Marc P’s Old, Crappy, Not-so 10-Speed Peugeot Randonneur
I have to admit, I wasn’t for sure if I should post this next bike. I was afraid it was a little too far off topic, and I didn’t want to give people the impression that I’ll post just anything! But, after much deliberation, I decided that despite its lack of oh…several “speeds”, I would go ahead and post it. This is a pretty old, pretty crappy Peugeot sent in by Marc P, and it’s pretty dang cool. Marc’s looking for some more info it, any historians have something to enlighten us all?
Hi,
Not exactly a ten speed, ..more like a one speed. I think this is older and crappier than my Gran Sport
if that is even possible. I found it in Zurich (Switz) along with a WW2 swiss army bike in an abandoned/disused factory.
It’s a late 1930′s to early 1940′s Peugeot ‘randonneur’ or ‘tourer’ type bike. Not sure of the model name.
It’s probably written on there somewhere under a thick layer grime.The bike had it’s original rear tire but there was literally no rubber left on it and it was all just strings/threading
but it still held air so I have kept the inner tube, but changed the tire so as to be able to ride it. They are
Hutchinson ‘Globetrotter Balloon’ tires, and are 26 by 1½.The bike was obviously modified a long time ago.
The generator should be on the back – there’s an attachment for it on the frame. The one on the front is super
old though, by the looks of it. It seems there was a second, much later modification when the Huret shifter
and pulley on the top tube and the seatpost were changed. Probably in the 1970′s .
There must have been another shifter previously. Which brings me to the next mystery. The derailleur seems
more like just a tensioner, but there would be no point to this, and that wouldn’t explain the top tube
having a place to attach a shifter welded to it. Furthermore, there is nowhere on the derailleur to attach
a cable. One person suggested there is something missing from the derailleur, but if that were the case
none of this can explain why there is only one gear on the wheel. The wheels look as old as the bike
but I suppose they could have also been switched a long time ago when the dynamo was moved/changed.
After quite a bit of scrubbing I found ‘Simplex’ written on the derailleur. Chainring looks to be Simplex too based
on what I have seenin old catalogues. Anybody have any ideas? It remains an unsolved mystery for now.Fenders, chainguard, brake levers and lights are duralium/aluminium.
The fenderlight says ‘Radios Brevete, S.G.D.G, Nº18′ on it. Generator says ‘R.O.B’, and the round part that
makes contact with the tire is all rubbery and squidgy. The brakes say ‘Bebolux Bte S.G.D.G’ and they work
well ..not seized or anything. I haven’t seen ones like these before.
One pedal says ‘TANK’ on each side and must be orig, and the other is a later 10 speed pedal.There is a metal badge attached to the headtube partially covering the peugeot badge.
These badges are commonly found on older bikes, certainly in Europe, and they have something to do with
religion and saints usually, sort of like lucky charms. However this one seems to be more like somebody’s
name, and perhaps a town where they lived. It reads ‘A.Binder’ and then underneath ‘MOOSCH’.
Another oddity worthy of mention on this bike is the little hole with a cap, behind the headtube, on the downtube.
I thought it was an access point to oil the steer tube until I wiped it clean. The cap says: ‘Wieman antivol’.
‘Antivol’ being french for ‘anti theft’, so I assume there was once a mechanism of some sort that goes in there and
locks the steering. Steering locks seem to be common with older bikes but, again, I never saw one like this before.This bike is so dirty you can’t really touch it without getting dirty yourself. The crank is a bit loose. Chain skips
a bit when pedaling harder, and there are alot of rattling sounds I have yet to deal with. The hubs are a tiny bit
loose too. But it basically works and it is suprisingly light for such an old bike.
The handlebars are attached to the stem, and cannot be adjusted.
I like the way it looks as it is, ….shame about having to change the rear tire because they really give
the look of the bike a certain je ne sais quoi.. I’ll have to find another tire. Not easy furthermore, I would need to find a used one if I
want it to match the front. Otherwise it’ll have to be a set of replica’s. The saddle leather needs to be replaced.
Too many rips. Whatever brand the top leather part is, is attached to the chassis of a Swiss army bike
saddle with springs from yet another newer saddle. The original colour of this bike was a sort of Beige, with
dark maroon and very light beige pinstripes. But, lets face it, it looks like it hasn’t been cleaned since
the second world war, which I suppose is amplified by the fact that it was the color of dirt when it was new anyway.Thanks for reading if you got this far.
I thought I would include all the text/writing I found on the bike, and a good description
of it in the hopes that somebody might have some information about it. I’ve asked a few people who are well
versed in these sorts of bikes and nobody has come up with an explanation for the drivetrain mechanism,
nor does anybody know what the steer tube locking part would have looked like.Marc.P
Thanks Marc
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Tags: BOS, CPB, FRF, Headlight, Mens, Mustache Bars, Peugeot, Rear Rack, TTMS
Excellent patina. This bike will definitely shine with the just the right amount of TLC!
Yes, it really put’s the ‘p’ in ‘patina’d peugeot’.
Not sure how well it comes off, or if an entire overhaul would be needed to bring this one back to (shiny) life.
Thanks for posting my one speed btw! Poor thing has no category really so I thought this site to be the closest match for it. Now that it’s ‘out there’ I am hoping as time goes by that maybe someone will see it and be able to enighten us as to what the deal is with this bike and what it needs to be brought back to it’s orig setup.
Very Cool bike,This Link might help in your search for more info
http://www.peugeotshow.com/
I guess only Marks can post here.
I can’t add any useful info about your Peugeot, but thought you might find this item on Craigslist of interest (no, I am not the seller):
Two 1932 SWISS ARMY BIKES, All Original – $4495 (South Florida)
http://miami.craigslist.org/brw/bik/1546056747.html
They are of similar vintage, and they are Swiss!
Anyway, thanks for sharing, even though it’s not an OTS. (And to think I’ve been hesitating to post my OTS because it’s got a six-sprocket freewheel.) Beautiful bike, great story.
Fan%#*#%*#tastic! What a treasure!
DO NOT RESTORE THIS BIKE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!
Gordus
The effects of time, use, and weather on this bike lends it a gorgeous uniqueness. It is a time capsule, it speaks of decades of human suffering, persistence, endurance. I would love to have a bike like this, a bike worth more than all the carbon frames ever built put together.
Please notify me first if you wish to part with it.
Don S, thanks for the link, I have seen a similar peugeot site before once. They seem to have a gap in the old ads, that unfortunately means I cant find my exact bike. I think mine is an early 40′s bike, and the ads on this site start in the early 50′s. The earlier ones are too early.
Mark D. I have 3 swiss army bikes. Here in SWitz they grow on trees just about. They are fantastic bikes, very strong. The design was in production from 1905 until around 1995! Would love to chat about those but we should stick to 10 speeds I think here.
Gordus, I totally agree with you here. This bike cannot easily be cleaned and would need a repaint. Better to preserve it as a sort of living history as you say. I don’t plan to change it in any way. The only thing I would do is find a well used matching rear tire for it. The orig is bare. It is all just string/rope that was under the rubber. I dont know why the front one remained so well intact as compared with the rear.
Also, I found out about the locking mechanism! I even found some on ebay. They are here: http://cgi.ebay.com/Nos-VINTAGE-BIKE-BICYCLE-Neiman_W0QQitemZ200419907089QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2ea9f51611
Quite simple really.
So the remaining mystery is the chain tensioner/possible derailleur. Quite a mystery it seems. Maybe somebody will shed some light on it eventually.
I agree with Gordus, It is a work of art just the way it is.
Are there any signs that a Peugeot cyclemotor had been installed in the past ?
that might explain the chain Idler..
Good point Don. Hadn’t thought of that. I am not sure what signs to look for …I am guessing there would be marks on the frame left by brackets/clamps or braces that would have held such a motor in place. I will have a close look at the bike with that in mind and see if I notice anything in particular.
…Also, I have more detailed pictures of the bike including a couple that show the rear tire before I removed it here: http://balloontirebicycle.com/Peugeot%20Randonneur.html
(Mark D; ..there’s a link at the bottom of the page to one of those Swiss Army Bikes I mentioned)
THANK YOU for posting the large views on your website. The closeups reveal even more soul than the small ones on this site. The device on the rear hub looks to be nothing more than a tensioner, as derailleurs were not invented until after the war. The shift lever on the top tube is a curiosity, perhaps it did not shift gears but performed a different function?
The hinged metal rack boxes as well as the rack itself is priceless, just one of a kind.I could spend hours delving into the images of rust and detritus deposited on this bike. I envy you this treasure.
If you’re curious about the derailler, you might want to have a look at Frank Berto’s book, “The Dancing Chain.” I understand it’s very comprehensive, but sadly I don’t own a copy. However, I’ve seen pre-WWII derailleurs online that only had 2 or 3 cogs on the rear cluster. It may be that the old cluster wore out and the previous owner replaced it with a single freewheel out of necessity. I imagine that 2 and 3 cog clusters were hard to come by after 5 cog clusters were introduced after WWII.
It does for all intensive purposes look simply to be a tensioner with a spring, and no attachment for a cable so as to be able to adjust the tension. BMX guys say they like to tighten the chain to go faster. More traction. So even if one goes with it being just a tensioner, what’s the purpose of this one… Jesse, what you say about the wheels possibly having been changed also seems a likely possibility here. But still, even if there was a 3 speed on there, (there are cable guides that go along the rear downtube, driveside. You can see one in the middle of this pic: http://balloontirebicycle.com/Peugeot%20Randonneur/pr15.jpg Another thing worth mentioning at this point it the sort of hook just above the ‘tensioner’ on the same downtube. Can be seen in this pic: http://balloontirebicycle.com/Peugeot%20Randonneur/pr26.jpg and this one: http://balloontirebicycle.com/Peugeot%20Randonneur/pr19.jpg I don’t know what this is either. Possibly related? Thanks for the name of that book. I’ll try to find a copy. Judging by all the sites, catalogs and info, this bike surely has to be made around 1948-1. All the other components match this era, only mine seems a little older than those shown in the available catalogues. I have not managed to find any catalogues from between 1936 and 1950. But yes, it’s probably one of the earliest postwar peugeots. The stop producing bikes from 1940-1948. It definately represents the ‘deluxe tourer’ with all the accessories. Amazingly still on there for the most part virtually untouched! It is for sure a treasure.