Painful Regression

I've been back from San Francisco nearly a month now and am slowly easing out of the doldrums. The city was fantastic and were I a man of means I probably would never have come back. I hope to write more about my experiences there but have not yet invested the effort.

Back in Shreveport I began working on another vintage Peugeot.

This one is a 1986 Peugeot Corbier and it is in much better shape than the last one I was involved with. I did a very minor tune-up on it and de-cluttered it of its light generator and other superfluous objects.  The only major stumbling block was the rear derailleur which was fouled up to the point that the spring in it would not snap the pulleys back into tension against the chain; if you pedaled it backward the chain would come off. While pulling that apart I notice its brand:

It made me wonder if it were manufactured by the same Sachs that used to manufacture mopeds in Germany (and now again in China).

I also found this front page for an old Peugeot catalog which was for me at least immensely amusing:

I don't know if it's the castle or the hideous bike but something is screaming bad fantasy novel. I found this cover as well as the vintage of this Peugeot here.

Good Times!

Woke up this past Saturday morning to an enjoyable event. The Velo Dendro Tour of Shreveport. I was happy to attend and enlisted my dad and friend to ride as well.

Franklin's crank sporting appropriate early morning coffee stains.

My friend brought her father's shaft driven Dekra, which is the first shaft driven bike I've ever seen in person. She let me do some doughnuts on it to try it out before she jumped back on it for the tour.

The tour began at Columbia Cafe on Kings and Creswell. It staggered through a few tree related stops to downtown, then the river front, back into Highland for a SWEPCO demonstration, a look at a massive old live oak and the return to Columbia Cafe.

A church carnival.

A local broadcast journalist (in black)  for channel six rode.

Awesome riding vest!

The Slattery Live Oak (it's famous). 

All in all it was a pretty fun ride once it really got going. Some cool bikes showed up too.

Old school Huffy street cred. Respect!

A vintage univega.

A Peugeot mixte.

A Schwinn tandem.

It was inspiring. About 60 or 70 people showed up which gives me hope that someday a successful Critical Mass might be organized here.

Reunited!

I gave to Peugeot back to its rightful owner Sunday night and he seemed happy with the end results.

An almost new Peugeot.

Finally finished the Peugeot up today and it has been a good learning experience. It's nice to have something constructive to do. The test ride was quite fun and I hope to return it to it's rightful owner on Sunday.

The Cane Creek hoods fit the Mafac "Racer" cantilever brakes well enough.

 Though, I did have a problem with one of the old cable guides. One of the two original brass cable guides from the old hoods was broken. I bought two barrel adjusters and filed them down and thread-locked them to fit.

I just hope that the aluminum is strong enough not to break after being filed down so much.

Here are some of the shots of the end product:

The brake cables come up a little high. I cut them to the original length and may shorten them later. This might just be a feature of older bikes  because the cables on my father's vintage Raleigh look to be up at a similar height.

I hope that it will be kept out of the weather now.

New Parts!

I received the parts to finish up on the Peugeot and got back to work on it. I am impressed with the quality of the Simplex derailleurs and would use them on a future bike of my own if I were in need. Here are some pics of the new derailleurs and the old ones they are replacing:

This rear derailleur was $26. It only shifts wide enough for a 5speed freewheel.

I cut the smashed threads off the old axle and put the cones, washers, locknuts and spacer on the new axle. The new axle had to be trimmed 6mm which was easily accomplished with a hacksaw and bastard file. (I should thank Old Bike Blog for verifying my suspicions about its axle size.)

The drive-side cone had a little pitting but still rolls smoothly. 

Cleaned the freewheel up a bit.

filing down a cable end to fit the Peugeot's small friction shifters.

Just need to reassemble it all and cut new cable housings and figure out a creative way to redress the brakes.

I thought that the hoods had rotted away but a period photograph of the bike showed that they originally only covered half the brake. They have some metal running throught them which I suppose is the equivalent of a more modern barrel adjuster so I cannot get rid of them. I am hoping that a new set of Cane Creek non-aero hoods will cover both the brake and the old rotten rubber. 

Saturday Morning.

A self portrait racing down Creswell Avenue.

My dad and I got up at 7 to try and beat the heat on a ride to Shreveport's Farmer's Market.

My dad on the vintage Raleigh I bought him for his birthday/father's day.

The ride was a lot of fun. The Farmer's Market turned out to be not that bad either. It was bigger than I expected though not so well attended. 

 

  

 

 I got a peach pie and a $3 smoothie made in a vintage Vita-mixer 3600 or 4000. The mixer was probably over 30 years old; my dad recognized what it was. Both of these food items were excellent. And there was a lot more to try but I'm a man of limited means. All in all it was a pretty good reminder that life here isn't always so murderous. The rest of the day I worked on the Peugeot, which is slowly winning me over.

 

Damaged axle.

Dirtiest freewheel ever soiled by man?

Rim before.

 Rim after some steel wool and machine oil.

 

 Just a few more hours and new parts...

Legacies...and whether or not they're worth it.

A week ago a friend told me that he had a birthday gift of two hundred dollars he wanted to put towards a new bike. I had some recommendations, but he wasn't interested. Instead he told me about the "beautiful" Peugeot his father had bought years ago as an undergraduate in Southern California. He told me of his father's fondness for it and how he had kept it in the garage all these long years. He really wanted to get it back out on the road. I agreed to take a look at it believing in my hubris that I'd have no trouble getting a garage kept road bike back out on the street, even though it was a french one. So I picked it up yesterday.

I was a little taken aback at first, but got over it. I got my tetanus shot back in January so I am no longer afraid to fondle such rusty objects. The rust and the vines growing through the spokes were strong indication that this thing probably hadn't been kept indoors. I can still see that indeed it must surely have been a beautiful bike in it's prime. My best guess is that it is either a UO8 or a UE8 from the early to mid 70's. (This is a great site to research the Peugeot lineage at). I love its decals and the lugs that resemble a pyramid:

The rims had some cool textures on the braking surface; I have never seen anything like it.

As I stripped it of its superfluous accouterments (generator set-up with headlight/taillight, kickstand etc.) I began to worry about its road worthiness. In my most conservative estimate it would take one hundred and fifty dollars of parts to get it back on the road. It came originally equipped with two plastic Simplex derailleurs both of which now had cracked and rotted bodies. Even more troubling was assuming I would be able to salvage the rear wheel. Its axle's threads had been smashed flat from being too loose in the frame and rolling somewhat with the bearing and the wheel. I believe I could save the cones by grinding off both ends of the axle and placing them on a new axle. I wouldn't bother if it still worked but its bearings are barely still rolling because the grease in them has dried to a consistency near rubber. It's in dire need of over hauling (and I'm not just saying that because I want to), though strangely the front ones still roll freely. Thankfully the cranks and bottom bracket, though extremely rusty, seem fine. I would not want to deal with trying to pull its cottered cranks. The bent chain guard has to go.

After this assessment I wondered whether it was worth the parts and labor. I will do it all for free if he wants it on the street again; I can understand wanting to bond with your father, riding a bike he's passed down. Traditions are one of the most important parts of a family. But even with all those new parts it will still be just a decked out rusty old frame.

...unless he lets me paint it too.