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• #5402
Hi Everyone,
I haven't posted here for a loooong time but I'm coming out of the lurker shadows because I have some questions.
Background: a guy I know was leaving the country and so he wanted to get rid of all his bikes. I took on a few of them, and now I'm working my way through them to see if any of them are worth fixing up or just should be dumped. Among them was a very (and I mean VERY) grime-encrusted Peugot.
He told me that this bike had been an actual team road racer back in the day. Normally I'd dismiss that as sales BS, but since he was giving me the bikes for nothing I assume that he heard that from the guy he got it from (I'm the n-th owner where n is a large number).
It appears to be 531, and the frame has a Made in France sticker on the left chainstay.
The frame had a mix of components fitted. It has a 105 headset, Shimano BB, had a 105 crankset (with the tightest left crank I've ever removed) and 105 brakes and levers. The mechs were both Campag, the rear wheel is a Mavic MA-2 on a Campag hub with a 6-speed Campag cluster (I'm still trying to de-grime it enough to disassemble it and see what it is) and Campag downtube shifters.
The rear mech took several hours soaking in cleaning alcohol before it began resembling a mech more than a huge clump of grime.
Can anyone tell me anything about this frame and the bits? Is it worth rebuilding. Specifically, is the frame any good, and when does it date from? Since the frame has some rust spotting and the paint is badly chipped in many places (and the color scheme is fugly anyway) it would need a complete spa treatment before doing anything with it. Or should I just turn it into a beater single speed?
So many questions. TL;DR What should I do with this frame/bike?
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• #5403
I'd be dubious about it having been a team bike: it has a pump peg on the back of the head tube and no race number tag.
H Lloyd have a replica decal that looks the same as yours, which they date to between 1982 and 1989. Looking at the shape of the forks, that seems about right.
You can also date them from the head tube badge, but a quick Duckle suggests the site I used to refer to is defunct. Finding out when TI bought Reynolds will tell you the oldest it could be.
531 Professional was one of the fancier 531 tubesets and the seat stay cluster isn't bog-standard, but the lugs haven't seen much love. What does the seat stay bridge look like? Who made the dropouts and fork ends?
The headset is the last component to be replaced (and usually left in place, even if a bike is stripped down), so it's likely original and the bike was equipped with a 105 groupset. 105 seems about right for the frame: a little nicer than average, but nothing to get excited about.
The headset looks like it's from the 105 1050 group. That ran from '87-'89, which ties-in with the Reynolds decal.
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• #5404
The team bike story was probably told to my friend by whoever sold it originally as part of the sales pitch and it's been passe down the chain. The H Lloyd decal is exactly the same as the one on the downtube, which helps. I'll give the frame a second cleaning and see if I can find any identifying marks on the dropouts, and get a pic of the seat stay bridge. The headset does look like the 1050 from your link, and the brake levers match too, but the brakes are 105 dual-pivots. When did 105 go dual-pivot?
Thanks for the info, much appreciated.
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• #5405
The headset does look like the 1050 from your link, and the brake levers match too, but the brakes are 105 dual-pivots. When did 105 go dual-pivot?
No idea, but Campag introduced them in '94, so around then. Brakes are easy to replace and dual-pivot a good upgrade, so not odd that they are later.
Unless you fit STi there's no upgrade to be had with the levers, so they're more likely to be original especially as they match the HS.
Are the cranks 1050 (look on the reverse for a model number)? Cranks are one of the more expensive parts of a groupset and if you're sticking with a square taper BB, there's nothing to be gained by replacing the OE item with something from the same group.
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• #5406
Haven't had a chance to do pics yet, but the cranks say FC6400 on both.
Edit: A quick search on Velobase identifies the crankset as Ultegra - this is exactly what I have: http://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=5D1F43ED-82EC-48D0-B6E2-65F92ECDFCBE&Enum=115&AbsPos=119
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• #5407
Did some pics, sunshine glaring made avoiding reflection difficult.
Seatstay bridge:
Left dropout (texture makes it look like a sand casting):
Fork dropout:
Can't find any identifying marks stamped/engraved on the frame anywhere.
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• #5408
Are you sure the fork is original ?
Needless to say nice find ;)
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• #5409
This looks quite familiar:
1988 Catalogue
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• #5411
That's it, thank you for finding this. It now looks like restoring it to original would involve finding a lot of new old parts.
Incidentally, does it seem like this bike was named after a character in the Narnia books?
EDIT: Another question: Is it safe to assume that the BB on this Peugot is French threaded?
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• #5412
Not sure on the forks but likely to be non original
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• #5413
Anyone know of Komet bikes/ where they're from? Damaged headbadge pic attached. Just found this frame in a pile that have been dragged out of the local lakes (in Copenhagen). Going to build it up as a spare bike for visitors and I'm just curious. No doubt it's just a piece of junk...
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• #5414
Is it safe to assume that the BB on this Peugot is French threaded?
No. I think it's more likely to be English threaded: even before they dropped French threads altogether, they were using the English standard. I'm not certain when this was, but I seem to remember it was in the Eighties.
Regarding the seat stay bridge, it's one of the details that can give a broad indication of a frame's quality: it's not a significant component so ripe for cost cutting.
There are no hard and fast rules, but if you look at enough frames you'll get an idea. At the budget end is a plain tube with a hole drilled in it and at the other, shaped and detailed pieces:
Yours is somewhere in the middle, being a tube with a mount, which is in keeping with the frame overall: above average, but not exceptional.
The dropouts and fork ends provide similar clues to quality: they're not an obvious component (particularly once the wheels are on) and relatively expensive. Campagnolo ends were pricey, Gipiemme less so (but still good quality); stamped (rather than cast) ends are as cheap and nasty as it gets.
Yours are cast but unbranded, so I guess they were made by someone who's name didn't carry any clout and Peugeot didn't want to spend the extra Francs having their's added.
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• #5415
Thanks again for expanding on your reply. Based on what I'd learned about the bike so far, I had decided to forgo a full restoration and build it up as a rat bike. Possibly not the wisest choice, there was grease in the bearings that must be original, it was the consistency of old Loctite 242 and far harder to clean off. Thank god for cheap and plentiful cleaning alcohol. The freewheel turned out to be an old Regina, and of course I don't have the damn removal tool for that one.
I gave the frame another really good scrubbing as well, and the maker's marks emerged on the dropouts, they are by Simplex. The last Simplex item I owned was the rear mech on my Raleigh 5-speed in the mid 1970s. The BB was indeed English threaded, and also turned out to be cup and cone, another thing I haven't seen for a very long time. I couldn't get the fixed cup out even with my biggest spanner, but it's not going anywhere so no real problem.
Amazingly, despite the state of the lubrication with petrified 1980s grease, the headset, BB, and wheel bearings are all in perfect shape.
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• #5416
... decided to forgo a full restoration and build it up as a rat bike.
The sensible choice I'd say: it's a decent bike, a little better than middling maybe, but nothing exceptional.
I expect there are many more of them out there unloved and unridden, so yours is already ahead of the game!
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• #5417
Anyone have any idea what this frameset could be? Any insight greatly appreciated!
The only stamp on the BB shell, "60" on the non drive side.
Rifled steerer, SLX?
2 small holes on underside of seatstay. -
• #5418
I'm considering parting ways with the above too so if interested, enquire within.
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• #5419
Bought a second hand Genesis Croix de Fer & it has these cranks on it. It has the same symbol on the chainring but I can't for the life of me figure out what brand it is. The rest of the groupset is SRAM Rival 1, but these obviously aren't. Anyone got any ideas?
Edit: aha, got it! Seems it's some brand I've never heard of - Samox.
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• #5420
Oooo
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• #5421
Bought this schwifty wheel other day.
It is an older ksyrium elite.
Is this tubeless ready?
It is a clincher but there were traces of glue n all, is it tubular ready?!?!?
Hope the pic isnt ridiculously heowge still...
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• #5422
Hello gang!
Lets try and ask for Some info
Who wants to helpI bought this trackframe
27mm seatpost
Shimano dropouts
Number 0 on left drop-outDoes somebody here know what this brand can be ?
Thanks Kobe
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• #5423
Swan headset, tiny frame, Shimano track ends, nice lugs...
Looks a bit Japanese to my eye -
• #5424
hmm you might be right
i thought it was a German frame at first sight
but then the Shimano drop outs raise a questionthanks for your input @Rik_Van_Looy
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• #5425
Same forkcrown as the Gitane Mexico and the Lugs look like Bocama, have you checked the underside of the toptube/headtube lug?
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9e/de/14/9ede147655a22e945cf5ffb26b995c7f.jpg
anyone know what stem that is, or any similar recommendations please and thank you :) keen to get a nice ahead to smaller clamp rather than 31.8 or OS