As the seller stated, this sounds very much like a PR-10 to me. Back when the earth was young, my shop sold 'em by the truckload to buyers (mostly college students on a budget) who wouldn't pop an extra $50 for the price of a PX-10.
Normally I recall they had: Mafac Racer brakes w/ white plastic levers Ideale leather saddle Lyotard alloy-caged pedals Simplex Prestige f & r shifters & steel levers Stronglight 49 cranks; usually 40/52 Normandy HF hubs AVA sew up rims & some cheesy tires Thick black plastic bar tape Some cheesy AVA bar & stem combo Sedis chain and Atom 14-28 5 sp. freewheel
Overall, the level of quality of the parts was so-so, befitting its price level. (The PX-10 had better quality parts in most instances, but the PR-10's stuff was still a higher level than the UO-8s had.) The frame itself was rough but serviceable-- the lugwork and alignment was clearly rushed. Had 531 main tubes so it rode okay compared to lower-priced models. Not a bad bike overall, but certainly not a thoroughbred either. It was very much for folks who could not afford a top of the line bike. If you rode a lot, the parts quickly wore out and were soon upgraded. I reconfigured quite a few of them by taping/grinding the right rear Simplex dropout to mount a Campagnolo or Shimano derailleur after the owners grew frustrated with the Simplex shifters.
The vast majority of the ones we sold were white with the front lugs painted black, but I also recall red, blue and black also being offered a few years in the '70s. I think the importer brought in the white ones the most because they looked most like the more prestigious PX-10.
I had a blue PR-10 as a "beater" for winter training around 1974-77 and did quite a few miles on it. I also put on a rack and rode from California to Baltimore during the summer of 1976 with two other local riders. We did the 3100 miles in 31 days. My PR-10, a 60cm, had 175mm Dura Ace cranks and Campy pedals since they normally all came with 170mm Stronglights no matter how tall the frame was and the crappy Lytard pedals sucked. I took it because my other bikes had Campy cranks with 42t inner chainrings but the Shimanos had a 38t. I wanted a lower gear for hauling the sleeping bag/extra clothes, plus the longer wheelbase was good for long daily mileages. I also put Super Champion M-58 rims and Schwinn Le Tour clincher tires on it too since a long tour on sew-ups wasn't such a great plan as my companions discovered. (I'd also ridden my all-Campy P-13 Paramount 4200 miles to Boston on sew-ups in 1972-- no source of re-supply out in the hinterlands back then, and repairing them at night by the campfire wasn't too much fun either.) On the '76 trip on the PR-10 I do recall having some blisters on my butt from the Ideale saddle rivets (I then realized why some Brooks models came with the big hammered rivets) and that the knobby oversized adjusters on the white plastic Mafac brake levers caused blisters in the web of the hand between the thumb and forefinger despite wearing gloves. But it all turned out well overall; had no other problems on a memorable ride.
Bill Bryant Santa Cruz, CA
on 9/6/02 6:56 PM, David Bilenkey at dbilenkey@sympatico.ca wrote:
> Wondering if the Peugeotphiles on the list have any info about models of
> Peugeots other than the venerable PX-10. I picked up a neat little deal
> yesterday ($40 CDN) that will likely become a fixed gear ride for me, but
> I'm curious to divine a bit more about what it is and what componentry it
> would have had on it.
>
> Details: White frame and fork, black lugs, not Nervex Pro, Main tubes 531
> DB. Fork half chrome with a chrome top of the crown. No braze-ons except the
> rear derailleur cable stop. Plate on the bottom of the BB shell has the
> serial # 2384977. Long simplex DOs without adjuster screws. Lots of small
> scratches and a bit dirty but good.
>
> Componentry: Lots of parts have been 'upgraded' so what's original and what
> isn't is my guess.
> Original: 49D cranks and rings (53/48!), Stronglight HS and BB. Simplex
> Prestige delrin rear derailleur (seems to have a 72 stamped in the back of
> the pulley cage). Lyotard pedals. AVA stem (the death stem I assume) and
> unmarked alloy bars (are these AVAs as well?)
> New: SR Laprade seatpost, Vetta saddle, Weinmann sidepulls, Shimano Titilus
> FD, and 600 shifters.
>
> The seller called it a PR-10E(?) and I'm guessing it's from about '72. Is
> this correct?
>
> Does anyone have any info they can share? Pics or component lists?
>
> Any insight appreciated.
>
> David Bilenkey
> Ottawa, Ontario, Canada