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I also started today Matt’s Peugeot P8 restoration. I am very excited to start work on Matt’s Peugeot, I do not get to work on or restore many Peugeots and they are one of my favorite brands of bicycles. Peugeot are also very difficult to figure out years and models but with some help from my friend Darrel we at least narrowed it down to a P8.
This Peugeot was given to Matt by his aunt and uncle, I think a great story to continue the Peugeot’s life.
Matt’s Peugeot is in pretty good starting condition. I love the deep reddish or maroonish color with the yellow and orange decals, a very classic Peugeot look. The Carbolite 103 frame is lite and the components are very nice. The Peugeot P8 will get a complete restoration with new tires and tubes, all new cables and cable housing, new bearings, new brake pads and new handlebar tape. Matt made some great choices on the new pieces and i think this is going to be one heck of a bike when it is done.
The frame is pretty good under the dullness and grime with only a few scratches and chips. After polishing the frame color is really going to pop with a deep finish. The components are dull but after restoration the alloy and chrome is really going to shine and set off that deep maroon paint.
I stripped down the components to the frame. With the components off I can see the frame is in better shape then I thought, It is dirty and dull but it should clean up and polish beautifully.
I have not gotten as much work in on the Peugeot as I wanted too. At the beginning of the week I had a round of aroara migraine headaches which I get occasionally and they really slow me down for a few days. But now mostly recovered its time to get going on the Peugeot.
I cleaned and polished the frame. The frame cleaned beautifully, I started with a very course polishing compound and worked my way down to a very fine. A good deal of the scuffs and scraps came out of the paint and the dark red took on a deep glossy finish. I love the the dark red and am super happy with the results of the frame. The dark red with the yellow and orange of the decals is quite striking.
With the frame polished I broke the components down for cleaning and polishing. What I really love about Peugeot’s and Matt’s Peugeot in particular are the little details. Every piece to every components have little details in there design and shape, a nice line here or a unusual detail there. Here the headset just doesn’t look quite like any other, the lock nut has a tall refined shape. The bottom bracket has little ridges and indents stamped in that gives so much character that is so plane on other components. The stem has a beautiful shape that is just a little more shaped then normal. Even the stamped handlebar logos are just beautiful, so detailed!
The headset and bottom bracket polished very nice, you can see in the photos he little details each piece has. I am happy with the results. The headset installed very nice and turns very smooth. The bottom bracket I am waiting for new bearings to arrive, I have gone through so many recently I got a head of the current order that should be here soon.
The stem polished beautifully!! I really like this stem, its hard to see in photos but it tapers in as it goes down and around, almost like an upside down shark body. The polishing went really well also, the tips I got are really paying off.
The handlebars also polished very nice, there are a few gauges that will not polish out but the surface has a mirror finish.
I think the stem and handlebars in this area is what takes a beautiful bicycle tot eh next level and this stem and handlebars are doing that nicely!
I like the crank a lot, the shapes and lines of it are really nice, the crank arms are narrow the depth way so they are like fan blades cutting through the air. Also the pin wheel arms on he drive side are very nicely shaped, the have a nice roundness to them. You don not see thought like this put into the shape and lines of a crank very often. That is why I like Peugeot’s from this era so much.
I cleaned all the components to the crank and got to work with the power polisher. The large chain ring on the inside has some gouging from the chain getting stuck but that will not be see. The small chain ring also has some gauging that is a little more visible but over all not to noticeable. Everything polished beautifully and after assembling the crank is quit stunning!! I am so happy with the crank, I would like to have one for myself.
I like the brake calipers. I like center pull brakes for the era they work better then the side pull brakes from the era. These brake calipers turned out fantastic, It took a good deal of polishing but it was all worth it. The caliper arms shine better then new and with the new brake pads installed they should work like new. I am very proud of the results.
The front derailleur is a Shimano, I have restored this one many times and I really like the lines and design of it. The front derailleur cleaned up very nice and polished beautifully. The derailleur looks fantastic installed.
The rear derailleur is not original to the Peugeot, the derailleur cleaned nice but the sticker fell off during cleaning to reveal another sticker under it. I cleaned and polished the derailleur the best it would polish. the derailleur looks descent but functions very smooth.
The wheels are a mix match, i think the rear wheel is an original, the front is an alloy replacement wheel. I like the rear wheel, I know it is chrome but there is just something really nice about a polished chrome wheel. I cleaned and polished the wheel and replaced the bearings. The chrome rim polished to almost perfect. I then installed the Panaracer Pasela tires, I think a perfect choice for the Peugeot.
The front wheel is a replacement, I have not heard of the brand before but right of it feels very light. I cleaned and polished the hub and replaced the bearings. The rim has a textured finish that is not polishable but it cleaned very well. I like the front wheel, in spins very nice and looks great with the Panaracer tire installed.
Only thing left is to wire the bike, install the handlebar tape and install the pedals. I installed the cables and the cable housings, the charcoal/silver color was chosen and looks great with the dark red.
The pedals where in rough shape but pedals usually are, pedals take a real beating. I cleaned and polished the pedals the best they would and flushed and lubricated the pedals. The pedals spin good and look fairly good.
I test road the Peugeot, it fought me a lot in the road tuning. I had to change out the change and adjust the straightness of the chain rings but eventually got it tuned nicely. The chain rings are a little more worn then they appear which made it a little tricky to tune. I believe there is a lot of life left in the chain rings yet.
Once the Peugeot was tuned I gave it a good hard test ride, the Peugeot rides extremely nice, the Panaracer tires are very comfortable and very fast. I really like this Peugeot, it has a fantastic classic look with lots of little design lines and details you do not get today. The dark red is an amazing color, the black accents and charcoal cable housings are a perfect complement and all the shiny parts and gum wall tires are perfect.
I love this stuff, I love bring back a forgotten rough bicycle and having it ride great again and look great.
Thank you for the interest.
