Lascauxcaveman 

My sister and brother-in-law, Doug, left the Pacific Northwest for So Cal about 24 years ago, leaving behind a rental property with a little barn containing miscellaneous stuff and Doug's old Peugeot (1979 PKN10, I think. The real Peugeotphiles here can probably nail it down exactly).

This summer, while visiting on their annual trip north, we got to talking about bicycles and Doug said he'd go back to the rental house to see if his old bike was still there; since he doesn't have a decent road bike down south and had such fond memories of his old one. Sure enough, after 24 years and numerous renters, any one of whom could have easily moved the bike, sold it, or just thrown it way, it was right there where he left it.

Since I know you guys like the 'before' pics as much as the 'after' here it is as found:

Lascauxcaveman 

Of course I plan to refurbish it for him. The paint, underneath the grease and dust, appears to be in great shape and should polish up nicely. Clearly, a complete teardown and relube is in order. The wheels are nice and true; the spokes, well, they're still all there. Tires are completely dried out, obviously.

The blasphemous part: We've mutually agreed that a conversion to a triple is in order here, since I've been riding around his neighborhood before, and the hills there are completely insane. (Those of you who've ridden around Port Angeles with me know that's saying something )

I've got plenty of long cage SunTour Vx, ARx & 2nd Gen Mountech stuff to use as well as one each Sugino RT and VT triples with a 28T granny. I looked on the big auction site yesterday and couldn't find any long cage Simplex RDs, or FDs for triples. From personal experience, I know the Japanese stuff just works better anyway. If anyone has suggestions on other French bits I could look at to get some seriously low gearing on this bike, I'm all ears. I see plenty of TA triples on the big auction site (for a price) but not much of anything in the way of French derailleurs to go with them. Bottom line: he's not all that interested in the national purity of his bike parts anyway; he just wants to ride it, mostly.

One thing I will need some help with is getting a crank puller to yank the old-style Stronglight crank; as many of you know the standard 22mm ones don't work on this bike's crank. My LBS, which is shockingly good and having the vintage stuff I need on hand (usually in their 'junk parts' box, heh) has let me down this time. Going back to an old thread I noticed several of you offering to loan their Stronglight pullers to the OP. Anyone who wants to send one my way can be assured I'll be happy to pay postage both ways and will return it promptly. Go ahead and PM me, if you please.

Kactus

Nice to know there's a lot of honest renters out there.

bikemig 

That looks like a PKN 10; heck of a nice bike and a great time capsule. Well worth restoring.

Armacham

Defnitely a PKN-10. I have that exact same bike, in a somewhat less rough condition

Chombi

Time Capsule!
Barn Fresh, but totally unmolested and well preserved!
Heck, even the Mafac hoods look new!

jimmuller 

Where were all the mice???

(Nice find!)

Lascauxcaveman 

Patience, Jim. I haven't pulled the bottom bracket or seat post yet.

Yeah, but you know they're a little more dried out than they look. I'm going to have to be careful on the re-wrap to save them.

rootboy 

Great re-discovery.

In the "for what it's worth" category, many times old hoods split the first time you squeeze the levers. I have done this on a set:
take a razor blade and carefully slice the rubber down under the lever, in the lever's path, and cut out a small, square section that would normally flex during use…so the lever can clear the hood without stretching the rubber. Emergency save only. But it works and is hardly visible if done right.

dddd

I've saved these exact hoods on my '79 PKN-10 (same color even) by just putting two wraps of clear 3/4" Scotch tape over the mid-section. The second layer is directly on top of the first wrap, just there to prevent the tape ever unwrapping from the hood.

I rode the bike for a couple of years like that, and kept the replacement hoods that I bought for it when it came time to sell the bike.

I do need to keep the new hoods for another bike however.

There is a trick for getting the Park/TA puller to work safely with a Stronglight 23.35mm crankarm.
Just as when getting the crankarms fully settled onto the spindle during assembly onto the spindle, after the initial torqueing I position the cranks horizontally and stand on the pedals with some "jumping" force, then rotate the cranks 180 and repeat, then repeat again. Then I find that the crankbolts need another quarter-turn of tightening.
So when using the Park/TA puller/remover, I apply the puller to the crank with somewhat-moderated torque on the handle, then stand on the pedals, jump, rotate the cranks 180 and repeat, then repeat again.
I find that the puller handle then can be tightened a bit further with the same moderated torque, and after repeating this back and forth with the cranking on the puller and standing/jumping on the pedals, the crank squirms right off of the spindle end after a few tries.

This works because the square spindle arm twists a bit within the square bore of the crankarm when heavy torque is applied through the spindle, greatly facilitating the ease of removal of the press fit.
The Park tool can actually pull old Stronglight cranks right off in most cases, I pulled several sets in the old days, none the wiser, but since many have reported stripping Stronglight crankarm's threads doing that, I advise using the torque-assisted method in addition to making sure the puller is always first threaded fully into the crankarm's cap/puller bore.

Long story longer, ...I finally found a not-quite-needed, genuine Stronglight crank puller in the shop's trash pile a few years ago. Found a crank cotter pin press once that way as well, but didn't recognize it's function at the time and so left it there.

As for the process of getting the crankarms fully settled onto the spindle by re-tightening the crankbolts, I should mention that this is doubly important with the cranknuts on nutted spindles, as these need more torque for a given amount of pressfit force, but can fail at the threads if the nut is tightened with too much torque. So nutted spindles ALWAYS get the added re-tightening process.

eschlwc

concerning year ... my '80 pkn10 had a protected paper serial under the bb shell, and its stronglight crank accepted a standard puller.

i was told the leading zero on the stamped (not paper) serial referred to the year ('80).



this ('80) was about the first time peugeots could be identified so easily. and even the rear hanger was threaded and sized for a standard derailleur. wish i could say the same for my '73.

eschlwc

how is the fd cable routed? i see it in one pic going down under the bb, but don't see it coming back up.

i was going to suggest the cycone fd i have, but i'll guess the guide under the bb shell will rule out using an fd with a cable housing stop.

Lascauxcaveman 

^
The cable guide for the FD goes underneath:

And the guide for the shifty business out back is a braze-on that rides atop the BB. Vive le Difference.

Bill, I like your serial number theory because that would confirm my guess that this is a '79. But it looks like you may have a couple more digits hidden under that plastic cable guide, so who knows what year yours was?


@dddd - thanks for the info; I think the gist of the TA/Stronglight puller semi-swapability was in one of the older threads I read today. Possibly posted by you, but I didn't go back and check. Moot point for me, because I don't have a TA puller either, and neither does my LBS - they dragged out a half dozen pullers and all were the 22mm variety.

bikemig 

Or find the old park crank tool remover as one side worked for TA cranks.

eschlwc

weird guide. i guess the two cables didn't get along.

i haven't checked the catalog, but '79 makes sense. the digit before the leading zero on mine is a 'b' (i think).

the recycled cycles shop in fremont pulled my '73 crank for me for free.

old's'cool

Interesting finding. A technical reason for this is not jumping out at me, assuming the same thread diameter and pitch, and the same coefficients of friction between the male/female threads, respectively between the axial face of the fastener and the axial surface of the crank. Are my assumptions incorrect; or do you have a theory or accepted explanation for the difference in the torque vs axial force, given my assumptions?

Michael Angelo 

I've got a decal set if you need any.

Lascauxcaveman 

^ Thanks, @Michael Angelo But I think this bike is going to be just fine, cosmetically.

And a big thanks to @Roger M, who's sending me a crank puller, and who brought up the possibility of making this project a lot easier by just converting the crankset to a compact double, with say, 46-28 ring combo, which I can get from Spa Cycles or perhaps someone closer. Looks like the TA cyclotourist rings will work just fine on the Stronglight crank arms, n'est-ce pas?

Shp4man

You'll have to modify the derailleur hanger to get a Japanese part to work as it has a different positioner peg. In defense of the Simplex/Malliard drivetrain, I can say I was really impressed with how quietly it shifted. No grinding or really any noise at all when shifting the rear derailleur. Running a new SRAM PC-870 chain.

JohnDThompson 

Except those are Stronglight 49D cranks, that use an extractor Park never made (23.35mm x 1). While a TA extractor sometimes can work on those, it carries a very high risk of stripping the extractor threads. Stein makes a copy of the proper Stronglight tool for about $50-60; otherwise use Jacobs chuck remover wedges if you need to service the bottom bracket and don't have the proper tool.

Wildwood

Reminded once again - why there is no Gallic in my garage.

edit: Tim - what a good story this is from so many perspectives.
And an informative thread about those 'small' mods that may have a quirk or 2 to overcome.

bikemig 

I mistakenly thought it was a TA. I've had good luck using it on a stronglight cranks but it is a risk. One of the reasons why I'm OK not owning any French bikes at this point.

John E

I have a Stronglight puller, if you cannot find one close to home. A local chap is currently borrowing my TA puller.

The 1980 PKN-10 is a fabulous bike -- been there, done that. A PX-10 is a bit lighter, but otherwise not significantly better.

You should not have much trouble hanging a Japanese rear derailleur on it -- I had a short-cage SunTour Cyclone II (and a Sugino mountain triple, for that matter -- 48-45-34/13-23, 18 speeds). I put the original Simplex back on it when I gave it to my son, who has it geared 52-45-34/13-26 (21 speeds).

I really like the generous tire clearance -- that frame will take full 28mm tires (even some brands with 32mm callout size), if you wish.

How is the craftsmanship on yours? Mine has brazing voids on the rear dropouts, a bit of splatter around the bottom bracket, and very visible seams down the backs of the fork blades. However, it makes up for it in ride quality and versatility. Enjoy yours!

Interesting -- mine had different Stronglight cranks -- spider integral with the crank, drilled 52-42 chainrings.

avzay66

PKN10s are great. I commute on mine every day. Replaced the drivetrain with Suntour Cyclone mk2 though, much lighter and works better. Also upgraded brakes to Tektro R539 with Cane creek levers. Mine is one of the nicer riding bikes I've ever had with very soft ride and slight flex in the frame. Rides very straight and is extremely stable as well.

Only thing i dont like about it is that chainstays are too narrow to fit fenders with enough clearance, making the fender eyelets useless.

scozim 

A long cage Simplex would be cool. I've only seen one and it was on a used Trek mixte that I paid peanuts for. I really only wanted the bike formthe Simplex pieces. I was shocked the Fench parts were stock for the bike in '84 (I think that was the year)