Peugeot build

First ever fixie build... Was looking for a cheap fixie project frame on ebay and all the pretty lugged frames were going for too much money. Came across an old blue Peugeot Carbolite 103 frame and forks that came with a seatpost, cranks and BB. I bought it and got a little over excited before I realised the Carbolite frames are made from shitty old gas pipe. It turned up and I did nothing with it for a few months, dejected that I'd bought a shit frame, with no lugs. :(

Then the sun came out and I started riding my old 70's Falcon 12 speed to work and longed for a single speed bike. I'm from a BMX background and although I'm perfectly comfortable with gears, I just love the feel of single speed. I dug the frame out and decided it was time to start building up the fixie.

My mate Rob, who's big time into bikes, gave me an old scrap ladies tourer that I could rob for bits. Got a seat, bars, front brake and stem, and also kept the wheels just to see roughly how the bike might look further down the line. Flipped and chopped the bars, but they just weren't right.

Pulled apart the BB to see what state it was in... not good. Thought I should probably invest in some new bearings.

Try as I might, I just couldn't get the fixed cup out of the BB. Tried every trick in the book; bolting the spanner on, using a bolt and stack of washers, sticking the cup in a vice turning the whole frame... nothing worked. Nevermind - if you're that keen on sticking you can bloody well stay there.

Looked on fleebay for some wheels. Wasn't entirely sure what I wanted. I liked deep section black rims and I wasn't gonna spend tons of cash and came across some Weinmann rims with Quando hubs. Certainly not the most awesome wheels ever, but they look alright. Chucked them on the frame to see what I might be ending up with. (Came with a proper wank cog and lock ring, so I invested in some nice bits from somewhere I've since forgetten).

Another sunny day and I got on with removing the braze on's I'd no longer be needing. Hammer, chisel and file were the tools of choice.

Then came the shit job of stripping off that paint. I'd used Nitromors on an old BMX frame and it worked a treat... this time however, no such luck. It didn't seem to do ANYTHING! Admittedly the paint on this frame was about as old as I am, but I was hoping for some sort of reaction. Oh well. Whipped out the angle grinder with a wire-wheel and got cracking. Worked well, but couldn't get into the fiddly little areas, so bought some wire wheels for the drill. Originally I was hoping that I'd be able to have the frame raw, with just a clear coat of lacquer, but the gas pipe frame really wasn't that pretty naked, so I had to choose a new colour. (I haven't got any pics of the frame stripped, silly boy aren't I).
I went to Halfrauds with the intent of getting some silver paint to get a similar look to the raw one I just wrote about. My missus for some inexplicable reason decided to come with me, but I'm glad she did... she immediately picked up a can of Ford Ivory White. Haven't looked back - I think it looks awesome! Bought a couple of cans, some primer and some lacquer. Also got a can of smooth black Hammerite for the forks. Didn't cost too much as I have a trade card for Halfords - seriously, if you haven't got one of these, find someone who you know who works in the motor trade to buy shit for you from Halfords. You'll feel raped when you realise how much the rip off the general public.

Got to work spraying the frame in my garage and I reckon it turned out all right. Got a couple of runs due to my lack of patience, but you can barely notice them. Overall pretty happy with the job.

Got some retro Peugeot decals off ebay for a few quid, and also fitted the new Stronglight headset (no I didn't have all the rest of the bits of the headset on when I installed it! My insertion tool is just there to keep the bits in place while I sprayed the forks.

Speaking of forks - they were in a shit state - that's why I painted them. I know you're not meant to paint chrome, and it'll probably all just fall off in the end, but they were fucked. I thought Hammerite would be the right tool for the job as you can paint it onto anything, pretty much. Stripped as much as I could off with the wire wheel and the sprayed them. Took flippin ages to dry!
Anyway... voila.

While the paint was hardening, I started buying more bits!
Tektro RX4.1 time trial bar end lever.

Profile Design Airwing Bar (40cm)

Charge Spoon Saddle

Also bought a new stem, System EX or something... dunno... it was cheap and black.
Decided to build up the bits I had to see what I still needed to get.

At this point I just couldn't stop myself, and finished it up!

That was a couple of days ago, since then I've bought some black bar tape, and that's about it.
I still need to do something with the seatpost. I want it black, but it's 24mm and NO-ONE makes them. Would like a micro-adjust one, but they're mega money from mike's bikes, and this was meant to be a budget build. I might just get the Hammerite out again and see what I can do, but I'm pretty sure when I install a painted post, the frame will just strip it... Also could do with some different pedals. These ones are old BMX ones with a bent axle. Want some black ones. Gonna stick with the straps I think. Don't like clip in shoes. Also thinking about changing the crank - it's not that I don't like it, just want all black components.

Now I've just gotta learn to ride the thing! Ridden it a mile or so so far, but the weathers been so shit I haven't had the chance (yes, I'm only a fair weather cyclist - let the mocking begin), but so far I love it! Still have the feeling I'm gonna kill myself on a massive hill, by riding into the back of a car, but looking forward to finding out... :D