1978 Peugeot PY-10 CP

BACKGROUND / HISTORY:

My first attempt at acquiring a vintage 1970’s Peugeot PY-10 CP for purposes of actual riding duty managed to go horribly awry when it was seriously damaged in shipment from Germany thereby necessitating its extensive and not entirely inexpensive refurbish and repaint in order to address a bent fork crown, mangled fork blades, tweaked rear triangle, and dented seat tube. This circumstance also begot a wholesale reassessment with regard to my original intentions for said bicycle whereby I decided to instead pursue its resurrection as an as-accurate-as-possible replica 1977 Peugeot-Esso-Michelin team bike in homage to messieurs Thevenet, and Esclassan, et al. Yet no matter how personally rewarding on so many levels that unanticipated project ultimately may have proven to be, it still left me wanting for that “its not too nice a bike to ride on a regular basis” PY-10 CP I had sought in the first place.

And so it came to pass that almost two years into my replica team bike project, a friend of mine who resides in Lyon, France who had been actively searching for a Peugeot PY-10 CP for himself managed to cultivate a lead that offered the initial promise of just such a prize. Unfortunately for him, the bicycle in question proved a bit too large for his physique, but he was thoughtful enough to pass along to me the seller’s contact information. An exchange of communications accompanied with a few photographs followed, and all of this eventually culminated in my decision to purchase yet a second Peugeot PY-10 CP. Upon safe receipt of said bicycle, I was able to confirm it as being a very early 1978 vintage build (...the serial number stamped into the underside of its bottom bracket shell being 8.01.1894, or in other words, the 1894th Peugeot frameset built in the month of January in 1978) having a legacy decal scheme more typical of 1977 and earlier editions.

INITIAL INSPECTION / REFURBISHING PLANS:

While by no means an unfettered example, the vast majority of components associated with this particular bicycle appeared to be original, or at the very least “plausibly proper” with respect to what would have been original for such a bike - and those which were obviously not could easily be procured from either those leftovers made redundant by the aforementioned complete NOS rebuild of my 1977 PY-10 CP or else sourced from my general inventory of spare parts (...goodie, goodie - little to no rare and spendy French bits to hunt down on the likes of eBay). Because the wheelset previously associated with this bicycle was not only thoroughly inappropriate but also decidedly mismatched, I opted to have the seller retain same as they were not worth the cost of international shipping from my perspective. Besides, the consequently smaller mass could be shipped for less monies and I reasoned that the resulting savings accrued could be applied toward the cost of building a more suitable wheelset.

The notion of having twin 1970’s PY-10 CPs also offered the intriguing prospect of my being able to outfit the pair in such a manner as to pointedly contrast the differences between that which could ostensibly be considered a prototypical commercialized version made available to the general public albeit on a custom order only basis as opposed to one having specifications consistent with a genuine "team" bike as issued to Peugeot-Esso-Michelin professional riders of the era.

INVENTORY ASSESSMENT / BEGIN THE BEGUINE:

The eight photographs posted within this particular album were taken by the previous owner of this bicycle and forwarded on to me to use for purposes of evaluation with respect to making a purchasing decision. What follows is an accounting of the various individual components that I actually received in conjunction with a brief commentary as to my intentions regarding same:

Headset: Stronglight D6 alloy [...original and proper - however, this perfectly serviceable headset will end up being replaced with an identical looking but more robust Stronglight D8 alloy version having larger bearings and a generally longer service life]

Stem: ATAX Dural [...wrong - it will be replaced with a suitably proper Philippe ATAX Competition / Peugeot label stem that I had to source from a well known French based vendor of vintage cycling parts on eBay]

Handlebars: Philippe ATAX Professional [...original and proper - but unfortunately this set has been splayed outward in a misguided attempt to "widen" them such that they will consequently end up being replaced with those Philippe ATAX Professional bars originally fitted to my 1977 PY-10 CP]

Brake Levers: MAFAC Racing 218 [...wrong, but neither fitted nor seen in these photographs - they are to be replaced with an appropriate set of pre 1980 MAFAC Professionnel Course 429 brake levers procured from my spare parts inventory]

Brake Calipers: MAFAC Competition Cn T-A [...original and proper, but neither fitted nor seen in these photographs - these same brake calipers will be refurbished and cosmetically brought back to a better state of original specification courtesy of a few small parts from my box of spares and then re-fitted with a modern set of Kool-Stop brake pads]

Wheelset: missing [...acquired without a wheelset - the otherwise "missing" combination of parts will be replaced with a proper set of Maillard 700 Professional (Team Issue) hubs procured from a friend and fellow vintage bike collector, spare non-contemporary MAVIC MA2 rims purposefully mis-labeled as Super Champion Competition tubulars, modern DT Swiss Revolution spokes purchased brand new, and proper Simplex SX 3607 quick release mechanisms also from my cache of spare parts]

Freewheel: missing [...acquired without a freewheel - this otherwise "missing" component will be replaced with a legitimately proper Maillard 700 Course six speed unit having steel cogs]

Chain: Wipperman [...wrong - this chain will be replaced with an only slightly too modern for this bike by but roughly eight months Sedisport Grand Tourisme GT-7 SA fitted with a SRAM PowerLink connector]

Shift Levers: missing [...acquired without any shift control levers - the otherwise "missing" shifters will be replaced with a proper set of Simplex SLJ 5007 braze-on early version retro-friction units assembled from miscellaneous spare parts with the addition of custom made "D" ring style mounting bolts]

Front Derailleur: Simplex SLJ A 500 [...original and proper, but neither fitted nor seen in these photographs - this very same front derailleur will be thoroughly cleaned and serviced prior to being re-mounted for use on this bike]

Rear Derailleur: Simplex SLJ 5000 CP/SP [...original and proper, but neither fitted nor seen in these photographs - this well used second generation example will be replaced with a similar and even more appropriate post 1977 third and final generation SLJ 5000 CP/SP that had previously been languishing in by inventory of spare parts awaiting a suitable project] 

Bottom Bracket: Stronglight 650 Titane [...original and proper - this very same component will be refurbished to include replacement of its annular sealed bearings prior to being re-fitted onto the bike]

Crankset: Stronglight 105 bis [...original and proper - however, I will remove the Clear anodized protective coating, carefully polish out those few imperfections in evidence, and then send these same crank arms out to be re-anodized prior to mounting them back onto this bike, and incidentally I will also affix to those refurbished arms a pair of new or only lightly used chain rings]

Pedals: Maillard 700 RA Professional [...original and proper - however, these are to be replaced with a similarly proper set of Maillard 700 RN Professional pedals fitted with original Christophe "Z" Special alloy toe clips and straps as procured from my inventory of spare parts]

Saddle: Ideale 2003 [...wrong - this saddle will be replaced with an appropriate and proper Ideale 2002 Titane that was originally fitted to my 1977 PY-10 CP]

Seat Post: Simplex SLJ 4164 extra-légère alloy [...original and proper - however this too short for my tastes and badly scarred example having broken mounting clamps is destined to be replaced with either a longer 240 mm Simplex SLJ 4164 A extra-légère alloy seat post as originally fitted to my 1977 PY-10 CP ... or even better yet ... a legitimately optional and genuine Laprade model 606 alloy seat post]

Accessories: Specialites T.A. 417 aluminum bottle cage [...original and proper - this very same bottle cage will be carefully cleaned up and mated with a suitable Peugeot logo TA water bottle before being mounted back onto this bike]