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A Photographic and Video Record Of My Restoration and Refurbishment Adventures, So Novices Can Learn From My Successes
and Failures.
My plan for this webpage is to build a visual library of vintage bicycle restoration and refurbishment
from a novice's eye. Each procedure will be thoroughly researched and will show what worked well or not so well for me.
I wish I had a similar resource before my first project which was my father's Peugeot AO8, instead of learning
by trial and error. A note of caution though; I never worked at a bicycle shop, so I am self-taught.
For my first recorded projects, I have chosen an early 1960s Peugeot PX10 that was well used
and needs a lot of work, and a late 1960s UO8 with a frame in remarkably good condition.
Early 1960s PX10
I purchased this vintage Peugeot PX10 in the winter of 2009 from a nice gentleman in West Mifflin, PA who collects automobile memorabilia. He found this pug at
a garage sale and advertised its sale on Craigslist with very little narrative and no photos.
Luckily, I was the first caller and after questioning him about its features, I immediately visited and purchased the
bicycle. Based on the decal scheme and original components (the handlebar and
brake levers are not original) I believe this is a 1961 or 1962 PX10. This PX10
pre-dates the well known seat tube checkerboard racing decal, the Stronglight Super Competition 63 crankset, and the Simplex
Prestige 532 rear derailleur, all introduced around 1963. The 22-inch Reynolds
531 frame (serial number 959443) with Simplex dropouts came equipped with the following parts:
generic chrome handlebar, Ava handlebar stem, Stronglight Competition headset, Weinmann brake levers, Mafac Racer brake
calipers, JUY Export 61 shift levers, Simplex cable guides, Stronglight Super Competition 57 (170, 52x45) crankset with Stronglight
93 ‘passenger-side’ crank-arm, Simplex LJ23 front derailleur, Simplex JUY Export 61 Luxe rear derailleur, Cyclo
14x26 freewheel, Lyotard 460 pedals, New Star hubs (rear with Simplex quick-release skewer), Rigida Chrolux Chromage Superieur
steel rims, and Ideale 59 saddle with 59 Duralumin frame. Although the wheel
sets are not consistent with the early Franklin Imports flyers, they are the same as on other PX10s in the United States from the early 1960s. See Joshua Putnam’s unrestored 1963 PX10 (http://www.phred.org/~josh/bike/px10/PX10.html).
Late 1960s UO8
I purchased this vintage Peugeot UO8 on December 26th, 2010 from Christopher of ‘homelessbikes’ based in Jackson, NJ. He is bike dealer who sells
many used bikes in the New York City area as a side venture. Christopher is a pleasure to deal
with and his contact information is on my ‘Favorite Links’ webpage. Based
on the decal scheme and notoriously unreliable Peugeot serial number (839946), I believe this UO8 is of late 1960s to very
early 1970s vintage. There were a number of components (i.e., brake levers, brake
calipers, front wheel and front derailleur) replaced over the years, so they are of no value in determining its age. The Simplex 637 rear derailleur introduced in 1971 may not be original equipment because
it is not matched with the all metal Simplex 2337 shift levers found on this UO8. Rather,
these shift levers were matched with the Simplex 537 rear derailleur. The 21-inch
Special Allege frame came equipped with the following parts: Ava chrome handlebar, Ava handlebar stem, Mafac ‘drillium-style’
brake levers, Weinmann 605 side-pull brake calipers, Simplex all metal shift levers, Nervar durax 3-pin steel crankset (50x36
‘mountain gearing’), Shimano Altus front derailleur, Simplex 637 rear derailleur, Atom 14-28 freewheel, Lyotard
36 pedals, Normandy high-flange rear hub, Rigida Chrolux 27x1-1/4 rear rim, KT front hub, Van Schothorst (04/95) 18 x 680
(27x1-1/4) chrome front rim, Gellite saddle, and steel seatpost.
1972 AO8
My dad's 1972 AO8 was my first restoration and the adventure is archived below.
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| Dismantled 1972 AO8 |
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Saturday, January 20, 2007
Even More Stubborn Fixed Cup
The headset and bottom bracket, except for the fixed cup were easily removed from the bicycle. I tried a variety
of techniques to remove the fixed cup including heating with a blow torch, and using a large crescent wrench and hammer combination
to no avail. I then read Sheldon Brown's 'Tool Tips' article on 'Bottom Bracket Cups' http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/bbcups.html and learned that for my reburbishment project I shouldn't be removing the fixed cup, and furthermore I was using the wrong
methods. Consequently, I have decided to read all of Sheldon Brown's "Tools Tips' articles http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/index.html before continuing with this project.
Friday, January 5, 2007
Stubborn Cotter Pins
Sheldon Brown indicates that cotter pin removal can be one of the most challenging hurdles to overcome when disassembling
a bicycle, and I can now attest to that. I purchased a cotter pin press from Bike Smith Design & Fabrication http://bikesmithdesign.com/CotterPress/index.html. It worked well on the non-drive side crank arm, but the drive-side cotter pin was too stubborn and the threaded-end
of the pin snapped off. I then used Sheldon's hammer and pipe technique, substituting for the pipe a 2"x4"
wooden stud with a hole drilled in the end to receive the pin head. This approach also did not work. Lastly, I
purchased 1/8" and 1/4" DeWalt cobalt split and pilot point drill bits and drilled the cotter pin out. This was not
too difficult once I had the right bits in hand.
Tools
I decided to purchase some bike-specific tools for the project and to maintain my other bicycles. I went with Park's
Advanced Mechanic's Tool Kit. Nice set of tools, but does not come with a torque wrench, toothed lockring spanner, or
pin spanner, all of which I would like to have.
Monday, January 1, 2007
Reference Documents
Since I am a bicycle mechanic novice, I needed reference texts and manuals before embarking on my restoration
project. I recommend Lennard Zinn's "Zinn and The Art of Road Bike Maintenance," published by Velo Press. It is
excellent with lots of illustrations and easily understood narrative. Also, Sheldon Brown's and Tom Kunich's articles
on maintaining, upgrading and modernizing French bicycles are invaluable and available on the Harris Cyclery website.
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