# Carbolite 103



## colcazal (30 Mar 2008)

Hi,

Just bought an old peugeot. Just starting to get into cycling. Does anyone know if a Carbolite 103 is a decent frame that would be worth upgrading? The frame is in good nick (not top end) with only a few chips etc.

Any feedback would be great.

Cheers,

Col


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## yenrod (30 Mar 2008)

Well if its steel you should be good for years !


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## Smokin Joe (30 Mar 2008)

Carbolite 103 was Peugeots attempt to make cheap bike frames out of pig iron. There were shedloads of them around during the eighties, retailing at just over £100 and sporting strictly bottom end all steel componants. Most common colours were blue or Mauve.

Nothing wrong with them as a runround, but definately not to be regarded as a classic or something worth spending money on.


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## colcazal (30 Mar 2008)

Excellent thanks for that. I will keep it running only and start building a bike of my own.

Ta

Col


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## andy_wrx (31 Mar 2008)

I had a 1980-vintage Peugeot Carbolite bike (remember it as 101, not 103 but dunno...) and one thing it was not was _light_.

Particularly as it had heavy metal mudguards and rack actually welded (not bolted !) on, plus steel-rim 36-spoke 27¼ wheels.

I bought it secondhand for £30 or so, used it as a commuter-cum-training bike, so the fact it weighed a ton wasn't a handicap and and it looked so old-fashioned as to be unappealing to thieves.

Eventually the bottom bracket gave up and was so solidly seized/rusted-in I couldn't get it out, so it went off to the tip.

Went well enough before that, but not a 'keeper'.


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## colcazal (31 Mar 2008)

No mud guards present. 

Checked other components. Got Weimann brakes and suret gearing all original and seem to be alloy of sorts. Steel wheels right enough!!

Not fussed anyhow. Will defo start my own bike. The pug will do to train on. I am just pleased that I have a road bike to train with.

Cheers,

Col


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## BrumJim (27 Aug 2009)

Sounds very familiar. I have exactly the same, but with alloy wheels scavenged from the last bike (which I broke), along with the 6 speed rear block and chain.

Which is why I am going to the bike shop tomorrow to order a new one.


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## tyred (27 Aug 2009)

Sounds like my "new" bike. Not light but still nice enough to ride. Comfortable, which means everything on the poorly surfaced roads 'round my parts.


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## TomBrooklyn (17 Mar 2011)

I got a blue one with Weinmann 730 brakes, Huret 1484 shifters, Sachs-Huret derailers. It came with a steel handlebar and steel 36 spoke rims. It has cotterless aluminum cranks but the chainwheel looks like stamped steel.

I paid $10 for it. It's heavy, but so am I, and I ride with a rack and a trunk or panniers anyway.


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## Zoiders (18 Mar 2011)

Good luck with the rear hub.

Pug liked using the "Heliomatic" hub made in France, it uses a freehub that engages with helical splines, it's a very delicate system.

Spares aren't that common.


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## flintyrock (25 Jun 2014)

I'm assuming it comes with 26" wheels. Does it accomodate 700c wheels by chance?


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## Smokin Joe (25 Jun 2014)

The wheels were either 700c or more likely 27" as Andy said above.


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## fossyant (26 Jun 2014)

What's with the thread resurections lately ?


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## Markymark68 (12 Apr 2021)

I got a Peugeot Premiere for my 18th Birthday in 1986. Very versatile and fun to ride. As standard it had 10 years 52-42 into 13-15-17-20-24 steel 700c rims, no mudguards, weinmann 500 side pull rim acting brakes, front and back, chrome handlebars with twin position brake leavers for upright or low riding, down tube mounted brake leavers (No SIS system back then!) and would take tyres down to 700x23c comfortably and up to 700x28c. These tyre sizes I actually used. I used 23c for time trial and 28c for touring, inflated to 105 and 90 PSI respectively. Having been beaten the previous year up the pass in the Welsh Mountains by the Americans (I was on a Peugeot Rotary Phantom 10 speed then) my father and I sat down with a Casio FX451 calculator at his suggestion and set about designing an improved gear system for a "Mountain Racer" :-) . We went down to the local bike shop, John Spooner's in South Farm Road, Worthing in West Sussex, and put our specification in front of dear old John, who laughed, and asked Dad "Does he want to go up the side of a house?!". John's solution was a Peugeot premiere (10 speed) modified to 18 speed with an added Stronglight 52-42-32 chainset and our design of rear block with individually chosen gears of 13-15-18-22-28-32 and a necessary new long reach sun tour derallieur. Later in 1987 I changed the steel wheels and handlebars for alloys ones. I also bought a "multsport" hat after I met 2 guys in the mountains who'd lost their friend out cycling to a head injury. They were trying to get everyone to wear crash hats. The Phantom II as it became known, carried me on the Worthing to Bangor ride 3 times during the late 1980's. It also got front and rear carrier with full mudguards for the long distance rides, but got stripped down to a basic racer for club time trials. It is now in my attic awaiting full restoration to it's specifications of 23th December 1986. In memory of the Late Albert Ernest Streete who completed the CTC 12 hour ride in the 1920's who first inspired me to ride 100 miles in a day, and the Late Michael Anthony Streete BSc CEng FIEE who patiently worked through the calculations for the gear ratios of the Phantom II. 
'


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