My early-70s Peugeot bicycle is back on the road! I had to replace several parts and tune it up a bit, but I rode several kilometers on the bicycle and it was a lot of fun!
I admit to being nervous at the start, not because of the age of the bicycle nor my skills as a mechanic, but the geometry of the Peugeot is so different than my Kona that the vintage bicycle felt very twitchy and delicate. The general riding position is more aggressive and the handlebars are very narrow so any small movements you make affect the bike greatly. However, after riding for a few kilometers I was used to the bike again and enjoyed that responsiveness.
I still have a fair amount of work to do on the bicycle restoration, but I’m happy that she is road-worthy!
It has been raining a lot the past couple of days, but today the storm paused for a few hours in the afternoon and I went out for a nice bicycle ride on Mango, my 2000 Kona Blast. It’s over 20 years old but it feels so modern as compared to my early 70s Peugeot that I am restoring.
It seems like I haven’t ridden the bicycle for a long time and I was worried that my legs would get tired soon, but I had plenty of energy and was able to power up the small hill near our house in a higher gear without much problem. I was also concerned that my neck would be sore because it has been bothering me for the previous week. I’m happy to say that I didn’t feel any discomfort in my neck. 😀
Also, I bought some new cycling gloves and they felt great! They are a vintage-style mesh fabric and leather style, and I bought them because this is the type of glove I wore when I rode my Peugeot bicycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles back in the 80s. These new ones have some padding which my old ones lacked so these are a lot more comfortable. In fact, I didn’t even notice them once while riding today which I suppose is a good thing.
Please enjoy the GoPro video I made of my bicycle ride if you have a few minutes. Have a great day!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/2.8, 1/80 sec, ISO3200 “Bicycle Restoration” Cedar Park, 2021
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. 😀
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO2500 “Too Small” Cedar Park, 2021
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!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO640 “Making Shiny” Cedar Park, 2021
Today we did a bunch of clean-up at our house, including selling some items on Facebook Marketplace, mowing the yard, gardening on the deck, and gathering things for a Goodwill drop-off. We also tried out a new ultrasonic cleaner for Mariko’s jewelry. I threw in my high school class ring, and it came out nice and shiny! Also, my glasses were super-clean. It was a big gross to see how much gunk came out from that. I clean the lenses every couple of days but I guess the hinges and other parts of the glasses were filled with dirt. Yuck!
In the afternoon I spent a little time working on my bicycle restoration project. It’s a lot of fun! I took some steel wool to the seat post and it cleaned up nicely. I also worked a bit on one of the wheels, and cleaned a few other parts. I’m going to need some proper polishing compound for the other metal parts, and I am looking forward to seeing them shine. 😀
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I use a Fujifilm X-series camera for most of the photos on this site and my Instagram. Why not pick one up for yourself?
