Help ID this frame (for Peugeot cognoscenti... I think!)

[nimchimpsky82]

About 12 years ago I bought a flat handlebar fixie on eBay. It had been resprayed, stripped of all its decals etc. and had lots of probably unoriginal components, except perhaps for the front rim (Mavic CXP 33). The seller wasn't able to tell what manufacturer or frame it was. I got it because the size and price were right and because it was always just going to be a beater/training bike.

A few months ago I decided to upgrade it to drop bars, a better saddle and seatpost, Tannus airless tyres and most importantly (from the point of view of my knees ) a freewheel. Oh, and brakes ha. It still is very much my beater bike, as you can tell from how filthy I allow it to get , but it's a lot nicer now. Perhaps as a result I have started to wonder what it might be, underneath the custom paint job.

Based on especially the 24mm diameter of the seatpost I suspect the bike is a Peugeot, based on the internal brake cable routing I am inclined to think late 80s. I've looked at some old brochures on bikeboompeugeot but the resolution makes it quite hard to see details like mudguard braze-ons, gear cable braze-on, tube joints (clearly lugless on my bike, which makes me wonder whether the frame might be Carbolite 103), the recess in the chainstay, and so on.

I'll be very grateful for any suggestions!

 

[marshalllucky]

Re:

I think this is a low end Motobecane. They used a similar internal brazing and at some point even shared production facilities with Peugeot on some models . Its the dropouts that lead me to this opinion and their unusually large mudguard eyes. They used the same in house tubing as Peugeot 103 but called it Motolite . I`d say its appx 1983 /4 ? .

 

[pigman]

Re:

what are the airless tyres and how do they ride? If they are any good, this could be a commuter's godsend

 

[nimchimpsky82]

Re:

Thanks both. I've been looking at more 1980s Peugeot and now also Motobecane catalogues but can't quite find a match. The '84 Peugeot PH10L comes close, for example in terms of the internal rear brake cable routing and gear cable braze-on on the chain stay. However, the joint between the seat stay and seat post isn't 'flattened off' as it is on my bike, and I can't find any photos of bikes that clearly show the prominent recesses on the chainstays, near the chainring, which mine has. Le quest continues!

The airless tyres are Tannus. There's some reviews available on the web, including a few decent videos by users on Youtube as well, such as: [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JXOwu87UU&ab_channel=TwoWheelCruise[/youtube]
and

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWFSBhZB7_M&ab_channel=DerekJones[/youtube]
I've only had them on for about 200 miles. My impressions so far are pretty good. There is a small but definitely noticeable increase in rolling resistance, even though mine are 23mm; I have seen one or two reviews that suggest that with bigger widths the difference is even clearer. I feel the increased resistance especially when coasting on rough and/or slightly uphill roads. In terms of comfort I disagree with some folks who have said that they're particularly harsh, but then I'm quite used to riding at high tyre pressures, 110psi or a little more. I believe the tyres are supposed to mimic around 100psi, and that feels about right.

The best thing about these tyres is obviously that I don't need to worry anymore about all the glass and other crap on most UK roads, and their poor state of repair. This actually helps me increase or maintain my speed in some situations where otherwise I would have slowed down.

That said, they are not bomb proof: I made the mistake of taking them onto a gravel path and after about a mile a piece of gravel got lodged in the front tyre. I was able to remove it but it left a small 'pit'. No big deal to have one of these (don't feel it when riding) but I will steer clear of gravel from now on. To be fair, I did find out afterwards that their use is specified as road only.

And on the upside: since my other road bike (vintage too but original) isn't really suited to rough stuff either I now have an excuse to look at (new) gravel bikes

 

[heymarge]

Re:

I’m pretty sure that it’s a Peugeot Premier P10N.

Mid to late 80s?

 

[nimchimpsky82]

Re: Re:

I’m pretty sure that it’s a Peugeot Premier P10N.

Mid to late 80s?

Merci heymarge! I'll check some old brochures but from what I've seen already it sounds pretty plausible.