridge cottered crank with british threads and hope for the best .

Hold on...can you asttach pictures of the gear side cup?

Gear side cup: anti-clockwise for removal = French clockwise for removal = Swiss or British

ok ill try , bit of a technophobe here

having issues with upload of my computer , here is a flicker stream with pictures of the bike and the cups

https://www.flickr.com/photos/445589...7645409260169/

You can also look inside the bottom bracket shell after removing the spindle and bearings from the non-drive side. You should be able to tell from the threads visible past the drive side cup inner edge how the drive side cup install and comes off from the direction of the visible BB shell threads

Ok , got the drive side cup out , it came out by turning it clockwise as I faced it . I tried to put a spare british thread drive side cup in and it fitted! , so i think thats it then , British thread it is , that makes everything nice and simple , thanks to all above who shared their time and knowledge on a tricky peugeot issue , looking forward to getting this bike road ready .

if not changing the crank, there is little reason to change the bb unless the cup races are damaged.