Peugeot Randonneur 1930´s

[Mr.E]

I recently bought this frame and supposedly is a 1936 Peugeot Polymultiplié with a weird (to me) bottom bracket. It´s french but not the usual 35mm, it´s a little bit larger, 35.5mm. I have compared the thread with french cups and it´s the same but the diameter of the cup is 0.5mm larger. I had never heard of it before. Googling was inconclusive at best.
The few catalogs i have found do not match this frame exactly, the frames have the same kind of geometry, same fork, same cyclo 2 cable gear, but all have lugs. The one i have does not.

This is the frame:











The rear OLN is 120mm, the seatpost is 25.4mm.

The catalogs i have found:

Also found this:

http://forum.tontonvelo.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=11018

but again not the same...

Any ideas?

 

[OldTel]

Hi, french frames and threads ! Sheldon Browns page of french bikes sums it all up http://sheldonbrown.com/velos.html I'm afraid its a case of trawling french ebay for bits and pieces. Looking at your frame I would speculate at it being a touch later than mid thirties, the frame construction is standard french, and your only hope of dating it, maybe the dropouts, (unless there's serial number that a peugeot expert can help with ) they look late thirties / forties. Will look great when built, but it will be a slow slog to complete. Terry

 

[Mr.E]

Sheldon was my first stop. He still is the reference when in doubt. But this particular thread (35.5) is not mentioned there, just the 35mm which is pretty normal to me and not so hard to find parts.
I already knew this frame was going to give me some work but it was really cheap and i could not resist it.
I was thinking off building it with a 3 speed internal, porteur bars and fenders so i can ride it in town, it would be a cool beater. I have oil polished the frame and it has lots of character as is.

 

[OldTel]

Hi, I'm in the throws of building up a 1933/4 Jean Louvet, and have struggled with 3 speed freewheel threads, there must be 3 or 4 different sizes used in the thirties. I'm of the opinion that all these thread differences are 'manufacturer/location based' i.e. Saint Etienne, Paris, Lyon, etc, luckily for me, my bottom bracket was in good shape. All this doesn't put me off, as I enjoy the chase. Your build sounds fine, but doesn't that beautifully engineered hanger deserve a cyclo three speed setup. Good luck. Terry

 

[Mr.E]

Yes. It does. That is why i was thinking of a temporary and fully reversible build.

Do you have photos of your build/frame progress?

Thanks.

 

[OldTel]

Hi, just uploaded the photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/tk_photos/8505008154/in/photostream, i'm about one month away from finishing, doing the wheels and brakes currently. Terry

 

[Mr.E]

Nice! That fork is stunning! Do you have other photos of the fork?

 

[OldTel]

Hi, Loaded, they were there selling point as you can see from the old poster. http://www.flickr.com/photos/tk_photos/ Terry

 

[Mr.E]

Just beautiful. I will follow your build with great interest. Don´t forget to keep posting the progress.

 

[Mr.E]

New stuff with the help of a friend who has a bike shop with real cool vintage bikes...

A lot of work to come, but it will be a cool ride...