TEST BUILDING THE PEUGEOT PX10

Some time had been invested attempting to straighten out the top and down tubes of the PX10 frame set.  The obvious bends were gone and the twist of the head tube had been straightened to allow for near perfect alignment.  When I say perfect, one must keep in mind that the method I used to determine alignment is crude at best but does seem to work reasonably well.

With the frame and fork sets home, I started almost immediately into the task of assembling the Peugeot.  The best way I can think of to test a frame sets geometric integrity is to ride the bicycle.  I would like to suggest that assembly was a straight forward task, but it really wasn't.  Many of the components that came with the Peugeot were pretty much toasted and could not be used with any degree of safety.  But I am a lucky guy...

As it turned out, almost everything that I needed to build the PX10 to near original specification was sitting in The Old Shed.

I had a nice set of French wheels that I had removed from a late sixties or early seventies Mercier with a bent frame.  The wheels boasted Normandy high flange quick release hubs laced to Mavic tubular rims.  The old sew-up tires were even capable of holding air (but not for long as I would soon find out).  I trued the wheels and mounted the them on the Peugeot.  Plenty of room between the front wheel and the down tube now, thanks to the frame straightening results.

I happened to have a set of Dural Forged Mafac brake levers and callipers tucked away and those were quickly mounted to the bike.  The callipers, though in need of some more cleaning and polishing, were in great shape and probably original issue items in 1963.  It is quite possible that I will have to find a period correct set of Mafac Competition callipers but all evidence suggests that the Dural Forged units are correct.

The levers are a match to the callipers, however, the levers were a bit scratched up.  A small amount of time was spent filing and brass brush polishing the levers to ensure that there were no sharp edges to damage my hands.  More effort will have to be invested in the "shine them up department" but the end result will, without doubt, produce a gorgeous set of brake levers.  As luck would have it I happened to have a complete and near perfect set of brake cable guides and yokes squirreled away and those were mounted on the bicycle.  I selected the best set of Mafac half hoods that I could find in The Old Shed and the brake system was set to go.  I should add that the hoods are mis-matched and pretty ugly but they are the best that I had on-hand at the time.  I will purchase a NOS set in black as soon as a set surfaces, however; I do not intend to mortgage my house to acquire them.  What I have will do until an affordable set comes my way.

An original style AVA alloy handlebar supported the brake levers but I could not find an appropriate AVA steering stem.  With that in mind, I decided to use a PIVO stem that looks remarkably like the original AVA unit and was probably a great deal stronger to boot.  I should mention that the AVA steering stem required had a nasty habit of breaking so it was and still is probably best that I go with the PIVO stem for the time being.

The Simplex seat post, that came with the Peugeot, was in great shape and fitted the bicycle perfectly.  Using that post, I mounted a 1967 Brooks BSN saddle that I had found at the Dump and the control portion of the PX10 was all but complete.  With that done, I turned my attention to the transmission.

The transmission is full Simplex and much of it is made from the incredibly impractical Dupont Delrin plastic.  These plastic derailleurs, particularly the front derailleur, had a habit of cracking and/or breaking completely in half.  Many vintage road bicycles that entered The Old Shed have arrived with broken front Simplex derailleurs.  All that said, the derailleurs I decided to go with were hardly original issue.  My guess is that the original derailleurs will cost an arm and a leg to acquire unless I get lucky and find what I need at a Yard Sale or some similar source.  For the time being, the derailleurs selected look like they belong on the Peugeot and work just fine.  I am, however, keeping my eyes peeled for a correct transmission assembly.

In addition to the derailleur set, I needed to dig up a decent set of Simplex shifters for temporary use.  I say temporary since I intend to install a set of Simplex Barcons on the PX10 for its final build.  With this in mind, just about any set of Simplex down tube shifters would do for the test build.  I decided to go with a set that I am certain is not period correct but they do look good and I have always appreciated the feel and results when using them.  About the only thing left to find would be a proper transmission cable guide and, once again but after a lot of searching, The Old Shed offered up its treasure.  Once again the transmission cable guide is made from Delrin plastic and of the two I found tucked away, one was badly cracked and beyond repair.  The second one, however, was all but perfect with the only real deficiency being the oxidized plastic surfaces.  This plastic oxidation, incidentally, is relatively easy to clean up.

The head set and bottom bracket selected both came with the PX10 and both were used for the test build.  There are some cosmetic issues associated with each component but the bearing surfaces are all but perfect, showing little wear and absolutely no pitting.  Both will work just fine until I find sets in better condition and at a price that I can afford.

Next, my attention turned to the crank set.  The Stronglight 93d set that came with the Peugeot had been drilled out by some previous owner and looked, in my opinion, awful.  That said, that set was all that I had at the time and I was quite prepared to use them - temporarily.  However, I got lucky just as I was building the bicycle...

I found a grungy old Mercier while out bike hunting on Yard Sale day.  The Mercier had certainly seen better days but I was stunned to see a Stronglight 49D crank set mounted on the bicycle.  A brief negotiation netted me the old French bicycle for five bucks and I wallowed in my joy as I carried the bicycle to the Ranger.  When I got the Mercier home, I grabbed my French threaded crank puller and that is when my joy turned to disappointment...

The 49D set was only half there!  The drive side crank was 49D but the non-drive was not.  Sadly I digested my discovery but at least I had a useable set of cranks to install.  But it looks as if there is going to be a happy ending to this story.  The fellow who sent me the PX10 has recently sent me a complete Stronglight 49D crank and ring set with hopes that doing so will help to make-up for the bent frame.  I am looking forward to getting and fitting the set and hope that everything works well.  If the coming set does not work, I will go to the expense of finding and buying a proper set of cranks since I just love the looks of the 49D offering.  Caution will, however, drive the purchase and I will content myself with the mis-matched set that I presently have if I must.

With all of the parts collected that I needed to build up the Peugeot I set about putting the bicycle together.  No effort or expense was invested to make the bike look good for the test build.  The only thing that mattered was ride quality.  That said, I did none the less find the rustic appearance of the bicycle very appealing when it was fully assembled.  I could honestly have settled for the "grunge" look but I did so want a beautiful white Peugeot PX10 with shiny black Nervex Pro lugs to ride.  But the grungy old French bicycle did have its aesthetic appeal.

NEXT - THE FIRST PEUGEOT PX10 TEST RIDE