Peugeot Premiere - Any good? better than modern SS OTP bike?

[reanimation]

Hiya, I'm back again, I'm not a roadie but the commute means I use roads more than owt and I'm still pondering an upgrade from my Revolution courier race boneshaker. I got a Motobecane from mid/late 80's which i posted, I still don't like drop handles and Its a bit big for me really. Slightly smaller is this Pug >

I was gonna sell it, it looks cheap with its steel wheels and stuff, I was surprised to see that they have quite a following on ebay and go for good money, specially in good condition. --- This got me thinking, maybe they are decent frames/bikes ??? :idea: Its the Carbolite 103 frame, I'm not sure what that means :?: and says its 'Made in France' which is nice these days.
Its kinda my size, TT length is about 22.7 inch and ST is about same 23inch 60cm IIRC. this should be ideal for my 34"inside leg and 6ft2ness.

So before I hang onto more 'junk'/assets and begin yet another retro SS build, Is it decent? :?: If I was happy in me job I'd be itching to pay 500-700 on BTW scheme for a Single speed road commuter, Genesis Flyer type of thing.
What to do? Keep it retro?!

Also how strong are those alloy stems? worth replacing?

Cheers

 

[ninety]

What does it ride like? It *looks* from the pictures as though it wouldn't cost a huge amount to get up and running (admittedly I've no idea what state the bearings etc are in) so it's probably worth a go, no?

Also, if you get it going on the cheap, give it a good clean and *don't* like it, it'll be worth more to stick on ebay. Or maybe it's just the fact I'm looking for a project that's making me think this way...

 

[reanimation]

Thank goodness for you ninety, I'd almost given up hope of a reply.

Well I have to say I probably agree with you. Tonight I have taken all the bits off the frame and forks, cleaned it with various cleaners hanging about, and really like the look of it. its got loads of patina, still abit grubby even, I'm hoping theres no terminal rust hidden away, we'll see. Hoping to get some new SS wheels and nice bars, and go from there, I'm fairly sure I'll enjoy and if not, at least those buyers can see what they are buying. Takes me back to BITD when my mate got his first 10 speed Peugeot while still at primary school, I really liked that light bike felt fast and light as hell coming from kids BMXs! I also really liked my mates Peugeot Sahara 18speed MTB back in 1990. yeah I think the mojo is ready for this one.

 

[ninety]

I just don't like to see things go to waste! It's nice to have a bit more character in an SS build, rather than off-the-peg - I know some people on the site see SS/fixed conversions as some sort of travesty, but it's nothing that can't be reversed.

I got a set of SS wheels (Mavic CX10s on a Shimano 105 front and a Sachs Maillard rear) off ebay for GBP40 and they do the job just fine - if you can get something similar, you've got to be looking at a full build for less than GBP100? Good luck and get some progress pics up!

 

[legrandefromage]

Oooh a Cortina AND a Mitsubishi Colt....


Bike, yeah, yeah, move it out the way....


Frame - worth anything up to £100 on fleabay

Parts - junk.

Possible French thread headset, usually stuck stem and BB.

Internally welded frame which as you mention has a following.

Good luck

 

[djoptix]

Or you could buy my 61cm Genesis Flyer (200, which is also in Manchester and will only cost you £250

 

[reanimation]

Generally I need to get over my dislike of road bikes now the commute is further and I'm getting into actually almost ejoying it! I think its the stretch position/drop bars/fiddling with distant gear levers on a big wobbly bike So got fixes for these to give it a fair test.

Thanks for the good wishes and interest I'll chuck up a build thread then.

I just don't like to see things go to waste! It's nice to have a bit more character in an SS build, rather than off-the-peg -
...
I got a set of SS wheels (Mavic CX10s on a Shimano 105 front and a Sachs Maillard rear) off ebay for GBP40 ...

Yeah me too ninety, I do fancy a new shiney commuter, just like 'normal folk' fancy new cars to take em to work, but worth a dabble with this nice modest retro. I like the look of many new bikes, Surly and the more recent fashion additions, credible ones ideally but they are annonymous imported soulless stuff, though if they ride good thats sort of most important. Messing with retro stuff, good fun, yeah I've never been a roadie and I'm definately not a trendy bobble hat wearer. Fairly sure I saved it from a skip
I was looking at Halo wheels but not very sympathetic to this build with arguable quality. Options of using a shimano 600 geared mavic/araya combo or build/find summat nice n quality. Yeah it shouldn't cost the earth. Thanks

Oooh a Cortina AND a Mitsubishi Colt....

Frame - worth anything up to £100 on fleabay

Parts - junk.

Possible French thread headset, usually stuck stem and BB.

Internally welded frame which as you mention has a following.

Good luck

Yeah My mates Celeste has been sold now and Hanging onto the Tina as a sister project to this at the mo, its better than I thought it was...

Anyway! Frame stripped, and got the stem out but didn't have tools with me to brave the BB area, Urrgh Mucky crappy bits slung to one side!

Internally welded frame, I thought it looked cleanly held together but thats clever how did they do that!?

Or you could buy my 61cm Genesis Flyer (200, which is also in Manchester and will only cost you £250

Arrgh Don't tempt me!! I don't have that kinda money handy at the mo but it is tempting...

 

[djoptix]

I'll be polishing it up for sale later, I'll PM you to tempt you further

Whatever you decide, commuting fixed is definitely the way forward - good choice.

 

[reanimation]

Sorry for lack of pics but it is shining up OK, a nice display of original patina now, pics soon, curently offline at home.

I weighed it... 6lbs which makes its same as many my rugged MTB frames. So what is Carbolite 103? Its definately worth bothering with? At 6lbs and 2 for the forks, I'm expecting some durability and rigidity... :?:

Theres some surface distortion on the chain staiys near bridge I'm hoping that its not chronic internal rust.

I'm collecting bits, but before I wedge on building some custom wheels, and fathom a 24.?mm seat post I just wonder if its worth it...

Pics and build thread soon.

Cheers

 

[ninety]

For reference, there's a similar beast on ebay at the minute (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1980s-Peugeot-Rac ... 255daccffb) only going for GBP99 currently and that's a minter...

Is it worth building yours? In some ways probably not, but if you get a nice set of wheels built up you can always ride it around while you look for a new frame and swap everything over (apart from anything weird and French) when you find something better

Looking forward to the build thread!