RIDING THE UO8

I have owned and ridden several of these old French charmers and charmer is the best word I can think of to describe these great old bicycles.  Their vintage appeal oozes from them and the ride quality is vintage feel all the way.

I can understand how the UO8 earned its reputation for being a good bicycle.  These old French bicycles offer a lovely ride.  The feel is light, even though the bicycle with its so called special tubing is not.  The ride is certainly stable but never becomes mundane.  The light feel always returns, reminding the rider that the bicycle, though entry level, was race bred.

The Simplex transmission is a treat to use, in my opinion, even though the plastic bodies did create problems for Peugeot.  When not broken, the transmissions did work really well.  Shifting rarely required trimming and few shifts were ever missed.  The shifter tension is as easy to set as any used and always held the shifter exactly where it was supposed to be. The ring spread combination delivered power to the fairly wide range cog set, making going just about anywhere an easy pedal.  All in all, a very nice and smooth working system.

The AGDA saddle, however, will forever remain on my "not for my butt no buts about it" list.

Though incredibly antiquated in appearance, the Mafac Racer brakes worked very well.  They do take a minute or so extra to set up.  However, once properly adjusted in, they work just about as well as any other Old School center pull brake set used.  I still cannot help but wonder, why the half hoods?  I have never liked using these hoods, and my fingers always end up smelling like aluminum.  Smelly fingers is not what I expect from riding a vintage road bicycle.  But that is just me. Perhaps other riders like to have fingers that smell like metal.

All in all, the entry level French Peugeot UO8 is a worthy bicycle to restore.  Though it lacks the sophistication of higher end Peugeots, the bicycle is indeed a worthy vintage candidate for collecting and riding.