bluehills3149

Out walking in Brooklyn yesterday and passed this wreck of a bike leaning against a pole. In this neighborhood, abandoned bikes are pretty common and they get picked clean of any working parts until the city eventually cuts them free and hauls them to their grave but this bike caught my eye with a green sticker on the forks that looked like Reynolds. Sure enough, it says 531 and I see it's an old Peugeot although very rough and missing wheels and the seat was a bundle of taped on foam - the ultimate kludge fix. Normally I avoid Peugeots (although my first bike was one of the 80's all steel clunkers) as I found most were heavy, difficult to repair and not particularly good riding compared to Japanese bikes of the same era but I'd heard of the legendary PX10 so I took a closer look and saw other names like Mafac, Stronglight etc so I was like "hmmmm". And to my astonishment it was unlocked and clearly from the surface rust had been there for some time so I took it home. After a search it looks to be a 68 or 69 perhaps? The bar end shifters are half missing, Shimano downtube ones were put on and under the foam seat was the original Brookes but the leather is half gone and probably beyond repair.

dmark 

I believe you are correct. Looks like 24"'; I have a 22" wish it was a 24. Looks like original brakes, crank and derailleur. If you sell let me know.

big chainring 

Give it a spit and a polish, a pair of wheels, and you're good to go.

I've seen two PX-10's in my neighboorhood, both blue which is sort of unusual, being used as utility/commuter bikes. They sit out all day locked up, exposed to the elements. Wonder what the production numbers were on UO-8's and PX-10's?40-50 years after being built...so many are still around.

alx1013

Hi,
my congratulations - you have acquired a good example of a Peugeot from the 60s, assembled from 531 Reynolds, most likely on the Nervex Professional lugs mod. 49/162 and Professional Racing Feature Cut No. 5 fork crown. Is the tubing sticker still on the seat tube? What does the inscription say?

Worth noting that the rear derailleur is original - model Simplex AR637P/NI Criterium. This version (deep blue front panel) was made for a short time. Its year of production (2 digits on the inside of the pulleys attachment plate) will help establish the year of production of the frame as a whole.

Crank set Stronglight 93, BCD 122mm, 1967 - early 80's. Velobase: next to Campy Record, probably the most popular high-end crank of the 70s.

If you can, please, take more detailed pictures.

randyjawa 

The PX10 is an iconic vintage road bike, in my opinion. They preformed well and sported a lovely vintage livery. I have owned two PX10s and both were impressive in the performance and cosmetic departments. You will love the ride. Make sure you install good wheels if you want to optimize the bike's performance qualities...

MiloFrance

Most excellent, enjoy!

ollo_ollo

Great find. Only negative is that in order to take it home, you had to touch it . Save the saddle's frame and contact BF member rhm, he can recover it to like as new. Don

bluehills3149

I cleaned it up a bit. Here are more pics. Front der is broken but rest of bike is strangely complete for such a beater - pedals areLyotard and spin OK.

xiaoman1 

OP,
Great find, it is definitely a PX-10, the paint on the PX's is quite good and most likely the paint will come back with a good polishing. The RD and Fd will most likely need a service and possibly replacement because the derlin(?) may be brittle etc. This IMO was the weak link in the Peugeot brand, if you can find the all-metal Simplex RD and FD you can keep it all French.
Best, Ben

Honusms 

bluehills3149

I found the manufacture date code on the rear der. 1968 - coincidentally my "manufacture" year also.

ollo_ollo

Once you have her polished up and rideable, post the results here: What's so special about French bikes?

Steve Whitlatch 

Nice find. My frame looked like that as found. A good cleaning and some rubbing compound cleaned everything up real nice. Rustolium gloss white enamel in the little pint can from Home Depot is a perfect paint match for touch ups.

wawine

alx1013

To add the correct set of wheels is good idea! Normandy Luxe Competition (gold label) hubs, Robergel spokes (R on the end!) and Mavic Monthlery Pro were standard for this model at that time.

randyjawa 

For what it is worth, Simplex Delrin derailleur failure, particularly the front one, broke a lot, and I do mean a lot. Probably one of the most undependable of vintage components. But they do work well, as far as I am concerned. My second PX10 sported a cracked Criterium front derailleur which I had to replace with one that is not period correct nor model correct. But it worked and got the bike on the road. And...

One of the nice things about restoring and collecting vintage bikes is the hunt/wait for that last special piece. I am still searching for the correct front derailleur and at a price that I can afford...


Look closely and you can see the crack in the plastic. Sad but OK as I enjoy the search for that last correct piece.

alx1013

Congratulations again! The original (french, time correct!) sticker on the seat tube says that ALL frame tubes and fork blades are made from Reynolds 531.
And it looks like the chain is also original. Brampton chain - one of the best racing chains of that period time

cudak888 

Hit that with some paint polish and she'll look like new. Work around the decals.

-Kurt

vintagerando

Boy, that Brooks looks tired.

xiaoman1 

Quite an understatement.
Ben

bluehills3149

The downtube sticker says "record du monde". It's strange in that the bike looks to have been ridden into the ground but the there are lots of hints that it was just sitting around for 30 years more or less unridden. For example the aluminum tread on the pedals is in good nic and the chain is original as are the brake pad holders.

bikemig 

That's a heck of a find and you didn't even need to go dumpster diving to find it, lol

Two things you might want to keep in mind. First, flat white rustoleum is a fine match for that Peugeot white. Second, if you don't want to deal with a French rear derailleur for that simplex drop out, this post from red clover (who is a forum member by the way) outlines your options:

Derailleur Hangers Demystified - Red Clover Components

Hopefully the headset and BB are in good condition. You can find replacement parts but the stronglight headsets and BB are of very good quality and had incredibly long production runs so parts may be available if you do some digging.

cyclophilia 

Nice save - the Peugeot PX-10 is an iconic bike and deserves to be restored and well maintained.

Since you mention being new to French bicycles: here are a pair of mechanical tips for the crank removal:

a) the crank bolts, if original, are 16mm and will require a thin wall socket or specialty wrench for removal
b) the crank extractor threads are unique to this vintage of Stronglight crank: 23.35mm - requiring a special removal tool.
Beware that undersize crank removers will thread in (TA is 23mm) but may strip the aluminum threads on the crankset.

I recommend some lubrication to both sides of each crank arm, at the spindle, with a penetrating oil and let it sit a while
before you attempt crankset removal.

Thanks for rescuing this Peugeot.

SurferRosa

Fine wet sanding might restore the paint. Worked for my PR10 that had yellowed.

dddd

Wow, pretty amazing find, just sitting outside!

I agree with the others, some polishing compound and elbow grease may have this frame looking great.

You'll be starting with a clean slate on this one, so are free to choose the best wheels meeting your own sensibilities (if you choose to keep it, build it and ride it).
It's not hard to set up a 7-speed wheel spaced to 123 or 124mm, which slots right into this bike's 121mm-spaced dropouts. With modern chain, there can be as little as 3.3mm clearance from the face of the small cog to the inside of the dropout, which by itself can take some width out of any 7s hub. I took a picture of this 7s wheel I set up for my 1973 PX10LE having the same dropout spacing as your frame, and I only had to "massage" the axle-stop hardware with a Dremel to clear the freewheel.



Looks like it has the rare Shimano UniShift DT levers, which are a "retrofriction" design. These were offered in many variations including bar-end, thumbie, DT and "stem" (actually mounted under the headset locknut on Schwinns), and I am surprised that the DT version wasn't branded as Dura-Ace.

Anyway, since the bike wasn't locked up I suppose it was being discarded, and I hope that it doesn't actually belong to anyone who might still be looking for it.
It would be a shame to have someone claim it after you refurbished it!

My own 1960's PX10 was pulled from the dumpster at The Off Ramp bike shop in Mountain View back in 1998, and I built it up to suit my preferences at that time. It was the very first vintage road bike that I had tackled and I was anxious to put some STI levers on that I had sourced from a bike swap a few months earlier! The original paint came around with much polishing (I couldn't believe it!). I later moved inland to the foothills, and explored with it from county to county in all directions on the old Roval Tubulars that I found for it.