garethrl
Senior Retro Guru
Hi everyone,
I've been casually looking for a classic Peugeot road bike on-and-off for a while now, mainly looking on ebay and leboncoin in Belgium and northern France. I came up trumps a while ago with a collection-only auction titled "bike on training rollers". The two poor pics and non-existant description convinced me it was worth a punt if the price was right, and eventually it finished at €52.50. I collected it about a month ago and finally managed to find the time to clean it up a bit.
The big question for me is, which model is it? How do you set about ID'ing the actual models from this era. Naturally I would dearly love it to be a PX10 but I don't think it is - it has no chrome anywhere, notably fork and part of the rear triangle. However, it is full 531 and is well-specced throughout. Earlyish Simplex Retrofriction levers and LJ4000 rear mech, Mafac Racer centrepulls, Stronglight 105 crank (Spidel branded), Maillard 700 pedals (also Spidel branded) and Stronglight Competition headset. Wheels are Maillard 700 hubs with Mavic sprints (I forget the model) with probably replacement tubs in place and holding air. Comfort is provided by an Ideale saddle and Simplex SLJ seatpost (also Spidel branded) and Philippe bar and Peugeot-branded Atax stem.
Attached are a few crappy cameraphone pics to see if anyone can ID the model. Maybe there's a giveway in the lugs, or the rear mech cable stop. You'll notice that there's no front mech mounted and the seller couldn't find it - the bike was only ever ridden on the big ring on the rollers. So I also need to know which front mech to look out for - an SJA, or SLJ, or what? On that note, I've seen a Peugeot-branded Simplex SLJ locally for €15 - would this be a worthwhile upgrade or should I leave everything as original as possible?
There's also a nice touch on the seat tube - a big sticker for Cycles Pino Cerami, Coulliet. Pino Cerami was an Italian immigrant to southern Belgium, around the city of Charleroi, and I guess he opened a bike shop after he retired. He raced for the Peugeot team at various times in his career, and it was his last team before retiring. He won Paris Roubaix and Fleche Wallonne, but is perhaps most famous as the oldest ever Tour de France stage winner when he took a stage in 1963 ages 41 years! I really like this detail - it's just a shame that it sits quarely on top of the Peugeot lions!
Any further information most gratefully received. By the way, the white reflection in the second pic is due to a brake-mounted reflector that I forgot to remove! You may also spot the non-original seat post - I'll be starting another thread to track down replacement hardware for the Simplex.
Cheers,
Gareth.
I've been casually looking for a classic Peugeot road bike on-and-off for a while now, mainly looking on ebay and leboncoin in Belgium and northern France. I came up trumps a while ago with a collection-only auction titled "bike on training rollers". The two poor pics and non-existant description convinced me it was worth a punt if the price was right, and eventually it finished at €52.50. I collected it about a month ago and finally managed to find the time to clean it up a bit.
The big question for me is, which model is it? How do you set about ID'ing the actual models from this era. Naturally I would dearly love it to be a PX10 but I don't think it is - it has no chrome anywhere, notably fork and part of the rear triangle. However, it is full 531 and is well-specced throughout. Earlyish Simplex Retrofriction levers and LJ4000 rear mech, Mafac Racer centrepulls, Stronglight 105 crank (Spidel branded), Maillard 700 pedals (also Spidel branded) and Stronglight Competition headset. Wheels are Maillard 700 hubs with Mavic sprints (I forget the model) with probably replacement tubs in place and holding air. Comfort is provided by an Ideale saddle and Simplex SLJ seatpost (also Spidel branded) and Philippe bar and Peugeot-branded Atax stem.
Attached are a few crappy cameraphone pics to see if anyone can ID the model. Maybe there's a giveway in the lugs, or the rear mech cable stop. You'll notice that there's no front mech mounted and the seller couldn't find it - the bike was only ever ridden on the big ring on the rollers. So I also need to know which front mech to look out for - an SJA, or SLJ, or what? On that note, I've seen a Peugeot-branded Simplex SLJ locally for €15 - would this be a worthwhile upgrade or should I leave everything as original as possible?
There's also a nice touch on the seat tube - a big sticker for Cycles Pino Cerami, Coulliet. Pino Cerami was an Italian immigrant to southern Belgium, around the city of Charleroi, and I guess he opened a bike shop after he retired. He raced for the Peugeot team at various times in his career, and it was his last team before retiring. He won Paris Roubaix and Fleche Wallonne, but is perhaps most famous as the oldest ever Tour de France stage winner when he took a stage in 1963 ages 41 years! I really like this detail - it's just a shame that it sits quarely on top of the Peugeot lions!
Any further information most gratefully received. By the way, the white reflection in the second pic is due to a brake-mounted reflector that I forgot to remove! You may also spot the non-original seat post - I'll be starting another thread to track down replacement hardware for the Simplex.
Cheers,
Gareth.