On many days, my Peugeot AO-8 is my ride of choice. (Same bike as the UO-8, but no chrome). I found that if you run a decent chain and have the patience to develop the feel for it, you can shift the Prestige derailleur pretty well. My AO-8 is my absolute favorite on rough pavement. Rides like a Cadillac (and almost as heavy too). I've hot rodded it (unworthy as it might be). Matrix alloy rims, alloy seatpost, alloy track bars (thank you Greg Yares), Belleri stem to replace AVA death stem (thank you Chris Beyer), and Brooks B-17 (thank you Hilary Stone). Put the SLJ 5500 derailleur that used to be on the race bike on the AO-8 when I replaced with a SLJ 6600 (one sweet mechanism!). So yeah, it's a silk purse out of a sow's ear, but man it's fun. This bike has gotten much glory on the roads of Tucson in hanging with and leaving many techno marvels in it's wake. Oh, gotta mention the cool Minoura handlebar mount double water bottle thingy from Sheldon Brown at Harris Cyclery. Makes ya look just like Anquetil! Yeah, still has the original Mafac racer brakes, and the way they grab those anodized Matrix rims, it stops right now and warns everybody for miles! Also has a neat Nervar alloy crankset. Even with all the stock stuff on it this bike was a very enjoyable ride. Now I just laugh as it cruises over the broken pavement of Old Spanish Trail. OK, I'll shut up now, but this topic has been a refreshing break from all the high end stuff discussed, giving one of the po' folk on the list a chance to grin. One more thing. Had the "race bike" (1980 Peugeot PXN10E also hot rodded some) frame and fork aligned by David Bohm here in Tucson. Holy Moly, what a difference a mild tweak or two makes! He builds beautiful stuff, and when I have the gold and the spouse is feelling compliant, I'm gonna get a Bohemian. Thank you Dave! OK, now I'll really shut up.
All The Best,
Don Walter
Tucson,AZ