The UO-8 was my first quality bike. Certainly not a Masi or Hetchins. but it had seemless (I think) tubing, QR alloy hubs front and rear, 10-speed gearing, alloy brakes and pedals, HP tires. Not rare, but definitely classic. These bikes may seem cheap now, but they were sophisticated and exotic at the time to most Americans whose previous idea of an exotic imported bike was the 3-speed "English Racer".
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Houston, TX
> Thomas E Ward wrote:
>
> <snip>
> Okay, here's a tangent from the 'classic', 'vintage', 'rare' et. al.
> discussion: I've just bought the early '70s, clean, 58.5 cm Peugeot UO-8
> that some of you may have noticed on eBay this past week--to accompany a
> similarly sized PX-10 that I am building up from a frameset. Guess I like
> the Peugeots and their "arts decoratifs" graphics
> <snip>
> I thought you might have fun with this question: is a clean,
> early-ish UO-8 . . .is it Classic . . . Vintage . . . (even, at this
> point (haven't most been abused and/or begun to rust))--somewhat Rare? As
> in "Seen Less and Less Frequently", I suppose--even if it was, as Sheldon
> Brown puts it on his website--"the choice of the Hoi Polloi" and sold by
> the boatload?
> --------------
> Tom, I'd suggest that the UO-8, like my Sears Ted Williams Sport Racing
discussed after CR this year, is Funk. Pure trigger for launching memories,
for those of us of a certain age. In my case, the Sears was my first
10-speed, and I learned by exploring and dissecting every system and
bearing. (Of course, my memories of the UO-8 include the derelicts with the
post autographing the "saddle" from underneath, since the post had no
shoulder).
>
> harvey sachs
> mcLean va