Category: Slice of Life

There are a few possible locations around our house that I could use as a workspace for my bicycle restoration project, but I’ve decided to use our home office for the task. Since I am in the office for much of the day, it’s easily accessible, so I can work on it a few minutes at a time.

One benefit is that the computer is right here so I can easily watch YouTube videos on how to restore certain parts of the bicycle, or easily refer to “before” pics to make re-assembly easier. Also, the summer is approaching and it’s already getting pretty hot outside so being able to work in an air-conditioned room means I will actually do it. If I had to go to the hot garage, my motivation to work on the bike would be very low.

That being said, a lot of the work will have to be done outside due to the mess. Fortunately, the home office room is right next to the front door so access to outside is quick and easy. I can pop outside to work on a section of the wheel for a few minutes and not worry about getting steel wool all over the house.

My goal is to have the bicycle road-ready in a couple of months, and then we’ll see if I keep it in the garage or maybe it stays put in the office. I think it’s a beautiful bike, so I wouldn’t mind it. 😀

So far I haven’t run into any major issues in restoring my old Peugeot bicycle, but I am worried about one thing. The removal of the cranks and pedals can be a bit tricky from what I have read and the videos I have seen online. Lots of these old bikes have a lot of corrosion and frozen parts, and the cotter pins that secure the cranks are notorious for getting stuck. However, the other part that commonly gets stuck (the quill stem) was able to be removed relatively easily so I am hoping the cotter pins will not be too much of a problem. That said, I’ve already started applying some “Liquid Wrench” penetrant to loosen the pins in anticipation of a battle. 😁

As far as tools go, the main weapons are things we already own, such as steel wool, baking soda, degreaser, mineral spirits, metric wrenches, and the aforementioned Liquid Wrench. Things to buy include wire brushes, marine grease, metal polish, and some purple nail polish to cover up any nicks to the paint. And I might need a couple of specialized tools, including a larger wrench than the one I have in today’s photo. 😒

Replacement parts are going to be the more expensive part. I’ll need new bearings for headset, bottom bracket, and wheels, new tires, new brake pads, and new brake/shifter cables. The last part of the restoration will be a nice, new saddle. But that is far down the road!

As I mentioned before, I am taking my time, and enjoying the process of disassembling the bike to clean the small parts. It’s fun to really see how everything works – machines with no electronics are really cool!