grogee
Retro Guru
Hoping someone can tell me a bit more about this bike.
According to the seller (and this may be garbled by the mists of time) this bike was shown at the 'Harrogate bike show' sometime in the early 80s. Apparently Peugeot imported 20 to the UK, and 'Branches' (or possibly Branch's) bike shop of Wakefield/Leeds area bought one to put in their shop window and gauge interest in such a weird machine.
- Was there a Harrogate bike show? Is there any surviving material or press info from it?
- Was there a Branch's bike shop somewhere in Yorkshire? Seller said it wasn't there long.
Seller bought it and has ridden it ever since. Listing said '1980' but I'm guessing more like 1984. It has:
- Suntour bits and pieces, (the rear mech has been replaced). Pretty sure this is pre-indexed gears; they are not indexed anyway. 6-speed.
- Dia-compe cantis and levers (these look very early to me)
- Bullmoose handlebars (not sure of make)
- Araya rims
- Sugino crank
The listing also said Reynolds 531 frame although there's no label. So to try and find out the type of tubing I've looked at another Peugeot 531 (racer) bike and found the following similarities. (I will try and reply to this with some more pics of the 'comparison' bike)
- similar lugs for head tube, seat tube/stays, dropouts (though the MTB aren't stamped 'Simplex')
- same cable guides attached to BB shell
- seamless tubing looking down seat tube
- same forks as I had from a custom Orbit 531 tandem - same construction, crown etc
- very similar headset with serrated locking washer
I intend to restore sympathetically using as many period parts as I can find. Thinking of looking for an Avocet saddle if anyone knows of where I can get one.
There is some sort of weird varnish-y stuff all over the bike. I don't know if this was a misguided attempt at rust proofing. It doesn't come off with brake cleaner or acetone, you can get at it with fingernail though. Any tips for removal?
According to the seller (and this may be garbled by the mists of time) this bike was shown at the 'Harrogate bike show' sometime in the early 80s. Apparently Peugeot imported 20 to the UK, and 'Branches' (or possibly Branch's) bike shop of Wakefield/Leeds area bought one to put in their shop window and gauge interest in such a weird machine.
- Was there a Harrogate bike show? Is there any surviving material or press info from it?
- Was there a Branch's bike shop somewhere in Yorkshire? Seller said it wasn't there long.
Seller bought it and has ridden it ever since. Listing said '1980' but I'm guessing more like 1984. It has:
- Suntour bits and pieces, (the rear mech has been replaced). Pretty sure this is pre-indexed gears; they are not indexed anyway. 6-speed.
- Dia-compe cantis and levers (these look very early to me)
- Bullmoose handlebars (not sure of make)
- Araya rims
- Sugino crank
The listing also said Reynolds 531 frame although there's no label. So to try and find out the type of tubing I've looked at another Peugeot 531 (racer) bike and found the following similarities. (I will try and reply to this with some more pics of the 'comparison' bike)
- similar lugs for head tube, seat tube/stays, dropouts (though the MTB aren't stamped 'Simplex')
- same cable guides attached to BB shell
- seamless tubing looking down seat tube
- same forks as I had from a custom Orbit 531 tandem - same construction, crown etc
- very similar headset with serrated locking washer
I intend to restore sympathetically using as many period parts as I can find. Thinking of looking for an Avocet saddle if anyone knows of where I can get one.
There is some sort of weird varnish-y stuff all over the bike. I don't know if this was a misguided attempt at rust proofing. It doesn't come off with brake cleaner or acetone, you can get at it with fingernail though. Any tips for removal?
