Me and my roommates bought this Peugeot and hung it up on our wall . It was only $24 at the thrift store so we knew it was steal without any knowledge about vintage bikes. I now have the time and motivation to restore it.
To me it appears to be in great condition. I have been deep diving into all the posts I can find on this sub and am really excited. From what I can tell it needs new tires, cable maintenance/ replacement, and probably a deep cleaning of most of the parts. I am pretty handy and enjoy projects, but haven’t done much with bikes. I have changed tires, tightened break cables, and other simple maintenance on bikes. I know restoring this would be for my pleasure, and there may be a more logical path to having a working bike. At the end of the day I’m doing this so I can have a cool, operable bike. Will this be a feasible project for someone who is used to working with tools but not specifically on bikes?
I should also say, I want to restore the bike but I’m not married to keeping any original parts that will be more hassle than it’s worth. I want to keep the look and keep everything that I can, but my main motivation is to have a nice fixed up bike for riding. I read that some people replace the wheels due to poor breaking in the rain. Would this be a smart move for someone with my motivations? Would this also make finding new tires easier or is the size still standard today (Rim says 27 x 1.25 and tire says 27 x 1)? I have watched a few restorations where the bike frame is taken apart and bearings are cleaned. Would stuff like this be too difficult for a newbie?
Just to wrap things up, my key question is will I be able to pull this off? Is there anything you would recommend I do or replace to make it operable? Any must have tools or products for the project? Any advice is greatly appreciated!
by dirtyflipflop69
9 Comments
I don’t think anything on an old bike like this is too complicated if you’re handy and motivated to read tutorials and watch YouTube videos. Pretty sure that this Peugeot is old enough to have most of the domestic french standards, so a lot of parts could be a bit of a hassle to replace, you can probably restore most of them anyway. Changing to 700c rims (new wheels) would give you a much larger selection when it comes to tires, but I would personally try to find a bit higher end bike to throw money at. 700c are also smaller, so caliper reach could become an issue + I think these bikes look better when the wheels fill out the designated space allocated in the frame. You could get some sticky brake pads and see if the braking performance is good enough for your liking.
French frame, so keep the headset and seatpost. Those were the toughest things to find replacements for on my Motobecane Grand Record. Also, mine was a SS conversion, so a sealed French bottom bracket is hard to come by. Stronglight and Neco may have a few floating around, I elected to go Phil Wood cuz I found a good deal, almost half off, and much lighter than Neco and Stronglight, but they require proprietary tools and additional cup purchases. Happy hunting!!
i just restored my first 1980’s vintage road bike. i’ve never taken a bike apart before in my life but i’ve used the tools to do the project my entire life.
Youtube the disassembly process if you’re unsure of anything. Try to take photos of as much as possible so reassembly is easy. I have 2 washers left over from my project. No clue where they go. It’s time consuming but doable in a weekend if you stick to it. I kept all original parts except for brake and gear cables, tires, cotton bar tape, brake hoods. Same size as yours. Panaracer Pasela is what i went with on rubber.
Polishing the rims and spokes was annoying but worth it for the shine. I love restoring quality products and i’ve put 30-40 miles on my bike so far since the rebuild.
It’s definitely possible and rewarding at the end. My bike is on my profile if you care to see or have questions.
I don’t see any reason you could not fix that up just replacing stuff like cables, bar tape and maybe brake pads and bearings. I would opt for bar end friction shifters (suntour power ratchets are nice) and aero levers (shimano). I would also find a classic touring seat. Panaracer Pasela are a nice 27” tire.
The greater hassle will be to throw the old parts out. Standards have changed over time. Newer parts don’t equal better in terms of wrenching.
This is definitely a reasonable project. You’ll need some special tools, like a freewheel tool ($10) and a crank remover ($15), but otherwise a set of metric wrenches and an adjustable wrench is 95% all you need.
I recommend cleaning out all of the bearing races with WD-40 and scrubbing with 0000 steel wool to remove any residue of old grease. Then replace with the old bearing balls or get new ones for a few bucks. You’ll wanna do this for the wheel hubs, the headset, and the bottom bracket.
As you’ve mentioned, replace the consumables. Chain might be okay to reuse. Just soak in WD-40 for a few days, then rinse with soapy water and blow dry and let dry for a few days.
Get the tall WD-40 can. You’ll thank me later!
I used to sell those back in the late 70s early 80s. My advice, to start, would be to get it on the road shifting and braking. There isn’t too much you could ruin by riding a small amount without regreasing. That’s just cables and adjustment. I think that has alloy (bikespeak for aluminum) rims. Check with a magnet if you’re unsure. Brake pads might be ok on alloy rims, they’ll be dry, but it’s friction that stops you. It’s not like a basketball shoe. That rear hub is likely a Maillard Helicomatic. Leave it alone until you do some research. You need a special tool to take off the gears. Fortunately, the tool also doubles as a beer bottle opener, so…. look for inner tubes that are 25 x 700c. 27″ tires are mostly obsolete, but they’re 8mm different in diameter and 700c tubes work on either, (they’re squishy) . I’d get those old tires rolling. You should ultimately change to 700c wheels if you’re going to put a lot of miles on it, but it’s involved. The bike isn’t a high end bike. Any money you put into it will probably be lost, but a bus pass isn’t free. If you put $100 into it and get that much fun and transportation out of it, you’ll be in good shape.
Recently bought one similar and I kept the 27” wheels but greased them and put new tires and it rides like a tank.
This could be a simple job or a big one, depending on what you decide to keep and what you choose to replace. This does not appear to be a high end frame so you probably shouldn’t go too crazy with upgrades.
You will want new tires in any event: old rubber is not safe. You will probably like the 1-1/4″ wide tires better than the 1″ tires as they are less skittish and provide a little bit softer ride and better handling with gravel. Consider Schwalbe Marathon tires or similar, in order to reduce flats. And use butyl rubber inner tubes to minimize air loss. Also you will want new brake pads; if you live in a rainy area then get the salmon-colored pads.
The brake and shift cables are probably OK but replacing the cables and housings will likely give smoother operation; you can buy a cable kit from Jagwire that will have all of the parts needed, at a reasonable price. Definitely buy stainless cables and lined housings. Two related upgrades are 1) moving the shift levers and 2) changing the brake levers to hide the cables. Bar end shifters are a good choice, but whichever you choose just know that you do not have indexed shifting so all you need is a friction shifter. The handlebar tape looks to be in good condition, and if so leave it be unless you change the brake levers, where you would have to wrap new tape to cover the cables. If you do get new tape consider either the traditional cork tape or a more modern foam tape to make the grip more comfortable.
The seat doesn’t look very comfy – it will be well worth it to get a new one. Don’t go with a big, soft seat; get one that supports your pelvic bones on each side and doesn’t touch your perineum in the center.
The big thing that needs doing is greasing all of the bearings, in both hubs, headset (i.e. steering), and the bottom bracket (for the cranks). If the pedals can be disassembled then do them too. Needless to say grease doesn’t hold up for four decades, any better than the rubber. Also, clean and lube the chain. The old way to do it is soak in kerosene (not WD-40!) then dry and lube; the problem is how to properly dispose of the petroleum products. These days chain is usually cleaned with a strong detergent, then dried well before lubing.
I would keep the wheels, derailleurs, brake calipers, and gears if in good condition. Check that the rims are not badly worn from the brakes, and check gears for damage. It is easy to get new chainrings for the front if needed, but the gears for the old freewheel may be difficult to find. If you were to change the rims, probably to 700C, then the brake calipers won’t reach the rims; it is, or was, possible to buy long reach calipers from Tektro that would work (and they also have the older mounting style). If instead of re-lacing the current hubs you went with a modern Shimano cassette hub you would probably end up with 8 gears in the back, and require a new derailleur as well. So try to keep these existing parts.
In matters of bicycle maintenance a great resource is [SheldonBrown.com](http://SheldonBrown.com) . Good luck.
Edit: I rebuilt my 1984 Trek 620 touring bike so have experience in this specific area, although not with the French threads and dimensions you may encounter. I put a lot of money into new components because the frame was worth keeping – it has Reynolds double-butted tubing and precision castings to join them. The bike rides better than ever – the technology has improved a bit in those decades.