Take one Stem bolt and Hammer

Now that we'd got the crankset off, it was time for the Bottom Bracket. The Beast is French threaded, which means 'lefty loosey, righty tighty' for both cups. As ever, getting them off wasn't going to be completely straight-forward. Firstly I needed to source a bracket hook, c-spanner, weird looking spanner thing from somewhere. Quick slightly cryptic post on a bulletin board involving the words "what size hammer" and one was on the way to me.

Out came the WD40 and a quick crank off came the locking ring, and cup. A further squirt, and the application of a SUS (Spanner of Unusual Size) and the adjustable cup was off as well.

Starting to enjoy this process now!

Now that the cranks were off and the bottom bracket dealt with, it was time to move on to the seat post and headstem/forks.

I suspected that both follow the example set by the bottom bracket, and resist my attempts to free them. As a precaution, I turned the Beast upside down and let it have it with half a can of WD-40. I then let it sit over night. I'd seriously advise anyone undertaken a strip down of an old bike to do likewise.

Next day, I gave the seat post bolt some love with a spanner and off it came. Foot on the chain stays, grab the seat and twist vigorously. Loud groaning sounds followed, mostly from me. The seat post began to move, and quickly I was standing there holding a saddle, and a seat post much shorter than I expected with an oddly triumphant look on my face.

She wandered into the garage to see what all the noises were about, shook her head and went back to the gardening.

Now was the time for the quill stem and forks.

The Beast has a nice old school Afax quill stem and AVA bars, which are staying, and sports a pair of original seamed forks. In the back of my mind was the notion that 35 year old stems are quite likely to freeze inside 35 year old steerer tubes. Hence the liberal quantities of WD40 the day before.

I loosened the bolt a few turns, then a few more, then took it right out. Vigorous shaking and a bit of swearing later, and yup, it was definitely frozen.

Back went the bolt, tightened until about 1 centimeter of thread showed. Put the Head tube into the vice, apply the hammer to the bolt with enthusiasm, and with a crack the hold was broken.

I was then able to whip out the stem, and pull the forks out.

A quick application of the SUS and the Head Set came off.

Bit of time with the hammer and the screwdriver and the cups were out.

The Beast was ready for paint.

Decisions, Decisions

One of the things you get to do whilst sitting with a component, rag and tub of Mother's Polish is work out where the project is heading.

Lots of polishing equals lots of thinking!

As I have written elsewhere, I originally intended to do a modernisation job on the Beast, new 700c rims, index shifters, new front and rear derailleur etc. As time has passed and I've got to really study the bits and pieces I've stripped off of the Beast, that has changed. Talking to the guys I have contacted on various forums has helped firm up that opinion as well.

So, the new plan, the one we are actually pursuing is to take the Beast and restore it to its former glories, build up something that would, from a distance, in the right light, if you forgot your glasses look like a team replica from the 70's. Having said all of that, although I'm not a fixie kind of guy (I like brakes, and if God hadn't meant us to climb hills, he wouldn't have invented the derailleur) I do like some of the aesthetic that goes with bikes designed to be wedged beneath the buttocks of sweaty Hipsters.

So, here is what we are doing.

Firstly, the paint. The original French Electric Blue has given up the ghost, little bits of surface rust, chips, scratches and sunlight have all consigned the paint to the bin. Where to in terms of colour? Well, with the racer plan in mind, there is only one option. White. Now, simpleton that I am I thought there were only two whites. White and not White. Apparently not.

Contacts from the forums, suggested Central Powder Coaters in Radelaide. For $60aus they will strip and coat a bike frame and fork in any colour you like. They have a lovely little selection of powder coated coca cola cans, you choose the one you like and decision is made! I went for Arctic White, a nice glossy colour.

Saddle next. The original saddle is stuffed, ripped and worn. Sounds like a job for Brooks!  A nice new narrow B17 is on order in Dark Brown. Period correct, and one of those fixie aesthetic bits I mentioned.

Period bar tape or not? Hmm, this one caused some angst. The guys at Star Cycles, used to race Peugeots in the 70's and they were nudging me towards white tape. However, white tape works really well if you have a bike shop or mechanic to change it regularly, I have it on one of my other bikes, and lets say for white, read grey. Then there is the sacred text for all roadies the Rules of the Velominati . Said text makes it clear that saddles should be matched to tape (although conceding that old school is the exception)

A Roll of Dark Brown Fizzik perforated 'leather' tape is has been acquired. Another fixie nod.

Decals next. Potentially the toughest one, where does one acquire decals for a 70's roadie?

Answer, Ebay. This chap has an online store that you should check out if you are doing a restoration, stocking decals for a wide range of period machines, not just Peugeots.

Finally, a little bit of bling is in order to set the Beast off right. Velo Orange stock a nice range of vintage correct bottle cages, in this case one that comes with a set of clamps for downtubes that don't feature a drilled mounting. They also stock copies of the Mafac blocks I need to make sure the Beast will actually stop!

So, shopping list completed, it's time to crack on with whipping out the seat post and to disassemble the steering!

The "What the hell have I bought" post

So, I came to Peugeot ownership in the following manner. I'm sitting beside a field hockey pitch one afternoon chatting to an acquaintance. We were discussing why I wasn't playing (itb strain if you want the gory details!) and we got chatting about bikes and cycling.

"I used to ride a lot when I was younger"

"Oh yeah, what sort of riding?"

"Road, mostly, still got my old bike in my Parent's shed"

"Yeah?"

"its a what you call it, Peugeot!"

With out thinking too hard, my next line was.

"How much?"

"Oh, its probably rusty as, but if you want it, I reckon you could just have it"

"In fact, take it because you'll give it a good home. My Son will just want to turn it into one of those fixies or something"

And thus, it came to pass that a small sum of money changed hands and I became the proud owner of a bike, in, erm, original condition.

It was definitely a Peugeot, ten speed, in French Blue. Beyond that, mmm, not so sure. The frame stickers said R10. How does one find out anything these days?

Google.

Google has many stirling qualities, but an ability to call up data on obscure Peugeots is not really one of them.

It kept trying to tell me I now own a small French Sedan made by Renault. Eventually, after much swearing, I found a glancing reference on a cycling board to the fact that in this market, the U08 was called an R10. Why, because Peugeot are French.

Where to next?

I posted a couple of pics on a forum in oz called Adelaide Cyclists. Thought to myself, there is no such thing as a stupid question and asked about paint, wheels and decals. At this point, I was still working out what to do with the beast. I knew for certain that it would never do to ruin it by converting it to a fixed, but beyond that? Pseudo modernist with lots of shiny new bits? Fully Old School? Somewhere in between?

The gang on the boards were very helpful, in particular one guy who owns an LBS and used to sell them back in the day. First big score! He found a pair of Wolber Superchampion rims in his storeroom. - Decision made, let's go mostly old school and update for safety and reliability.

I dived back in to the whacky world of opinion, advice and making stuff up on the spot that is bicycles and the interweb, and found this site.

http://retropeugeot.com/

Photogalleries, detailed description, catalogues, even old accessory catalogues to lust after! Heaven!

So, using the various advice of the AC guys and information I gleaned from reading the Retropeugeot crew, what I have is a mostly (front rim is a Shimano) original (rear mech is Shimano Tournay) 1973-4 Peugeot U08.

Now to break out the spanners and industrial quantities of WD40 and strip the beast for a rebuild.