Peugeot UO-8 is back on the road

Thanks to the help of a young rider in the rescue effort, I aquired an ancient 1972 Peugeot UO-8 frame, with some decent components added, the previous owner used it as a touring bike. It took forever to find a stem for it and the new chainring runs, but throws the chain on the big ring. It needs wider bars, fenders, Lyotard pedals, and if I'm lucky, and old Zefal frame pump to attach to the factory hooks.

It's amazing how nasty bikes get just sitting there for years. The chain was rusted frozen in two spots, this took some micro-surgery to save 30 to 60 bucks.

The final re cabling, wheel hub repacking, adjustment and set- up also took ten straight hours, I finished it at 2 AM. When I get on a roll, and enough coffee, I don't stop. I ate a peanut butter brownie and drank some designer coffee, I highly recommend "It's a Grind" , a franchise, way better than Starbuck's. This provided me with psycho-carb fuel for the final push, but as I write this I feel like I've been through a war. Sleep was somewhat fitful last night, and I think I'll pass on the hill climbing later today.


It's amazing though how long some of the little things can take. For example, an entire hour just to put the saddle on, it had to do with compatibility of the saddle clamp with the seat post, dealing with the post clamp, and replacing the old post with a longer one so the bike would fit me.

Excruciation.

I don't plan on going fast with this bike, it's for days when I'm feeling burnt, when it's raining, etc.
I think putting 27 X 1 3/8" tires on it would be so cool. I have only found one MFG who still makes these.

9 bucks apiece. Sold.

I love "Pig Iron steel". I don't care what anybody says. The Eropeans made these bikes with thick walled tubing for a reason, durability. They knew the barbaric Americans would probably beat the crap out of them, as they had no clue at the time how to ride drop bar anyway.

They would have probably crashed a real racing bike, like the Peugeot PX-7, with lighter tubing, shorter chainstays, and more upright seat tube for a stiffer ride and quicker handling. Having a
lot less frames returned all the way to France means more profit.

Smart move.