Tag Archives: French bicycle

1940’s Peugeot PolyMultipliee’ Gent’s Bike

Posted on by

1940's Peugeot

This 1940’s Peugeot was one of the first restorations that I completed.  There were a number of challenges, but because the bike was complete and original, it was worth it.  This Peugeot was well loved and well ridden by its owner.  So, I wanted to make it totally rideable again, as well as to preserve its original beauty and function.

peugeot late 40's 014peugeot0000

peugeot late 40's 007peugeot late 40's 004peugeot late 40's 015peugeot late 40's 003

The bike had both keys to the original fork lock,  plus the owners engraved tag on the down tube.  All the reflectors were intact, and the original toolkit bag looked great.

peugeot late 40's 031peugeot 0161040s peugeot2peugeot 014

The bottom bracket had a small dent on the underside, and one of the pedal cones was toast.  Fortunately, the axles looked good and the other pedal was fine.  To find the parts necessary to repair these old bikes can be a challenge.  Fortunately I found a replacement cone in my parts bin, and I was able to thread the bottom bracket in without a problem.

peugeot 002peugeot 009

peugeot 001peugeot late 40's 026

peugeot 013peugeot late 40's 019peugeot late 40's 050peugeot late 40's 069peugeot late 40's 061peugeot late 40's 062Simplex%2004-filteredpeugeot 012

There were a lot of hours put into cleaning and dealing with mechanical issues.  A particular problem was learning how to adjust and set up the Simplex Juy Tour de France rear derailleur.  Originally, I had the chain routed incorrectly, but this drawing helped to solve the problem.  There aren’t a lot of adjustment options in the rear derailleur, so the shifting is still being “fine tuned”.

1936_3

peugeot1940s

The end result proved well worth all the effort – this is a beautiful and fun to ride bike from the late 40’s.  It is equipped with aluminum Mavic 650b rims, Lefol hammer fenders, Simplex Tour de France derailleur, aluminum bars, a rear constructeur rack, a working dynamo with front and rear lights, a complete leather toolbag and kit, Peugeot chain guard, and two keys to the fork lock – all working perfectly.

Update January 2014:  SOLD!  Congratulations to David in California.

1980 Meral 650b Conversion – Part Three – Fini!

Posted on by

1980 Meralchrome lugsReynolds 531Meral seatpost lug

My Meral 650b conversion is now complete.  In two previous posts, I shared the process of converting this 700c sport touring frame to 650b.  The bike and I have taken a short test ride, and it is going to be my ride tomorrow for a more complete test of its road-worthiness. Today’s test ride revealed that I needed to ditch the vintage Mafac brake levers. They were not effective at stopping the bike when braking from the hoods, and the levers stick out so far from the bodies that I could barely reach them when braking from the drops.  The Mafac Raid brakes had a tremendous amount of flex, and I also had some squealing while braking – partly caused by the flex of the brakes arms.  I was disappointed because I liked the look of the cables sprouting from the non-aero levers (Campy levers shown in this photo)- but function over form must rule when it comes to safety.  I installed Shimano aero levers (perfectly sized for smaller hands), tightened the brakes arms on the Mafac Raid brakes, and that solved the problem, mostly.  The orange Kool Stop replacement pads for Mafac brake shoes are also very hard and smooth, and with the super smooth new rims, there is still some squealing under hard braking.  I have sanded some material off the pads, but the rims will need to break in as well in order to quiet everything down.

Velo Orange mudflapCardiff saddle

But there were some successes, also.  The Velo Orange leather mud-flap looks fabulous and  will really help keep the drive train and my feet dry during Portland’s downpours.  And, the Cardiff saddle proved to be far more comfortable than any Brooks I have ridden – it is comfortable now and I won’t need to endure the thousand mile break-in torture of a typical Brooks saddle.  The copper rails are lovely to my eye, and with the extra long seat rails I was able to get the saddle exactly where I wanted it.

T.A. crankset2013-03-22 001 2013-03-22 009

I decided to use Shimano derailleurs for now, and they are working fine.  I needed an extra long cage on the rear derailleur in order to handle the 3 chain rings up front – the SLX was sitting in the parts bin but I’ll probably replace it at some point.  It’s hard to see the gorgeous chrome dropouts in this photo – but they are beautiful as is everything about this Meral frame.  The T.A. triple crankset has 160mm crank arms, which I chose to help deal with the problem of toe overlap common on smaller frames.  I like the feel of my cadence on these shorter arms (I usually ride 165mm or 170mm).  The outer chainring on the crankset had a serious wobble, so I disassembled the crankset to straighten it out in the vice.  When reassembling, I managed to over-torque one the the crank arm bolts even though I was only going up to 70 in lbs.  I had to order some new fasteners (you can get some from Velo-Orange, or on E-bay), and I have them torqued very low now until I can get the specs on these small fasteners.

2013-03-22 001 2013-03-22 004Reynolds 531

Here is the “smooshed” Mafac brake hanger – working fine – and here are the Ticino bags on the completed bike – they look pretty decent.

Before starting any conversion, it’s important to check the clearances on your frame for:  chainstay and fork clearance for the new wheelset, fenders, and clearance and proper chain line for the crankset and BB you are using.  Below, my clearances were good, but I had to do a little more work to clean up the fender-line and to level the Ticino rack (whose stays are not adjustable).

0212034

How does it ride?  As beautifully as it looks – comfortable, yet lightweight (27 lbs as pictured, including the heavy rack and saddle).

Here is the build list:

Frame and fork:  1980 Meral with Reynolds 531 tubing on frame and fork (49 x 51), chrome fork, frame chromed and then painted, lugs, chainstays and dropouts are chrome.  Geometry:  74 deg HT, 74 deg ST, fork rake 50 mm (approx).  Originally designed as a 700c sport touring bike with eyelets for fenders, but no rack mounts.

Nitto Technomic stem (sanded to French size); Nitto Olympiad bars, Shimano brake levers, Shimano 600 headset (French), cloth bar tape

Shimano bar end shifters in friction mode, Huret modified DT clamp, Shimano Ultegra front derailleur; Shimano SLX rear derailleur; Shimano 8 speed cassette 11/30, TA bottom bracket, TA triple crankset 48/40/28, Sram chain, Lyotard pedals

Cardiff leather saddle with copper rails, Campagnolo seatpost

Mafac Raid brakes, Mafac brake hangers front and rear

Ticino rear rack, Ticino canvass panniers

Hammered aluminum fenders (no brand but never drilled or mounted – an Ebay purchase) – mounted with Velo Orange stays and hardware, Velo Orange “plum” mudflap, Velo Orange constructeur bottle cage

Velocity Synergy 650b wheelset with dishless rear wheel and sport hubs; Panaracer Col de la Vie 38 mm tires.

1930/40’s Peugeot Mixte, Part I

Posted on by

1936Poly Multipliee

I recently acquired an incomplete Peugeot which appears to be from the 1930’s or 1940’s.  It is the ladies version, with a very nice mixte frame that needs a lot of cleaning, but is in pretty good shape overall.  I will need to source a number of period parts to make the bike complete: a handlebar, brake levers, stem, wheels, fenders, racks, and probably a few other things that I can’t foresee yet.

1930's1930'sbike shop 005

2043

The chain guard and crankset are in very nice condition.  The brakes are by Jeay, a precursor to brazed on centerpulls.  The Peugeot serial number is a mystery – probably the only revealing element is the ‘H’ indicating that this is an H model of some kind.  The (possibly) original frame pump is working perfectly, and the Peugeot logos are still very vibrant, although the paint is a bit scratched and faded.  A little bit of cleaning and polishing will probably help to bring out the original colors.  Here is the frame after a day of cleaning:

1930's Mixte2046

The frame and fork are now ready to build.  The paint polished up beautifully, and the bottom bracket was undamaged and in good condition.  For cottered cranks, I use a cotterpin press built by bikesmithdesign.com. I love the matching colors still visible on the chain guard, and there is box style pin striping on the fork in a lovely blue color.

wood gripsI needed handlebars, brake levers, wheels, fenders and racks.  I came across this beautifully polished Pivo stem and bars, with original aluminum levers and wood grips.  I can’t wait to see how this looks when everything is finished.  I found another older French randonneuring bike that I am harvesting for parts, and that’s where I’ll get the wheelset, hammered fenders, and racks.