Peugeot mystery

OT - but I noticed your tag line there - have you seen Nasu - Summer in Andalusia? It's Anime & cycling combined! Someone actually posted it up to U-tube. It takes place during a fictional Vuelta.

Just finished watching it. Thanks for telling me about this show. 🙂

Blademun said:

I recently picked up a old Peugeot bicycle from some old guy for 15$. The bike was in Ok condition, except the paintjob was shot and there was alot of rust everywhere. I've pulled most of the old and rusted parts off, and replaced them with my parts. Also sanded and re-painted 2/3rds of the frame due to the rust and discoloration in the paint. I was in need of a road frame and this fit the bill ok.

Now however, I am really curious as to how nice a bike this is, and whether I should stick with it. For a Chromoly bike I'd say its one of the lightest I've ever felt. It doesn't have a model name on it or anything. This is what it looked like before I repainted it: http://www.outofbalance.org/days/2005/images/finalride.jpg (note this isn't a pic of my bike, but it is definately the same model.) I would like to know a little backround on this bike. 😕

Serial number
Components
Lug type and craftsmanship
And to a limitted extent, the type of chromo tubes
Can be used to distinguish the models and date the Peugeots.

Blademun said:

I recently picked up a old Peugeot bicycle from some old guy for 15$. The bike was in Ok condition, except the paintjob was shot and there was alot of rust everywhere. I've pulled most of the old and rusted parts off, and replaced them with my parts. Also sanded and re-painted 2/3rds of the frame due to the rust and discoloration in the paint. I was in need of a road frame and this fit the bill ok.

Now however, I am really curious as to how nice a bike this is, and whether I should stick with it. For a Chromoly bike I'd say its one of the lightest I've ever felt. It doesn't have a model name on it or anything. This is what it looked like before I repainted it: http://www.outofbalance.org/days/2005/images/finalride.jpg (note this isn't a pic of my bike, but it is definately the same model.) I would like to know a little backround on this bike. 😕

If you're sure that's exactly the same bike (same equipment as well as the paint), then it's a fairly low end bike from the mid eighties, probably carbolite tubing or similar. Will make a good commuter, but nothing special. On the other hand, quite a few of the high end Peugeot bikes of the same period came with almost identical paint jobs. I had a PY10P, which was Reynolds 531 Pro and a seriously good frame, which had the same paint job (see pic).

meb said:

Serial number
Components
Lug type and craftsmanship
And to a limitted extent, the type of chromo tubes
Can be used to distinguish the models and date the Peugeots.

..Sorry. Umm..since I painted the frame I can't read the Serial anymore. o0 However, the badge on the frame says its made with 501 Reynolds Chromoly(thats why I grabbed it). It had a Sugino crank. I'm not sure about the deraillers because they were in such bad condition you couldn't see any insignia on them. I just chucked them and put some good ones on. I did some research and I believe the model is a "PG10". However, I saw it in a dutch/german catalogue so I couldn't read anything. :/

Blademun said:

..Sorry. Umm..since I painted the frame I can't read the Serial anymore. o0 However, the badge on the frame says its made with 501 Reynolds Chromoly(thats why I grabbed it). It had a Sugino crank. I'm not sure about the deraillers because they were in such bad condition you couldn't see any insignia on them. I just chucked them and put some good ones on. I did some research and I believe the model is a "PG10". However, I saw it in a dutch/german catalogue so I couldn't read anything. :/

Could be a PG10. That would be maybe one or two models up from the oen in your comparison pic I think. Does it have chrome forks?

Hmm..As I remember the forks were very shiny, dispite having heavy amounts of rust on them. The forks said they were "carbolite" which I found Ironic since the fork was neither carbon nor light.

Blademun said:

..Sorry. Umm..since I painted the frame I can't read the Serial anymore. o0 However, the badge on the frame says its made with 501 Reynolds Chromoly(thats why I grabbed it). It had a Sugino crank. I'm not sure about the deraillers because they were in such bad condition you couldn't see any insignia on them. I just chucked them and put some good ones on. I did some research and I believe the model is a "PG10". However, I saw it in a dutch/german catalogue so I couldn't read anything. :/

The model of your Peugeot is probably Psomething501 ...

I have THAT frame with fillet-brazed joints -- Reynolds 501 tubing ... model PH501 -- the original wheels came with Helicomatic hubs, 700c Rigida 1320 rims, etc. The fork was a chrome plated Carbolite fork (FRENCH threaded!).

I don't know what the LETTER after the 'P' designates ... there is probably a glossary SOMEWHERE which can decode it.

FWIW. The frame is mid-range as indicated by the tubing. I refer to my Peugeot as my "Winter Bike" -- the main triangle on MINE is exactly the same as the main triangle on MY Colnago. I respaced the rear triangle to 130mm & all the components on mine would be classified as "modern" -- in its current state, my PH501 weighs about 22 lbs.

I found that the Peugeot's ride is essentially the same as the ride of my Colnago, so (much to the chagrin of people I know) UNLESS I am testing another frame, I ride of the Peugeot all through the year. Some people are bike-snobs, and they wouldn't ride a bike like the PH501. If you like the ride of your Peugeot, then keep it ... if you don't like the ride, sell it or give it to a friend.

BTW. Carbolite is presumably an in-house name for a grade of Peugeot's carbon steel ...

Yeah..that sounds like my bike Alfeng. My bike also had Rigida aluminum wheels with helio hubs. I replaced them with my R540's I had laying around. No net weight loss, since the R540's are pretty heavy lol, I just like their feel more. Also, I noticed that French threading when I tried to use its headset on a different fork...didn't work.

This was suppose to be just a inbetween filler road frame until I could afford a 'real' frame. However, I am close to just staying with this and making a few key upgrades. Namely, I am thinking about converting it to a 1 inch threadless frame and buying my buddys 1 inch carbon fork off of him.

In reality, after I'm done, the only orginal part of this bike left will be the frame. Most of it's bits had to be discarded, and the rest being replaced just because I had good parts lying around, waiting for a frame to be attached too.

Eastway82 said:

If you're sure that's exactly the same bike (same equipment as well as the paint), then it's a fairly low end bike from the mid eighties, probably carbolite tubing or similar. Will make a good commuter, but nothing special. On the other hand, quite a few of the high end Peugeot bikes of the same period came with almost identical paint jobs. I had a PY10P, which was Reynolds 531 Pro and a seriously good frame, which had the same paint job (see pic).

The stem shifters suggest early 80s, but that paint scheme was common late 70s to mid 80s. I was speculating a UO-8 to PY10 range, certainly not a PX10.

It didn't have stem shifters. It had downtube shifters. I picked that picture out mostly because it had the same exact paint job. Here is a ebay listing of what seems to be my exact bike: Link

Blademun said:

It didn't have stem shifters. It had downtube shifters. I picked that picture out mostly because it had the same exact paint job. Here is a ebay listing of what seems to be my exact bike: Link

The bike in the link appears to be fillet-brazed, too [hard for me to tell in the listing's image]; so, it is undoubtedly a PH501, too!

See the attachement to see my PH501 with a LOOK carbon fiber fork that I put it on about 6 years ago because I thought it would change the ride.

While the LOOK fork did lower the bike's weight by a pound, but did NOT change the ride at all. Not all carbon fiber forks are equal, so the carbon fiber fork you buy may not be as good as the particular LOOK fork; but, I've deduced that the Carbolite fork is probably as good as any steel fork you will run across ... (if I had only known!) ... so, the only reason to change the fork is for cosmetic reasons AND to reduce the weight of the bike.

Thankfully, my PH501's BB shell has English threads ... ONLY the rear dropout screws/springs are original to the bike ... the BB is a 112.5 XTR, the crank is Dura Ace 7700, the rear derailleur is XTR 950 SGS, and the front derailleur is Ultegra 6503. The brakes are Weinman from their BRS series (the source of Cane Creek's single pivot brake calipers) ... et cetera.

alfeng said:

The bike in the link appears to be fillet-brazed, too [hard for me to tell in the listing's image]; so, it is undoubtedly a PH501, too!

See the attachement to see my PH501 with a LOOK carbon fiber fork that I put it on about 6 years ago because I thought it would change the ride.

While the LOOK fork did lower the bike's weight by a pound, but did NOT change the ride at all. Not all carbon fiber forks are equal, so the carbon fiber fork you buy may not be as good as the particular LOOK fork; but, I've deduced that the Carbolite fork is probably as good as any steel fork you will run across ... (if I had only known!) ... so, the only reason to change the fork is for cosmetic reasons AND to reduce the weight of the bike.

Thankfully, my PH501's BB shell has English threads ... ONLY the rear dropout screws/springs are original to the bike ... the BB is a 112.5 XTR, the crank is Dura Ace 7700, the rear derailleur is XTR 950 SGS, and the front derailleur is Ultegra 6503. The brakes are Weinman from their BRS series (the source of Cane Creek's single pivot brake calipers) ... et cetera.

I think good carbon forks offer a ride advantage over the flexy aluminum forks used on many bikes in the early 90s but not over a quality steel fork. Weight advantage yes, but not really a better ride.

Wow Nice bike Alfeng! Judging by the picture you posted, we do have the same model bike.

The main reason I am upgrading the fork is for cosmetic reasons. As I mentioned, the fork is badly rusted. I would like to drop the weight too.

Until I have the $$$ for that though, the bike is done. Just finished putting the Tiagra brakes on. Its not quite on the level of your bike tho'. Its got 105 shifters, Ultegra rear derailler, R600 Front derailler, Sram rival crankset and shimano R540 wheels.

Blademun said:

Wow Nice bike Alfeng! Judging by the picture you posted, we do have the same model bike.

The main reason I am upgrading the fork is for cosmetic reasons. As I mentioned, the fork is badly rusted. I would like to drop the weight too.

Until I have the $$$ for that though, the bike is done. Just finished putting the Tiagra brakes on. Its not quite on the level of your bike tho'. Its got 105 shifters, Ultegra rear derailler, R600 Front derailler, Sram rival crankset and shimano R540 wheels.

Next to serial number, the components are the next best way to determine model.

Alfeng has a bike with DurAce/Ultegra components.
Yours has Ultegra/105/Helicomatic components.
You likely have the next model down from Alfeng.

The Helicomatic Peugeots were rarely imported to the US, so that will be a strong telltale. That suggests it likely is 83-85, and you appear to have a paint scheme from that time as well.

Given that you've identified 3 different bikes as being your exact same model, maybe you should scrape the paint off the serial number and then check the databases.

meb said:

Alfeng has a bike with DurAce/Ultegra components.
Yours has Ultegra/105/Helicomatic components.
You likely have the next model down from Alfeng.

I am pretty sure that the Dura-ace/ultegra components are not stock on Alfengs PH-501. Just like the 105/ultegra isn't stock on mine. Aside from the frame, the rest of my bike is from the 21st century. I put the parts on myself to modernize the bike. I'm pretty sure thats the case with Alfeng too...

I've only indentified one bike as being most likely the same as mine. The picture I posted was simply to give an example of the paint job and general look. The ebay listing shares said paintjob and has almost the exact setup as mine when I first got it. The ebay listing, my bike, and Alfengs bike are most likely all the same model..the PH-501 as he indentified it.

Blademun said:

I am pretty sure that the Dura-ace/ultegra components are not stock on Alfengs PH-501. Just like the 105/ultegra isn't stock on mine. Aside from the frame, the rest of my bike is from the 21st century. I put the parts on myself to modernize the bike. I'm pretty sure thats the case with Alfeng too...

Yes, I tried to make it evident that ONLY the rear dropout screws/springs are original to the bike.

None of the Shimano or Campagnolo parts that are on my Peugeot PH501 existed when it was originally made -- most of the components on the Peugeot represent my "spare" parts -- but, I may eventually put a spare pair of 80s vintage, SunTour Superbe brakes on the frame.