Vintage Peugeot conversion help and tips please

that's perfectly normal, it's just the crankset you need to find out what length it required, there's a database for that kind of thing here.

don't forget to check if your peugeot have an english BB or french, if it is the latter, that can be solved by using a threadless bb.

how would I go about getting a threadless bb? Would the average (but still quite amazing) bike shop have one? Because I do have a french bb.

I don't know to be honest, but I do know that there should be some information here in the forum, it's quite big (the forum that is) and probably required a little more attention than your usual first hit on google.

all I know is that Velo Orange make french BB as well as threadless BB, but I'm sure there's alternative here in the UK;

http://velo-orange.com/grcrufrthbob.html

http://velo-orange.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-threadless-bb.html

one more thing, if you don"t mind- The gear ratio for my bike, I was thinking a 42-15. Or maybe a little larger. What would you recommend for a first-time bike, rugby playing owner?

it's a decent gear inches, not too spinny but not too difficult either.

the key here is to simply get used to it, at first you will feel that it's too spinny at higher speed while it being a little 'heavy' while starting from standstill, don't worry, to put it this way; your legs will become the gears.

i would highly recommend the VO bb. i have the english thread version and its lovely

That threadless Vélo Orange BB is fugly...

thanks much! I did lie accidentally, turns out I have an english threaded bb. But the rank is real nice

crank, sorry

Came across a Peugeot esprit (P10s)in my friends shed and intend to convert it to single speed, seen here. Has anyone got experience with converting this bike? So far I've been able to strip it down, but the stem has seized and I've managed to strip the allen bolt and the bottom bracket seems like it's rusted in. Any idea what I should do? Yes I've searched, I wouldn't mind hearing what other peugeot converters have done.

Selling my beloved Peugeot Elan Flip Flop conversion soon. Pictures to be upped soon. Sad times. =/

That threadless Vélo Orange BB is fugly...

An ugly BB?

That's like me telling you "the inside of your face is ugly."

hahaha +1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270450369057&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

yea.

robadob.

I am in the process of converting an old Peugeot, which seems to be of a similar era to yours (80s?). Nice thing about mine is that it has a high BB, so great for a fixie, although I see you are going single speed, so not such a benefit for you.

Some thoughts:

Bottom bracket:
i) Great article about BB removal on Sheldon Brown's website:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/bbcups.html
I reckon bench vice is probably the way to go, but you may want to take your frame to your LBS and get them to try to get it out.

ii) Big watch out with old Peugeots. They used to use French threaded BBs (70s and very early 80s I think) and it is harder to get replacement (cartridge) BBs for those, so if yours is French threaded, you may want to clean, regrease and keep your one. I am lucky - mine is late enough to be British threaded, so I can put in a new cartridge (handy, since I've lost all the old bits of the BB).

Stem:
By "strip the allen bolt", do you mean that you made the hole that you put the allen key into circular so allen key no longer works, or do you mean that the bolt has sheared off (snapped in two). If the former, you may need to get the head of the allen bolt drilled out of the stem (find a local machinist workshop to do this for you if you do not have the appropriate power tools). If the latter, you should be able to poke a long rod of appropriate diameter down the stem hole and wallop it with a hammer to release the stem locking thingumajig.

Seatpost:
Peugeot's of that era seem to have very narrow seat tubes. Mine is 24mm. Seatposts of this size are hard to come by. I ended up getting one from Decathlon (called L330 or something like that) - costs a tenner. Comes up slightly too narrow (23.4mm), so I created a shim for it with a very thin sheet of metal which worked a treat (can give you more details if you are interested).

Good luck with your project!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270450369057&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

yea.

What's that about Rege? It's photographed outside 14 of all places!

Extra hipster cred = more $$$$

hehe

You thinking of buying it or something? What's left to do to get your bike exactly how you want it? I feel like I've got a constant list of things to do to mine!

Tjuice

I've come a long way since last week, I said single speed but I meant fixed gear. The allen bolt had rounded out so I hammered in a slightly larger allen key to get the bolt out. Turns out the quill had corroded into the steerer, so I had to use several doses of caustic soda to dissolve it. I've removed all the braze-ons and I'm stripping the paint tomorrow (yes puppy killer), but there's a bit of surface rust that has to be attended to.

As for the components, it's a french frame. The headset is salvageable and I've managed to buy a pug seat tube, but the bottom bracket is beyond repair so I'll be getting on of these.

So looks like the ball's rolling on this project. Keep me updated on yours, do you know what crankset/rear hub you'll be using?

ha. its my bike that im selling.

Oh right. Why you selling it? It was dark last time I saw you so I couldn't see what bike you had!

robadob

Great to hear you've made some good progress. Regarding paint stripping and repainting, I can thoroughly recommend Armourtex, who are based in Hackney. Incredible job in about 3 days - really pleased with it, and saved me all the effort - I have stripped and repainted a bike before and would never bother again - many times better result done professionally!

Crankset: I've gone for Eightinch 165mm. Currently sitting in UK customs... Think a 107 BB will give me a 42mm chainline (haven't bought BB yet until I can work out what the chainline on the rear will be...).

Hub: Actually bought a Halo Aerorage wheel, but am waiting for it to arrive - there's been no stock in the UK for months. Was originally going to build this bike on the cheap (Halo on special from Wiggle was the cheapest option for going fixed) using components that I have lying around, but I kinda got carried away, so now everything is new except the quill stem, the old frame (which now looks new :-) and a saddle which is unused and came off my wife's mountain bike 12 years ago!

Hi there, and apologies in advance for asking silly questions, plus I'm in the nursery still. I've recently purchased an old Peugeot Antibes 5 speed for my lady in the hopes of stripping it down and making it single-speed. I have a single-speed I'd bought and I've managed to maintain it OK.

I'm a bit stuck on the rear hub. I'd like to keep it relatively simple for now and I envisaged keeping the front crankset and whacking a single-speed freewheel (with spacers, I'm guessing) on the rear wheel. In the longer term I'd like to replace the wheels altogether. But for now, I'm stuck on removing the current set of cogs. Does anybody know how these are to be removed? It has 24 grooves and I hadn't seen any tools that fit that description. Can they be removed?! Am I on the right track?

Danke!

^ I have that frame in red, monaco one, lucky lady.

There was a thread on exactly the same freewheel over the weekend:
http://www.londonfgss.com/thread28938.html

I believe I have a tool that would get this freewheel off the wheel, if you are anywhere near SW9 (or KT1 during working hours). When you get the freewheel off, you will find that the hub is simply threaded, which should mean that you can just screw a bog standard single-speed freewheel on it (probably much better option than trying to take the current freewheel apart).

If you take this to your LBS and buy a freewheel from them, they may be very willing to swap the two over for you at no extra cost.