Peugeot track build

Right. Managed my first Herne Hill ride last weekend so this project needs the dust blown off it. Big sticking point (apart from a job so unnecessarily demanding I've finally seen the light and moved on) has been whether or not to chrome. I only really want the dropouts done to stop chipping when bolting up and adjusting wheels but it's so ball-achingly expensive I might just live with any battle scars. I have enough stickers to repaint if necessary after a few seasons use. Right idea?

Agreed. Maillard, Atom, Normandy, etc... different brands, same products?

My understanding is not the same products. After Maillard acquired the previously independent Atom and Normandy companies, Atom/Normandy branding was applied to reduced specification & OEM products, presumably to maintain the premium value of the Maillard brand.

Still no pictures?

Hi Tom. Not yet I'm afraid. Nothing to show until the paint goes on - and I think over night I've decided to forget the chrome and just get it blown over. I'm building this to use it after all. If the original paint wasn't so corroded I would have left it as it was, but since the kind Mr Suires has sent me that box of original decals I get the best of both worlds. Hoping to arrange paint this week...

So I dropped off the decals at the paint shop today. It should be ready for collection (and pics!) in a week or so. Same sticker arrangement as decided earlier in the thread - those lovely original Jacques Suire decals Mr Suire kindly sent over will go on the seat tube with world championship bands above and below, plus the Peugeot lettering on one side of the top tube. Colour is the same navy-ish blue. Still without the chrome - such a difficult decision that as the bike originally had the fork done, but so many people have said it's better to just paint an old frame.

Off now to shop for some Mavic GP4s. And send Jacques a note to let him know the ball is rolling on this again...

This post was supposed to be pictures of a freshly sprayed frame, but we have bad news. The new-old decals have reacted with the lacquer and we are having to repaint the seat tube - either with reproduction vinyl decals (which will take a while) or no decals at all. I guess if I do the latter I can apply the new-old ones over the lacquer. Not ideal...

That's sad to hear, but I can't believe I missed this excellent thread. Have you now got all the parts together or are you looking for bits and bobs?

Thanks ncjlee. I have a few bits still to get, namely Mavic GP4 36-hole rims, stem/bars and a seat post (undecided on what yet but of-the-era French stuff would be ideal, if not Jacques has suggested Campag/Cinelli).

To share some private agony with this (been occupying my mind far too much) I think I'm heading for respraying the seat tube and applying the NOS stickers over the lacquer. The alternative is to wait a while for some one-off reproduction decals - and I rather like the idea of using the originals anyway. And, hey, I'm going to use this bike as much as I can at Herne Hill so maybe I'll get the repros done in time for the next resto...

So dope! I cant wait to see it completed

Cannot believe it's been so long since I last posted on this. Even harder to believe the frame is still not back from the shop. This is not due to negligence at all, just a prolonged indecision about what to do regarding the decal malfunction. In the end, we've opted to start again (and huge thanks to Mario Vaz for his patience with this!). Anyway, back to the drawing board a bit, but hopefully an update in the not-too-distant.

Missed this thread first time around and have just read it from the start: what a great story and one of my favourite CP.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/100790643@N05/

Jacques c'est le flickr de Mr Cailloux c'est toi qui as fais ce cadre ?
Tu as exactement le même nom que ton père ?
c'est quoi le choix de TDS sur ces cadre en columbus Air ?
Je te demande ça car j'ai un cadre en "AIR" mais j'ai des problèmes avec la Tige De Selle: ma columbus est trop finne et ma Dura ace AX est trop grosse...

Merci d'avance.

Jacques hasn't visited the forum since September 2012, so I doubt he'll see your message.

Rat-racer has an e-mail address for him though.

Yes, I do have an address. PM me and I'll pass on your details to him.

thanks Scilly and Rat

I buy this frame with 650c fork. Serial Number Y1019265. The frame is made of Reynold 753.

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nice

Unbelievable. It's been another year since I last posted about this project and I've no excuses besides distractions at work. Funny that the top of this thread says the project might be a 'slow burn' but three years is, well, ridiculous...

We have good news now, though. The frame is home and with fresh paint – a blue close-ish to the original and without decals, so I can apply over the lacquer just as the frame was originally (those stickers were only ever 'functional' and for sponsors and rider name anyway). As I mentioned moons ago I'd have liked to have kept the original paint but it was too far gone and the frame needed some repair, hence the reluctant respray.

The forks are blue now too as the chrome had all but eaten itself, which is a shame. Worth mentioning that I'm tempted to think of this paint as semi-temporary anyway – I want this built up for lots of track time and I've a feeling a further frame restoration will be on the cards at some point, with chrome, once it bears the scars of good use again.

Those that have followed this ridiculously ageing thread from a few years back will also know that Jacques Suire (son of the French national champion that used to own this bike) has kindly sent me lots of NOS decals from his father's old workshop, which adds a nice air of originality (and plenty to repaint the frame 10 times over). These will be applied next, along with the original Peugeot decals used for the sponsor (on one side only, too – the side the crowd could see).

Also by way of recap, I have NOS Spidel hubs, Maillard pedals, NOS Wolber tubs, NOS Spidel track cranks (they took AGES to find) and some NOS Mavic GP4s on the way. The rest still needs buying, so I'll be rinsing the eBay account in the coming weeks. Keen to hear from any French bike fans that may have useful bits laying around.

Anyway, here's a pic of the frame I took roadside in a pub at Waterloo on the way home from Mario's last night – I'll get some 'proper' pics once it's unwrapped and I set about the decals. Note that the colour isn't well represented in the early evening light, ’tis closer to the original blue than it looks...

Wow

Did this build ever get any further? Hope So!

Has it really been a decade since I started this thread? I'll spare the details, but my bicycle collection went into storage for a few years and a recent relocation from London to Bath has given me the opportunity to unpack.

That means this build is back ON.

I'm reviewing the posts here and the email thread between myself and Jacques about the spec of the bike from its French sprint competition days in the late ’70s, plus dusting off the haul of parts I'd collected before life took over. I've also reached out to Jacques to see if his email address is still active, in the hope I can share the renewed progress with him.

Right, to work. Stand by for pics.

Looking forward to seeing more, good luck skidding down Bennetts Lane

Hello folks. The frame is now unboxed and dusted down; I’ve attached a pic. I’d forgotten how nice that blue looked – faithful to the original shade but with a very subtle metallic effect. Hard to show in the photos.

You’ll also see the collection of decals. I plan to cut the ‘J’ and ‘S’ initials for the seat tube with the Olympic stripes above and below, plus put the Peugeot on one side of the top tube as per the original as shown way back at the top of this thread.

As we don’t have ‘Jacques Suire’ decals that read left to right (you may remember the man himself kindly sent me some NOS decals left over from his father’s business back when this bike was first built and I’m keen to use these) I am considering placing one centrally on the down tube as per the second picture. The rest of the stickers will find their natural homes.

I’m very lucky after all these years to have reconnected with Mr Suire over email who has kindly agreed to consult with the rebuild so that it is reimagined as close to period spec as possible.

Onwards! More updates soon.

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I guess the debate here is whether to (a) use original NOS decals, exactly as would have been used in the day, or (b) get some reproduction decals made that match exactly the bike as I found it. I'm leaning towards the former.

As a side note, Jacques has been helping me to answer this question. He sent me a picture from the period showing another of the team bikes that uses the same decals but in different places – so it seems they placed them according to what was available rather than in consistent locations. This makes sense given their criteria was to show the sponsor (Peugeot) logos and those of his father's bicycle shop which ran the team at the time (Jacques Suire).

Anyway, here's the pic of Jacques at qualification for a national kilometer sprint race back in the day, which he won:

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