The Yellow Peril

[Jonny69]

I present to you last week's top score: the Yellow Peril

A chap at work wanted a new mountain bike and his wife wouldn't let him have a new bike until he got rid of one. He'd been pestering me for ages about it and I finally backed down and agreed to take it last Thursday. Monday morning there was a brand new bike in the bike shed at work and this one at my house

Under the ridiculously thick yellow paint it's a 1979-1981 Peugeot with 40-spoke 27" wheels and a single speed flip-flop hub at the back, so I can run single or fixed:

Why is it called the Yellow Peril? Well, aside from the very keen steering geometry it seems to have, at some point a previous owner decided it would be a great idea to paint the rims yellow as well. So that meant no brakes, basically. Coupled with a very distorted tyre, brakes round the wrong way and very low front bars it was quite a mission to ride. I've sorted all that, got some new tyres on their way and hoiked the bars up a bit:

It rides really nicely. I have to say I do like single speed

 

[biggs682]

i have my own yellow peril that awaits putting together , mine is a mid 90's m trax raleigh painted yellow from new , so that will be yellow peril mk 2

 

[Jonny69]

I went a bit mad on eBay last night. The front and rear rims are well corroded and a bit buckled in places, so I've been keeping an eye out for some rims to swap on. Well, the back being a 40-hole is practically non-existent in either 27 or 700c, but there have been some NOS alloy 700c's on eBay. I succumbed. So there are NOS alloy rims on their way, some 700x20c tanwalls and an alloy seatpost to replace the cracked chrome one. I figure since I've spent way more on the wheels than the bike will ever be worth they will outlive the bike, plus I get to feel the luuurve lacing up my own wheels

 

[Jonny69]

Well none of those bits fitted

The 40 hole rim was too wide for the tyres because they were more like a touring rim and the front one I'd got looked too modern. So back it all went.

I've been riding fixed quite a bit recently and I really love it, so I think I'm going to invest in a pair of wheels and keep these ones hanging up in the garage as spares.

 

[Agency_Scum]

Ooh, cloth tape. Nice. Might have a bash at a harlequin pattern soon.

 

[Old Ned]

Ooh, cloth tape. Nice. Might have a bash at a harlequin pattern soon.

See here -

http://www.wastedlife.org/bike/harlequin/index.html

 

[Agency_Scum]

Brilliant! Cheers Ned.

 

[Jonny69]

I accidently put a bid in on a flip-flop hub on eBay and surprisingly won it at a sensible price. Let the wheel building begin

So I just need to find a pair of narrow classic-looking polished alloy rims with 36 holes and I'm good to go.