Vintage Road Bikes
 

Hi all,

I have been looking around for a road bike. I have been keeping a close watch on the second hand options. I often come across vintage bikes e.g. vintage Peugeot like them one attached. What does the community think about these vintage bikes? I think this particular was listed with the following specifications

19.5 inch frame, 24inch wheels
10 speed Simplex gears

Should vintage bikes be avoided for daily commute bikes? Is there anything particular to look out for?

Thanks all.

I think used bikes can have great value if you know what to look for.

I would seriously post a picture of that bike in the "classic and vintage" group to get their opinion. There are some people there that know old Peugeots like the back of their hand. I used to own a couple and a few things on that bike don't seem to fit.

For example, the cottered cranks and simplex derailleurs are things you would normally find on a much older Peugeot than that appears to be based on the decals. I also don't recall many Peugeots with internal cable routing.

24 inch wheels are very small for a road bike, so either that is a kids bike, or that's not the real size.

That's a junior road bike for kids.

Come over to the Classic & Vintage forum for advice. If you are looking at specific bikes and want advice on value, go to the "Classic & Vintage: what's it worth?" forum.

Generally, vintage bikes can be great for commuting. You just need to pick the right one for you.

Thanks everyone. I looked up simplex gears and they seem to have mixed reviews.

Depends greatly on the model.

From what I see on the street, lots of people do use vintage road bikes to commute, but you should choose your ride with an eye for utility rather than what's cool or cheap.
A few cautions, steel rims are scary in the rain and 27" tires can hard to find so a bike with 700C wheels and aluminum rims is a better choice. Also parts and tools for 70s French bikes are rare and expensive so a bike with Suntour, Shimano or Campagnolo is easier to keep running. First and foremost, makes sure the bike fits you and your riding style, because if it hurts to ride you won't ride it and you have wasted your money.

I am trying to weigh up second hand or new bike, and thought I would put vintage bikes into the mix!

Thanks SlowJoeCrow, why are steel rims scary in the rain?

Because wet steel rims have a very poor friction coefficient so you lose most of your braking power. Personally I abandoned steel rims and Simplex derailleurs in 1980 when I gave my Raleigh Record to my sister and got an Austro-Daimler with 700C aluminum rims and Huret shifting and never looked back.

Steel is slippery when wet and the brakes (which work by squeezing the rims) aren't as effective

Ahh I see, that makes sense, is that why those Peugeot rims are serrated/grooved?

There are a lot of people commuting on old road bikes as SlowJoeCrow has said but if you can find a quality one that's from the late 80's or newer, you'll have a much better bike.

The problem is that around that time is when road bikes really started declining in popularity in favor of mountain bikes, so they are harder to find and usually more expensive.

Oh god, those are the worst. Maybe the serrations make it brake better, I'm not sure, but they sound awful.

My wife bought a Peugeot with steel wheels like that and simplex derailleurs for $50. It turned out to be a pretty decent bike once I spent about $150 replacing the wheels, derailleurs, cables, and shifters. ;)

A lot of what I learned about bike maintenance and upgrades, I learned on that bike.

This is what it looked like when I was mostly done with it:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...IMG_4099-1.jpg

Looking at it now I think I was maybe a little overly generous with the length of the brake cables, and the labels on the tires weren't lined up with the valve stems, but at the time I was pretty proud of the way it all turned out.

The grooves are an attempt to make the best of a bad thing, but don't help much, if at all.

I ride a couple of bikes with old steel road frames, and would not hesitate to get another such bike. My bare minimum requirements are an adult sized frame and aluminum rims. Today, I would probably lean towards something with 700c rims for wider variety of tires, but 27" would not be a show stopper. Now, Peugeot is a French brand, and French bikes had some weird thread sizes, e.g., for the pedals. So far as I know, American, Japanese, and Taiwanese bikes all adhered to a common set of standards for which parts are readily available.

Of course component compatibility isn't so much of a problem if it looks like the components are all in good enough shape to last for however long you want to keep the bike.

That is a "junior" (child's) bike and won't fit you unless you are the size of a child . . .

Measure your bike inseam and determine your desired bike size.

When looking at vintage bikes, avoid steel rims, cottered cranks, French bikes. This is partly for performance reasons and partly for ease of maintenance and repair. I'm assuming you simply want a bike to commute on, not a hobbyist project.

Be aware of the cost of servicing and overhauling a used bike. Call your local bike shop and ask what it costs to tune-up or overhaul a used bike. if you don't do the work yourself, think about $100+.

Think about what you need in a bike. Fenders? Rack? Upright bars? Always cheaper to buy a bike with accessories, than to buy accessories separately.

Consider the terrain and your fitness, and what gearing you will need.

This fits my budget for a first road bike. If I were to buy a new bike.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HQGRBB...5f97aba2c9cbda

But as you all say, trying them out is key.

I had a mid 80's Peugeot and everything on it except the seat post was pretty standard in terms of size, threading, ... and anything else. Even the 75 Peugeot I posted the picture of was pretty standard as far as most things you'd want to replace goes (like pedals).

Stuff to look out for:

Bike is worn out: pointy cogs, crunchy bearings, chalupa wheels, stuck seat post or stem
Bike is of a brand you can't determine
Bike was made in France or England (but those brands ok once you're in the Japan/Taiwan import era)
Bike has steel wheels

Stuff to do:
Clean & grease everything
Replace tires (Panaracer Pasela, Michelin World Tour, Kendas and some others still available in 27")
Replace brake pads
Replace cables ($10 Bell brand kit from Wal-Mart)
Replace chain (7/8-speed chain with a quick link works fine on 5/6-speed freewheels)

In general I'd say if you like doing your own repairs, old steel bikes can end up really cool and nice. If you're hoping it won't require any repairs, you'll likely end up disappointed. I bought a 1990 Specialized Sirrus from a friend this year, and after a bunch of work on it I really like it.

Opinions vary on this, but to me you want a bike that fits at least 28mm tires. I think there's a huge difference in versatility between a bike that only fits 25mm and a bike that fits 28mm. So that's the main thing I'd look for.

Which brings up the point that rigid MTBs with street tires and commuting accessories is very hard to beat.

Lots of good advice above. In general, vintage bikes can provide excellent utility and value for commuting. However, I wouldn't recommend a French-sized vintage bike as a starter bike for someone inexperienced in bike mechanics and wanting immediately to put it into commuting service. The best bet would be any of the myriad Japanese brands, or, less numerous, good quality US brands such as Schwinn, Trek, or Ross, for example.
Bring your proposed vintage purchases and other C&V questions over to the C&V forum and I'm sure we can help you out with selecting a suitable vintage bike and preparing it for commuting.

Most of my bikes are what my work colleagues would call vintage. And I commute to work every day. And I have an old Gitane (French) commuter bike.

I would avoid vintage bikes for commuting. Here are some problems:

• Steel wheels- these are heavy and susceptible to dings, and you will die if it rains
• 27" wheels - these were obsolete 30 years ago. I know of one shop in our 3 million population metro area that carries replacement tires.
• Vintage brakes. The worst, such as the flexy steel models are hopelessly dangerous. Ditto for anything that is labelled: Dia-Compe. The very best of the vintage brakes, such as Campagnolo Record sidepulls.. They still sucked.
• The old French bikes had non-standard BB and headset threading. Good luck finding replacements.
• Maybe 1 of 20 'vintage' bikes on our local Craigslist is not an overpriced gas-pipe POS. Every bike for sale will need a new chain, and more than half of them need a new freewheel and chainrings.
• You don't want downtube shifters. I used these for 40 years.. Trust me. For safety and shifting performance you want brifters.

Unless you know exactly what you're doing, and luck onto a decent used bike, then buy new. Such as bikesdirect.com.

Agreed. Regardless of brand, a bike made in Japan or Taiwan will most likely use the thread standards local to those countries, which are pretty widespread.
Definitely.
Oh yeah. I forgot about brakes. They have improved a lot over the years. I replaced some Dia-Compe with new dual pivots that weren't even high end, and it was night and day.
Good points. The prospects for bringing a "vintage" bike up to modern standards depends on a lot of things, and many of the people who commute on those bikes (including me) are comfortable with doing all of the upgrade and maintenance work ourselves. It's hard to get a straight answer from us because we enjoy wrenching on bikes. So, your success might depend on your aptitude and interest for the other side of biking, which is bike mechanics.

I agree that BikesDirect is a worth considering if you're not sure what to look for in a used bike. You still need to know what size to get and you won't get a chance to ride before you buy. Also, unless you intend to get one of their higher end road bikes, I'd set some money aside for new tires. The tires on their cheap road bikes have no real flat protection.

There are good deals to be found on craigslist if you're patient and no what to look for, - especially this time of year if you live in a colder climate. What may work better than looking through all the postings is to create your own "wanted" post telling people what it is you're after. You can specify a size range, no steel wheels, or whatever criteria you feel is important.

Used bikes can make great commuters. Used vintage mtbs with a rigid fork are probably your best bet; you'll want to swap out the knobbies for slicks. You can find them at good prices on craigslist. Otherwise look for a vintage road bike that can take a fat tire. Some of the classic old french bikes with center pulls make fantastic commuters because they can take a good sized tire. Both of my commuters are vintage bikes.