Are you looking for a solid, well kept (read lightly ridden) late 70s Peugeot? Look no further! If your in Chicago area, you now have the opportunity to own this very bike. You just need to the highest bidder between now and February 11th. To enter the bidding, visit this album on facebook, and leave your bid in the comment section. Not on Facebook? Fear not! Call Main Street Bicycles at (847)783-0362 and tell them you want to bid on the Peugeot you saw on the Old Ten Speed Gallery! You can also email your bid to the shop at:

That’s it!  What could make this deal even sweeter?

The winning bid will then be matched by MSB and  donated to Jose Merlos (FB and WP) and his efforts to raise money to build a water well in Cameroon, Africa.

I’ve said enough, now go get your bid on!

A couple weeks ago I featured a OTSCX that I had spied at a weekend CCC race. I’ve had my eye out since for another, and finally yesterday, I spotted one.  This is David N’s Panasonic Sport Deluxe.  This baby blue beaut’ looks nearly as she did when she rolled off the showroom floor, but there are a few modernizations including: ~+120mm powder black stem, Shimano Exage aero brake levers, later model Shimano bar-end shifters, anatomic bend drop bars, some Kenda ‘cross tires, a low-grade Falcon SIS rear derailer, and who can forget—a SDGCS. All this comes together to create a very capable OTSCX. Here is Dave astride his trusty steed having way too much fun on the “rhythm section” of the course. (Check out the hipsters checkin’ out Dave’s sweet vintage rig.)

Thanks David

As some of you may know, I enjoy spending $25 a week to torture myself for 30 minutes on Sunday afternoon. (In fact, by visiting this site and clicking on the ads, you help finance this bizarre self-torment. Thank you for the support.) As much as I love the torment, I could not love it as much as the owner of the bike below. This is Andy P’s 1979 Schwinn Varsity CX, and I spotted it (very easily) yesterday while warming up before my race. This baby is equipped with late(r) model 10-Speed Shimano 105 Derailers and matching brifters, FSA crank, Mavic Cosmic Elite wheels, and Fizik Arione saddle. All these upgrades, and I’m sure this beast is still tickling 35 pounds. Andy’s post race assessment was as you might expect it. (I’m paraphrasing here.) It sucked over the barriers, but it was fine in the straights.

Thanks Andy

This past Saturday a teammate and I headed up to Michigan to take part in the second annual Barry-Roubaix gravel road race.  In the interest of full disclosure, I did not ride my old, crappy 10-speed for this event, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have my eyes peeled for participants that did!  Since I was participating, I did not have as much opportunity to pester the competitors astride OTS as much as I would have liked, but below I have posted a very small sampling of the old and crappy that I did spy.

1974 Zebra Kenko

This is a one owner, OTSG-First, 1974 Zebra Kenko.  The owner had swapped out a Suntour RD for a long cage Shimano Tourney to accommodate his wider range freewheel, but aside from that and the saddle, this baby was all original.

Mid 80s Trek 560

This mid 80s Trek 560 touring bike was spotted while waiting  in line for my not-so traditional post-race coney dog.  This baby had a triple that I would have killed for 15 miles earlier.

Miyata Ninety (Fixed)

I know, I know, this is bike is “fixed” and completely contrary to our site bylaws, but I liked it anyway.  I saw several setups very similar to this, but didn’t have my camera handy for them.  This one gets bonus points for being the only bike I saw with KICKSTAND!  To illustrate just how out-of-it I was after the race (when this picture was taken), I said something to the owner about, “That’s a funny way to spell ‘ninety’…”, thinking that ninety should have been spelled ninty. I was tired.

Other OTS spotted but not photographed: a mid 70s Fuji with a “no derailer setup” (a straight chain on stock rings and freewheel), a couple mid 80s Schwinn touring bikes, and several SS-converted, debadged OTS.

Now get out there and start racin’ your friction shiftin’, 27inchin’, center-pull brakin’ selves!

WARNING! The following post contains questionable off topic material.  This post includes and is not limited to the following: non-old, non-crappy, non-10-speed.  Please proceed with caution.

Saturday morning, me and my Old Ten-Speed family put on our Sunday best, loaded up the Family Truckster and headed south on I-65 to Indianapolis for the 5th annual NAHBS (North American Handmade Bicycle Show).  As you all know by now I like my bikes old, crappy, and 10-speeded, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t see how the other half lives.

The venue, Indianapolis Convention Center, is a large convention center in the heart of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana (as the name cleverly implies).  However large the facility was, the NAHBS was relegated to a smallish hall and when we arrived at around 1 o’clock Saturday it was nearly shoulder to shoulder down every aisle.  As for the crowd, this was perhaps the most entertaining aspect of the entire event.  I’ll leave the task of skewering to BSNYC, but from my perspective the crowd consisted of 40/30/20/10 mix of “Quasi-Urban Squatter Types”, “Serotta Boomers”, “Premium Outdoor Sportswear’s Consumer Base”, and “Freds“.  The distribution of the aforementioned groups depends on which you’re a member.

Themes and Trends:

Brevet/Touring/quasi-Commuter bikes

Not having visited the NAHBS in the past, I really have nothing with which to compare. It did seem to me that the overriding theme of this year’s show was Brevet and Cyclocross. When you think of it, these are two cycling disciplines that still embrace steel as viable, if not preferred, material for construction.

Cyclocross bikes

I’m currently in the market for a cyclocross frame, so I took a special interest in them at the show. Here are a few of my favorites in no particular order.

Vintage Italian

Finally, some OTSG caliber material. There were a number of exhibitors with OTSish bikes on display but most were Italian collector pieces. I wonder if next year they’ll find their way to the UJBBTS*. The Zullo was by far my favorite of the vintage and vintagesque. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything old AND crappy!

Lots of Fenders

Fenders of all shapes, sizes, and materials were represented at the show. When I was a kid, I went to great lengths to remove the fenders from my Sears 3-speed. Silly kid, fenders are cool!

Lots of Wood Fenders

Fenders are cool, but wood fenders are really where it’s at. Or at least that’s what they would have you believe. Don’t be coming round here sporting your Freddy Fenders,or you’ll be shown the door. Unless you are Freddy Fender, in that case you’re cool.

Retro Wire Bottle Cages

Nitto bottle cages were the cage of choice for most builders. I don’t blame them, these are great looking cages. But seriously, $60for a bottle cage! I’ll just keep making my mine out of coat hangers.

Paul Cantilevers

I have to admit, I don’t get out much, so Paul’s components are completely new to me. I’m only sorry I didn’t take more pictures of his work.

Other Notables

Vincent Dominguez Cycles from St. Paul, Minnesota, super nice fellow with great looking bikes. For some reason I failed to get a whole bike shot of his personal randonneur bike, but you can see his clever solution for routing his cyclometer wire.

Cherubim bikes: creative, elegant, disturbingly phallic—a crowd favorite.

Ahearne Cycles from Portland had a clever flask cage, just in case your ride partners are growing dull.

Nobilette Cycles had some gorgeous paint and lug work. I wonder if he would build one with 120mm rear spacing for me?

Shamrock Cycles rock/run/rub non-aero brake levers! Let me be trend spotter extraordinaire, I say NABLs are the next big thing!

Ellis Cycles from frame building mecca, Waterford, Wisconsin, won Best Lugged Bike. I love this frame.

Single speeds and fixed gears were fairly prominent at the show, but I’ll leave that coverage to someone else. But if you insist, I’ll tide you over with this rig from Alchemy Cycles.

Talk about a sweet alternative to the tassel laden girls bikes out there! Get her racing career started early with this offering from Independent Fabrication!

Just a random picture of some lugs.