1972 Peugeot PX50

[epic1400cs]

I have been restoring Peugeot PX50 which I saw on sale at fairly affordable price on the net.





I have been a fan of French touring bike with 650B wheels and I wanted to have it one day. They became hard to find and the price of those high end ones are beyond my budget. The Peugeot are those mass production sort of bike and may not be high end samples but for everyday use and for commuting, I thought it would be suitable.

The condition of the PX50 when I bought it was 'ridable' but wasn't fun ride. The original Michelin 650-35B tyres are rather hard (imaginable after 41 years), it had replacement rear wheel with road racer type cross ratio 5 speed free wheel, all the cables and brake shoes needed replacement, etc. As I wanted to finish it as roundabout and commuting bike on a budget, initially I tried to refinish the frame with simple de-rust and touch up. After removing all the parts and started to attack some of the rust on the frame, I realized that the rust is beyond my imagination and touch up will cover almost half the frame!

 

[epic1400cs]

By this point I have bought some white paint, primer, rust treatment chemical but I believe it would be better for both myself and for the bike to re-paint the frame properly. So after five minutes of meditation :evil: I decided to visit Armourtex in East London again. Before visiting there, I have straighten all the cable guides, lamp cable clips with thin pliers.


They did great job and did fork masking for me with little extra. I want to thank Jacob at Armourtex, he is really helpful and easy to work with. I know, I didn't ask masking the fork crown to lower the cost. After receiving the powder coated frame, I painted the front rugs with gloss black spray paint.


The rug lining is done with Pilot Gold Permanent marker but it came up too bold like decorative temple well its ok for commuting :roll:

I sourced the stickers from a guy in Australia via ebay. The decal are stick-on type but very thin and durable, very accurate to original. I highly recommend it. No, I didn't paint clear over it but the decal seems to be strong enough.
I skipped the lining on the frame tubing due to my preference as well as lack of steady hand.

The colour is blue clear on top of silver and it is very close to Peugeot original blue metallic.
This is not mine but found it on the net..

 

[biggs682]

very tasty and looks great , enjoy it

 

[dorset boy]

Looks good

 

[epic1400cs]

After sorting out the frame, I have cleaned and de-rust the parts as much as I can, replaced quite few rusty bolts and nuts as long as they are metric and available. Mudguards are made from stainless steels but needed some panel beating after 40+ years of service. There are two spots where the edge of the mudguard has sharp kink - once there is a kink it tend to deform again from there. So I inserted left over stainless steel spokes inside where the edge is folded and curled inward, then press the fold gently so that the spoke would remain there. Ah, of course I needed to bend the spoke to match the contour.

And here is the finished bike.


I ditched the rear rack as it is a bit too big for my liking.
I attached home made mud frap at the end of the front mudguard for practical reason as well as cosmetic reason - longer front guard make it look much elegant in my view.
Also I relocate the front light about 20mm toward the front edge of the guard for cosmetic reason, too.


The handle bar is Grand Bois promnade made by Nitto. It goes well with Dia Compe opposite levers.
The stem is replaced by ITM 90mm to match with the bar. It is BSA 22.2mm insert diameter. To insert 22.0mm French fork steer, I sanded down 0.2mm by hand.
The cables are matching coloured Jagwire outer and all the inner cables are stainless steel to survive wet winter weather.


The saddle is old old Brooks B15 Champion Standard (assuming non original) and I painted it with leather paint to compliment the bar grips.
But it started rubbing off already :roll: it may be replaced with proper brown saddle soon.



The mudguards were sanded down to remove all the scratches and polished again.
Original ones had painted black stripes but I used stick on pin stripes for car body work found on ebay.
Mafac Criterium were stripped down and cleaned. I sourced stainless steel springs as the original were rusty.
Those rusty bolts are left as is due to the budget.
On the right pic, there is a big hole on the lower rug and this is where steering lock should go in.
I need to source it as well as aluminium flap which will cover the hole.
If you have one, please let me know!
The headset is original with brand new balls but needed serious cleaning.


The rear Simplex is original - the cage has lost its chrome due to the heavy usage but it still shift well after serious cleaning and re-greasing.
Free wheel is Atom 5 speed 14-23 NOS, same as original, and the chain is brand new KMC Z30.
It supposed to work with 5 and 6 speed but unfortunately it skates (not sit in the gear) occasionally when shifting the rear with front large ring. :evil:
I don't know why - may be the chain pins are not wide enough or my shifting skill is not matured, yet?
The front Simplex (plastic!) was broken so I paid £9 for NOS. The sliding rod system is scarily simple and looks primitive but it shifts very well.
As usual, the cotter pins are hell to remove. I used workshop vice with some sockets.
Sourced French 9mm pins instead of 9.5mm BSA but the taper are very different, needed some sanding.
I installed it with the same vice and the cranks never rattle so far
Heavy chain rings lost its chrome shine but amazingly the cogs are still healthy so I decided to keep them.


This front light cover suffered from big crack and it needed lots of epoxy glue and fillers.
Original was shiny chrome but I compromised with Humbrol silver paint which came up as grey when I spray clear on top...
I installed LED bulbs inside and am pondering if I should use original dynamo or 6V battery pack at the moment.
So the electric wires are not installed yet.


When I have been to Japan for family holiday, I didn't forget to buy the pair of Grand Bois alloy rims!
Took them as check in luggage and they survived fine
Hubs are Normandy used ones with quick release and I build the wheel with #14 stainless steel plain spokes.
This balloon Michelin tyre 650-44B is very cheap @ £10 but rolls well and most of all, very comfy!

I have done about 200 miles so far and I love it!
I used be commuting on Felt F5SL road bike when dry and on Fisher CR-7 with knobby tyres and guards when wet.
The speed on the tarmac with this 42 year old Peugeot is same as CR-7 with additional comfort, very impressive.
Shifting gears is not as easy as index system but for commuting, its not big issue and it is more like playing a game - when I manage to shift perfectly it is very satisfying :mrgreen: very entertaining commute...

 

[epic1400cs]

very tasty and looks great , enjoy it

Thank you very much for the comment!
I am glad to know that you like it

Looks good

Oh, thanks!!

 

[47p2]

The speed on the tarmac with this 42 year old Peugeot is same as CR-7 with additional comfort, very impressive.
Shifting gears is not as easy as index system but for commuting, its not big issue and it is more like playing a game - when I manage to shift perfectly it is very satisfying :mrgreen: very entertaining commute...

Nothing better than a nice steel frame for comfort, you've done a grand job there. It won't take you long to get the hang of the downtube shifters and soon you'll be changing perfectly every time.


Interested in a rear carrier, can you let me know what make you have and how is it please?

 

[Rich34]

That's a lovely build and good to read that such a classy bike is a daily commute. Know what you mean about getting friction shifting right.

Old 650B bikes come up for sale quite often in France, and perhaps now that 650B seems to be the way forwards for mountain bikes there will be some crossover into road bikes.

 

[biggs682]

very tasty and looks great , enjoy it

Thank you very much for the comment!
I am glad to know that you like it

like it i love it and well done

 

[epic1400cs]

Nothing better than a nice steel frame for comfort, you've done a grand job there. It won't take you long to get the hang of the downtube shifters and soon you'll be changing perfectly every time.
Interested in a rear carrier, can you let me know what make you have and how is it please?

Thank you! I have imagined that the frame would be very soft but actually it is pretty good, I would say very adequate for the purpose. I also have old cheap Carrera bike with 531 tubing but I feels the softness and wobble of the frame much more.

I used to ride on steel racer with down tube shifter with little problem in 80's so it is just a matter of getting used to isn't it. I have to admit the modern shifting technology is so sophisticated that I am spoiled!

The rear rack is the original one I am talking about.

I personally prefer a bit discreeter one like this

But, hey its a budget Peugeot bike I have so I should be happy with what I have got