I have a old early 70's Peugeot U-08 that I was thinking of fully restoring but for various reasons have decided not too. I am now contemplating converting this to a Single Speed and was wondering if anyone who has converted this or a similar model (A-08 etc.) can recommend a good inexpensive 700c fixed/ss wheelset to use? I think the rear spacing is 126mm, but the front fork seems kind of narrow (don't have the exact spacing right now).

Don't need advice on any other French related stuff for now thanks, brakes reach, have correct stem etc.

Thanks!

If it's early 1970s, then rear dropout spacing is probably 120mm, which is approximately 4-3/4" and is the same as a track wheel. Front fork is going to be 100mm, and is the same for track (nutted) wheels. Also, original wheels were 27", so the brakes will need to have about 4mm more reach to work with 700c.

120mm rear and 100mm at the front sounds about right. Any recommendations on a decent 700c fg/ss wheelset that will fit this bike?

The original Mafac brakes have at least 4mm.

Any and all wheels will fit, and there are many choices out there. The question is whether you want traditional box rims or v's, deep v's, colors etc. Also, do you want to run narrow or wide tires? How much do you want/can spend? You can even go with 27" if you want to. There are many others on this forum who can give you opinions on this matter, once you narrow down what you want.

Here's an example of many good sources >>>> https://www.velomine.com/index.php?ma...ex&cPath=87_89

A quick trip to Harris Cyclery website made me realize that there were a lot of choices. I'll probably go with a Formula Hub laced to an Open Sport or Weinmann rim. Thanks for all the advice!

One thing I noticed about the original Normandy Hubs, was the diameter of the Axel was smaller than that of modem hubs. Do you know if I might have any trouble with the size of the axel on newer hubs being to wide for the front fork specifically?

I don't think so. I have several front and rear Normandy hubs from the early 1970s, and they are the same as modern road and track hubs, namely 9mm in front and 10mm in rear. In any case, all that matters is the size of the dropout opening, and I'm sure your UO8 dropouts will accept 9mm front and 10mm rear axles.

Thanks for all the advice.

Front fork spacing on seventies UO/AOs is 96mm. In general, added reach is too much on that model for even the stock Mafacs, which have considerable reach. There is some variation from year to year, however. I would check brake reach on another wheel first. Rear drop spacing on this model varies, from 120-@125.

I would build your own wheel. It's what I did on my UO.

I like my cxp22s that I got here. Lighter than DPs but still sturdy. Can't beat the price or customiizng options

https://www.bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/

And my ride also a 70's UO 8 stripped of decals and rattle canned l
V

https://velospace.org/node/26513


Edit: I did have to file out the fork a little because whatever the standard axle size was on the fork was mighty small

Did you find this tricky to do?

Not at all, I used a flat file to open the space up, while keeping it flat and a rat tail file to round out the curved spot where the axle sits. Just file, trying to make them as similar as possible and dip the axle in every once in a while to make sure you don't open it to much. mine rides fine.

There is a site for fixed gear bikes you should check out for examples of Peugeots. fixedgeargallery

Thanks for the advice, doesn't sounds to hard.

sorry to barge in on the thread but i too am building up a UO-8, the wedge nut on the quill stem had been tightened so much that the steerer tube was actually mushroomed out. that being said im not looking for a new fork. a guy at the LBS told me not to go for a 700c fork because of "trail" im new to bike terminology so this meant nothing to me. question is, what are the drawbacks of putting 700c fork on a frame meant for a 27''

none.

I could say that the 700c fork blades will be about 4mm shorter - but that will depend on how much clearance the fork is built to have, so it's not a definite thing I can generalize about.

As for trail, forks can be built with different amounts of rake (affecting trail) - it has nothing to do with wheel size. A fork for a 27" wheel can have just as much or little rake as a fork built for a 700c wheel.

Per Wikepedia:

"Trail is a function of head angle, fork offset or rake, and wheel size. Their relationship can be described by this formula:[5]
where Rw wheel radius, Ah is the head angle measured clock-wise from the horizontal and Of is the fork offset or rake. Trail can be increased by increasing the wheel size, decreasing or slackening the head angle, or decreasing the fork rake or offset. Trail decreases as head angle increases (becomes steeper), as fork offset increases, or as wheel diameter decreases."

So reducing the wheel size will reduce the trail for a given fork rake (offset). This can be counteracted by using a fork with less rake.

Actually, the fork length should match the frame such that the top tube is level, assuming the same size wheels are used front and rear. In this case, using a shorter fork designed for a 700c wheel will lower the front of the bike slightly, which will rotate the head tube increasing its angle, bringing the front wheel back and further decreasing the trail. I doubt that this change will be sufficient to have any significant effect on handling and will probably not even be noticeable.

9__ 9

My point was that a fork for any size wheel can be built with any amount of rake.

Note what is in parenthesis and what isn't.

So I eventually picked up a set of cheap CXP33's with Formula hubs for my U-08 conversion. The back one fitted fine, but the front hub didn't. The Axel was too narrow and the fork slightly narrowed than the hub.

I opened up the fork slightly and then instead of using a flat file to open up the axel space, I just taped the hub in with a rubber mallet, which seemed to work fine. However the wheel is not slightly off center in the fork. I mean it spins fine, but it's slightly off which I'm guessing could be a problem with the brakes (which reach to 700c fine luckily). Any tips on what I did wrong and how to fix?

Probably, you can center the wheel in the fork by just loosening the axle nuts and pushing the wheel sideways in the fork until it is centered, then re-tightening the axle nuts.

So I took the bike to the shop to get the brake cables attached and they informed me that the back brake bridge had come away from the frame. It must have been lose and I didn't notice it.

Anyone know if this is easily fixable with welding? Also, could the frame be ridden fixed with no back brake bridge or is that unsafe?

Well, define unsafe. It's not a terribly structurally important part of the bike,and I can't imagine a mode of failure that would result in injury, but take it as an indicator of the condition of the bike. If there was frame damage on the brake bridge, there might be damage elsewhere. At the very least, it is not a well cared for bike.

Perhaps, but better to use low temperature fillet brazing if possible.

This was my thinking. Time to start searching for a better condition French frame for all the parts I purchased I believe.

I just sold my UO-8 conversion i did last year a couple days ago. The cottered cranks were a pain to remove. I had to use an italian spindle and put on a set of SINZ cranks. I found an old single speed wheelset from a Redline I put on. Be careful when switching to 700c wheels cause dropping the brakes makes them lose their effectiveness. The fork I had to pry apart a bit to fit the front wheel in....not much....just a little tight. It was a great ride, just a bit too big for me at 63cm.