Peugeot Carbolite 103 Project

Going to be my little summer project. Been off school for about a month now and dont go back till September, so im getting quite bored at home.

Its a Peugeot Road Frame, made of Carbolite 103 Tubing. Not sure of the exact model, or age, the seller said from the 80's. I payed £45 for it. Dont know much about the bike, nor do i about any of the sizing... Will give it a good measure up soon. Dropouts are 100mm front, 130mm rear and the bike rolls on 700c wheels

Need to get a few things till its rideable... A Wheelset, going to go for a Flip Flop hub :D Will need 2 sprockets, a chain, some pedals and tyres before its ride able.

Eventually, i want to get a new crankset, new saddle (brown Charge Spoon) and new bar tape (Deda Leather Look)... The brakes may go completely too and then i will put on a flat bar lever and front brake when i use the freewheel, but i havent decided on that yet. Will speak to my mate about it. Trying to do it with the tightest budget possible. Sub £180 would be nice.

The bike will only be used to get around on and go for chilled out rides along the seafront. May be tempted to take it on a few long distance ones once i'm finished building and built my fitness up. I think i will end up selling it at the end of summer to put the money towards driving, as i was meant to be saving up everything i earnt, but when a mate brought a fixie the other day, i kind of had to get one too :oops: :lol:

I did something similar (Peugeot HLE: came with saddle, seat post, cockpit and brakes) last Christmas for Uni. Got it together for sub £150, so you should be able to manage. I got the wheels (with tyres and tubes) from here, the cranks from ebay and the chain from CRC.

I don't know how new you are to bikes, so here are some things to be conscious of: get a crankset before you get the bottom bracket (you'll need to be careful with the chain line).
If you check Peugeot catalogues online, you can find the year of your bike, as you might have a French threaded bottom bracket (which would be a pain).
Be aware of the 1/8-3/16th difference in chainring, chain and sprocket sizing.
I wouldn't worry about changing the saddle (or bars, unless for comfort/practicality) for now, in fact you're quite lucky that it's all cabled up with the brakes (assuming the cables are fine). I'd keep both brakes for a little while (to get used to riding fixed, and if you want to go single speed instead), and keep the front one on indefinitely.
Maybe change the stem eventually.

Most of all, enjoy your sweet new fixie.

Thats good to hear that it can be done, just put up a wanted ad regarding all the parts

I'm really into my Mountain Biking. Stripped and rebuilt my bike many a time. Know how that all goes together and works, but i have no experience in road bikes. Especially retro road bikes, where the sizing is different!

The bottom bracket is a Square Taper Shimano UN55 according to the owner... This is good as it means its a fairly universal size. The axel width is 113mm if i remember correctly. Would this be fine if i brought a set of SS cranks or would i have to get shorter?

I've just done an age check, and by going on the Headtube Badge and Top Tube decals, i've dated it to a 1982/3 model....

Thanks for the advice. I just want to get the bike rideable first, so wheels, chain, crankset, freewheel and sprocket will be needed. I will keep both brakes and the original bar tape until i get use to riding , then i will change the tape and remove the levers and either go brakeless or get a flat bar front brake...

Cheers man, i sure will, cant wait to get it built. 2 friends have just brought retro bikes too ( 1 an already converted fixie and the other a road bike which is going to be converted ) so it should be pretty sweet

Sounds good! 113 is likely to be a bit too long, although it really depends on the cranks you buy (and to a lesser extent your wheels). Check 'Transmission Database' for more info. With regard to wheels, I just got a standard 120mm spaced fixed/free set and put two 5mm spacers on the axle, which gave me a 45mm chain line, which went with the cranks and BB i'd bought, give or take a millimetre.

95% built now, only waiting on bar tape

So stoked on how the build turned out, riding fixed gear is addictive. The bike is so fast, it accelerates like nothing I've ever ridden before. I'm still learning how to ride fixed, and if i was to explain my first few rides, i'd say it was like learning to ride a bike all over again! Pedal straps are quite a pisstake getting in and out of but im slowly learning the technique...

I cant wait for the bike to be complete, i chose components which kept in line with the retro look, such as brown bar tape, saddle and whitewall tyres, aswell as getting low profile rims and keeping the original bars, seatpost, stem and cranks... The 52 tooth chainring, paired with the 18 tooth fixed and 17 tooth freewheel make climbing a bit of a challenge, however on the flat, this bike really does crank up some speed.

Cant wait to ride it this summer, got a few road rides planned for it, including a hilly 60 mile epic, which should be quite challenging fixed/single speed... Here's the pic from yesterday mornings quick ride, i will take a better one once the bike is finished!