ppc

So, I was sorting my pile of bicycle parts when I rediscovered my old fixed gear Peugeot 10-speed conversion that I used to ride in my teens at the bottom of the pile, complete with flaking paint, yellowed white brake cable housings and bar tape, dry crumbling tires and dust everywhere.

So I threw a couple of old Vittoria Freedom tires with white/green sidewalls on it (the Vittorias are sort of dry and flaking off too, but they're still holding okay apparently, and it's the only pair of 700s I had left), a pair of 150mm cranks, cleaned and oiled everything, and went for a quick ride in town for a laugh.

As I was trying to get used to riding an upright again downtown - I'm normally strictly a recumbent rider - and a fixed gear upright at that, some dude came up to me and said "hey, nice oldie". Then another guy on a very expensive-looking single-speed stopped and told me "Cool. Love the bike". Wow, what's with that... Don't these people realize I ride a crappy old P10?

When I dropped by my LBS, I told him about my two encounters. He said "oh yeah, don't you know? Riding a fixie is the latest fad in town. You're cool man!"

Who would have thought hey. An old fixed gear 1970s Peugeot is cool in 2010. Rotfl, what a joke

hairnet

nevar!

NinetiesKid

best post ever

WoundedKnee

Actually, it's uncool again. You missed it.

hairnet

How old did you say you are? This is like when my parents began to think Pokemon was cool.

ppc

I'm 40. The bike was my first "real" bike that I paid for myself when I was 14. I got it for cheap from a neighbor, because I couldn't afford a 10-speed. It was uncool then, and I fully expected it to be uncool today. Mind you, I did ride many miles with the thing and I had tons of fun with it back then.

EssEllSee

Pic of said cool bike?

j3ffr3y

poke`mon is cool.

hairnet

the gameboy emulator is great for when I have the flu

ppc

It don't look like much but it still rides nice and quiet.

WoundedKnee

Nice tyres.

dbwoi

That beats the pants off of my old U0-8...

fuji86

Looks nice, I still get an occasional compliment for the vintage Fuji 12 speed. However, it's more because I'm the original owner and in mint condition as it was cleaned religiously & stored indoors since 1986. I think if I were to do anything to it, maybe put a 12T on the cluster, probably by removing the 30T to keep it a 12 speed. It has a 14T as the smallest gear. I often wonder about ever putting a triple crank and a 9 or 10 gear cluster, maybe a better question for the vintage forum about modernizing it ?

The beauty of those older ones, is that it flies under the radar as far as being brand new looking, not saying that nobody would steal it just the same, but next to a brand new one, maybe it's spared and gets passed over by a thief ?

cc700

trolllll

TheBikeRollsOn 

Fixed that for you.

blickblocks

nice looking bike, even if the saddle looks like it's seen better days

vw addict

To be cool "again" you would have had to be cool in the first place.

TheBikeRollsOn 

Also, I don't see how those cranks are 150mm

xavier853

I guess i am cool too because I ride an old vintage peugeot as well.

dsh

I would be terrified to ride a recumbent "downtown". How do you ever not get run over?

As for the bike, if you really want the kids to think you're cool throw on a couple of these

ppc

Sorry I'm not biting. Anyone who rides any pedal-powered machine, be it a recumbent, an upright, a unicycle or anything else, is okay by me. If you like flamebaits, I'm not a good target

They are (well, they're 148mm actually). I always ride with cranks that are around 150mm on my upright bikes, and 130mm on my recumbents. But this is my "test" crankset, on which I left the original hole so I can screw the pedals at 170mm or 148mm and choose. That's why the crank arms look longer :



Well, the whole bike has seen better days. I might just start riding it somewhat regularly again, it sounds like fun. If I do that, I'll install a Brooks and I'll take care of the paint somehow, to stop the rust. But if I get bored with it, at least I haven't spent any money on it.

avner

I'd suggest throwing a crane creek set of hoods which will clean up those cables. Some new tires, trim those cranks down and then drop the rear brake. So you really do look like a cool kid. Bonus points for mad skidz.

On the serious, enjoy your fixie, we all have a blast riding them.

TheBikeRollsOn 

Ease up old man, I was just joking around. I think recumbents are actually pretty cool. I think I'd prefer my ancient upright fixed gear though.

And those cranks definitely had me confused, but it makes sense now.

Anyways, I kind of dig the bike, I don't know why but I'm into beat up old conversions when done properly, I guess it's because I have one myself (see signature). What wheels are those? They look pretty neat.

PlattsVegas

How did you get that pedal to screw into the new hole in the crank?

Dr. Banzai

Only "old men" know this secret. We don't give away our secrets to "whippersnappers".