One of many reasons I agree with the date as approx right is the RR dropout
Jon M. Crate Marietta, Georgia
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of Norris Lockley Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 9:02 PM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR] Mystery Peugeot frame on Ebay
I'm on the side of the seller on this one..although it is definitely not Reynolds 531, but I think the date is very appropriate.
If you recall the 70s Peugeot bikes with their damier checker-board transfers..think of Thevent's Peugeots..then towards the end of the decade they phased the black and white checks our..changed the Peugeot style of lettering..and kept trying to drop the old Peugeot image.
A few years later some of the top models were being produced in a black enamel finish with what I can only describe as arty / jazzy decals. A similar, but not identical head transfer to the one on this frame appeared on some top-flight frames
This Ebay frame belongs to the bikes developed during that drive towards a more trendy image. Peugeot always had in its range a bottom-end racy sports bike. All the large manufacturers such as Motobecane, Gitane, Lejeune, France-Loire manufactured such an entry level frame in order to enable their concessionaires to compete with the own-brand bikes being sold by the supermarkets. Most of these bikes had furnace-brazed frames, built form Peugeot's own high carbon steel
This particular frame is just about one model up from that entry level, with its somewhat inadequate and crudely brazed lugs, pressed steel rather than forged fork ends and rear drop-outs. The fork crown too is a crude but adequate pressed affair.
However dressed up with a low-end model Stronglight or Nervar chainset, probably Weinmann or CLB brakes, Rigida alloy rims on Atom S/F Q/R hubs and, I think, Huret gears...this bike would be a head-turner for your average sixteen year old. It might even, suitably rejigged and accessorised make a half-decent winter iron.
I recall that MBK's answer to this bike was a greeny/yellow frame with seat-stays shot into the seat tube quite a way down..with very jazzy flourescent decals. The Peugeot looks particularly modest by comparison
Norris Lockley
Settle UK