So here I am in my early thirties, buying one of those vintage Peugeot bikes you see the hipsters riding around on. Am I old enough now to want to feel young again? Am I trying to be cool now after missing out in my twenties?
The bike was in no way immediately good to ride. The seat post was barely ending below the clamp, questionable in terms of bike geometry and safety. The crank was missing a screw, the bottom bracket had a bit of play, the chain looked like it had never been lubed. The tyre walls were completely frayed, the threads torn and the rubber crumbling. Then there were optical issues such as the unsightly handlebar tape and a bottle opener in place of the removed back brake. This idea I liked to be honest, it was charming, but not very practical.
On the plus side the frame had few scratches or damage to the paint job, the logo at the front and the writing on the side were still both in a good state. The removable parts weren’t exactly pretty, but they fit the picture and after some cleaning they should have been nice again.
So much for the first assessment.
I started out with some cleaning. Take off the handlebar tape and scrub off bits of ancient adhesive. Take out the seat post and seat, pick out dead spiders and brush off some rust, remove a frayed shoe lace that was used to keep the Brooks saddle in shape. Remove the old tyres and tubes, showering the floor with crumbs of old porous rubber. Scrub the corroded spokes and polish the rims, brush out the rim bed.
This forced me to take a close look at a bike and made me notice all the issues that had previously gone unnoticed. I definitely learnt a lot about what to look out for when buying a bike next time. The biggest problems were some really floppy spokes and a slight eight in the back wheel. I never adjusted the spoke tension on any of my bikes, let alone ensuring it’s still running true. The back wheel’s deformation wasn’t so bad, so I left that to fix for a later time.
I never rode a fixie before and at this time of the year (autumn) and my life (generally busy and not a lot of energy to invest into adapting the fixie lifestyle), I decided to at least turn it into a single-speed. No gears for now, I already spent enough time shopping around and I won’t be climbing any hills soon. After some obsessive search for matching parts on ebay and Marktplaats, I found decent 105 brake handles and some brake calipers. Not without first drilling into the frame though, trying to fit the wrong brake for the back wheel. The guys at the Fietslab vintage bike shop had a matching part though and a nice shiny chrome free-wheel. 🥳 After a couple of chaotic visits, the bike was finally done.
Absolutely a fair weather bike, but it turned out a real beauty. The steel rims’ structured flanks offer pretty poor braking, bit with decent pads it’s not too bad. Then there’s the slight paranoia the tyres might pop off any time, old rims are rather shallow.
In a lucky find an Ass Saver with a colourful feather turned out to match the colour scheme perfectly, so at least my lower back stays dry in case of a surprise rain shower. 😁
