Making changes to a vintage Peugeot Ladies racer bike

[ed!]

Hello!

My wife has inherited a vintage Peugeot road bike (a bit like this) - sloping top tube, drops on the handlebar, gear lever for the rear (located on the handlebar stem).

She's not done much bike riding before, but wants to get into it and absolutely loves the bike. I have encouraged her to try other bikes, but she has her heart set on this, so I'd like to make it work for her. There are a few obstacles getting in the way, which I'm hoping I can get some advice on:

- Front (caliper) Brakes "judder" when gently applied. Looking at it closely, there doesn't look like there's the possibility to apply "toeing in" practice to them. The pads are new, but from maybe 3+ years ago. I was thinking of just replacing the whole unit with something newer, but unsure whether modern caliper brakes will fit (one thing i noticed is that the rear brake cable feeds into the brake housing from the bottom, as opposed to the top), or if tweaking can be done.
- She's not used to drop handle bars, and is most comfortable with hand on the top (not hoods). This offers less stability, so I was thinking of chaging the bar for a flat one, possibly with "horns". The brake levers currently on there have dual reaching points: on the drops and on the flat part of the bar. Do you think it would be easy to transfer them to say a horn type bar?

I can post some pictures up if that would help give some advice.

Thanks in advance.

Ed

 

[TheDoctor]

Aye, put some photos up.
It should be possible to get modern dual pivot brakes on - either get nut mounted ones (about £30) or drill the frame to take allen-key mount.
The levers sound like the old sort with a long, weedy lever to use on the top. If you're going for flats, get some MTB brake levers designed for canti's (NOT V-brakes) as they have the right cable pull. About £10-15

These two will improve the braking out of all recognition.

 

[tyred]

If you want to toe in the brakes, give the arms of the caliper a little bend using an adjustable spanner. Some judder is to be expected on very long reach calipers (as most Pugs had) as there is a certain amount of flex in them. If side pull type, there should be an adjustment in the middle, probably with a nut and lock nut which you can tighten to reduce the movement of the arms. Just be careful not to overtighten or one brake pad will drag on the rim. A few drips of light oil worked into the pivot of old sidepulls work wonders for barking efficiency.

A set of North Road bars looks well on bikes of this type. Put them on upside down for the retro-racer look.

 

[jay clock]

The levers sound like the old sort with a long, weedy lever to use on the top

also known as suicide levers. like these? http://mikesimagination.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/suicide-levers.JPG?w=450 - the length of the lever and the flexibility (they are made of wet spaghetti) means they simply do not work.

If really committed to this then cyclo cross brakes are a different solution but do actually work see here http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgu...a=X&ei=JZXOTJGnE6aQ4gaz2ZzcDA&ved=0CEcQ9QEwBw You will then need new bar tape which is knack to fit.

Relacing the calipers is probably a good idea. The drop distance is a key factor. this is the distance between the centre of the brake hole (where it attaches to the frame) and the centre of the rim edge. Something like this might be ok. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TEKTRO-DUAL-P...348838&cguid=02604b2312c0a47a2ee29212ff99e5a1 However (not sure on this) the nut holding the claiper to the frame is usually recessed on modern bikes which may be an issue for yours which is probably not recessed.....

Some brakes will be designed to allow you to feed the cable from the bottom but not those Tektros shown above! Also braking is never as good where the cable has bends in it.

Final issue is what the rims are made of. If steel braking will almost always be abysmally bad. Personally I would replace with alloy rim wheels. This then raises yet another issuse of wheel size. Yours may have 27" wheels which started to drop from the market in the mid to late 80s, replaced by 700c (metric equivalent and a bit smaller so needing deeper drop brakes

In summary whilst she has fallen in love with it I think she should go to a bike shop and try a modern lightweight flat barred hybrid. She may discover that she falls in love again.....

 

[tyred]

Perfectly serviceable alloy wheels in 27" are available quite cheaply.

 

[zigzag]

in theory it is possible to upgrade the bike, brakes and wheels so it works better, but in practice i would suggest to get a modern bike, especially if she intends to ride in city traffic or over the hills. the least you can do for your wife's safety is change the wheels with milled braking surface, upgrade brakes with modern dual pivot (may need to drill a larger hole the back of the fork), and install quality brake pads (e.g. koolstop). still, holding the bars on the tops is quite dangerous in the traffic, even with good brakes.

 

[ed!]

Just a quick reply to skim read though and say thanks for the replies.

I'm at work at the mo, so not really in a position to post pictures or respond properly, but will definitely have a good read later this evening.

Thanks again!!!

 

[alecstilleyedye]

unless the bike is really rare and has rare, retro components, there is no reason not to renovate the bike with modern components. it may not work out much cheaper than buying something new and modern, but if the op's wife loves the bike, that's got to make the project worthwhile. the cost of doing so can also be spread if need be.

i speak as someone who has a classic 1951 claud butler which has mostly period components and which would be spoiled, to some extent, by putting on more modern parts, and a 1958 carlton which has always had modern bits since i acquired it, and replacement parts will be modern, not retro. so i've a foot in both sides of the divide…

 

[jimboalee]

Beware. Peugeot used some obscure and now unavailable thread sizes.
Check out the bottom bracket and steerer tube ( headset ).

 

[ed!]

Pictures linked to below. Again, thanks to everyone for their comments. I'll try summarise my response:

- I'll try make some of the aforementioned tweaks to the existing brakes to see how they work out before looking at alternatives - but good to know what those are.
- We'll be looking for a new handlebar, and appropriate brake levers tomorrow. Unfortunately the North Road does not meet her style requirements :-)
- It looks like she has the "suicide brakes" levers, so that will go when we figure out what handlebar to use.
- My friend has installed bike bar brake levers on his CX bike, so that's a useful idea that we'll look at too.
- Wheels are the ones that came with the bike and are in good condition as not really used. Fortunately they're 700c, so replacement wheels, should it come to that, should be easy. (jay clock, your suggestion of falling in love with another bike didn't go down well - lol! She likened it to falling in love with another man...I think that I should be happy she holds both in the same regard!)
- The bike, as far as i know, is not rare or of any significant value, apart from sentimental. So we're quite happy to make the necessary changes to make it a bike she'll be happy (and safe!) riding.

Thank you again for the replies, links and tips. I'll update the thread when we've made the changes :-)

Handlebar


Front brake:


Rear brake:

 

[jimboalee]

Less of the "Suicide brakes". They're called 'Safety handles'.

The brakes are Weinmann. I've got a pair that are lighter than Campag Record. They can be towed in by the method Tyred suggested. Very easy to service, They come apart right down to the shaft. Pull the plastic cap off and there are two nuts which set the play in the arms pivot.
If they wobble ( the assy feels loose ), when you reassemble, put a bit of fag packet in as a packer where the plastic moulding sits on the shaft's faceplate.

If you dont want them, I'll have them to replace the Tektro brakes on my Dawes.

 

[porteous]

I have now done a couple of rebuilds for various daughters, both on Raleigh mixte frames of similar vintage. One completely rebuilt, with new wheels and a straight bar conversion worked out at £80 including the purchase of the bike, the other at around £50 fully serviced and converted to straight bars (Neither girl liked drops). Both ride a treat at little cost, I think you will find the Peugeot equally rewarding. Shop carefully and it shouldn't cost much. Good older components are still available and new still stocked by people like James and SJS. Good Luck!

 

[porteous]

Thanks for your e-mail Ed. Just had a look at the photos. IMHO you don't need to change the brakes. Juddering can usually be fixed by new brake blocks (different types for alloy and steel rims!). First off just try washing both the wheels and the brake blocks, give the contact face of the blocks a going over with rough sand paper and try again. If the wheels are chromed steel and the chrome has come off the rims then changing to a new (cheap) pair of alloys will work. This needn't cost much, I have seen them as cheap as £38 a pair. If you do this then replace the block/freewheel as well, pretty cheap and easier then wrestling the old one off.