Yesterday, I bought the first Peugeot PX-10 I've ever owned, from a friend. I thought I was going to buy one new about 1969, when I lived in Providence, R.I. It was time for me to get a bike as good as Beloved Spouse's ~1961 Atala Columbus tube special with the huge windows in the cast lugs.
I'd been amazed that folks could actually sell bikes w/o any Campy stuff for as much as they asked for the PX-10. $169, as I recall, but $$ were hugely bigger then. Maybe 5x bigger than today. But, last minute, at the precursor to the internet (notes on college bulletin boards), I found a Raleigh International, one year old, for less. Since then, I've had lots of bikes, some great bikes, but never a PX-10.
Yesterday, I finally found one funky enough (read: cheap enough and the right size) to get under the bar for me. Just what I wanted: white, black graphics, Nervex Pro lugs, and really beat up paint. With nice mid-life upgrades, too: Campy bar-ends, Cyclone derailleurs, TTT saddle. Tonight I stripped it for a full overhaul. Remembered again the neat V-groove Stronglight (competition?) headset, and the fixed up came out with out arguing with me. This one will be fun, and just might be a long-term keeper. Even though this one, after thorough cleaning, may show more patina than even my Cinelli. Is it Maytag or Whirlpool that makes the matching white touch-up for their washing machines?
Maybe we need a new category, most Patina'ed, at Cirque?
Maybe someone will bracket the age for one of these white critters with the Nervex Pro lugs but new enough to have one of the riveted-on number plates on the BB. Or, I'll look it up one of these days.
harvey "funkmeister" sachs
mcLean va.