Category: Cycling

So far I haven’t run into any major issues in restoring my old Peugeot bicycle, but I am worried about one thing. The removal of the cranks and pedals can be a bit tricky from what I have read and the videos I have seen online. Lots of these old bikes have a lot of corrosion and frozen parts, and the cotter pins that secure the cranks are notorious for getting stuck. However, the other part that commonly gets stuck (the quill stem) was able to be removed relatively easily so I am hoping the cotter pins will not be too much of a problem. That said, I’ve already started applying some “Liquid Wrench” penetrant to loosen the pins in anticipation of a battle. 😁

As far as tools go, the main weapons are things we already own, such as steel wool, baking soda, degreaser, mineral spirits, metric wrenches, and the aforementioned Liquid Wrench. Things to buy include wire brushes, marine grease, metal polish, and some purple nail polish to cover up any nicks to the paint. And I might need a couple of specialized tools, including a larger wrench than the one I have in today’s photo. 😒

Replacement parts are going to be the more expensive part. I’ll need new bearings for headset, bottom bracket, and wheels, new tires, new brake pads, and new brake/shifter cables. The last part of the restoration will be a nice, new saddle. But that is far down the road!

As I mentioned before, I am taking my time, and enjoying the process of disassembling the bike to clean the small parts. It’s fun to really see how everything works – machines with no electronics are really cool!

Today we did a bunch of clean-up at our house, including selling some items on Facebook Marketplace, mowing the yard, gardening on the deck, and gathering things for a Goodwill drop-off. We also tried out a new ultrasonic cleaner for Mariko’s jewelry. I threw in my high school class ring, and it came out nice and shiny! Also, my glasses were super-clean. It was a big gross to see how much gunk came out from that. I clean the lenses every couple of days but I guess the hinges and other parts of the glasses were filled with dirt. Yuck!

In the afternoon I spent a little time working on my bicycle restoration project. It’s a lot of fun! I took some steel wool to the seat post and it cleaned up nicely. I also worked a bit on one of the wheels, and cleaned a few other parts. I’m going to need some proper polishing compound for the other metal parts, and I am looking forward to seeing them shine. 😀

I brought my old Peugeot bicycle back to Texas from their home in California. This bike, which was actually my mom’s, is I believe a mid-70sPeugeot AO 8 model, and is the one I rode from San Francisco to Torrance way back in 1982. I joined a YMCA trip with a couple of my friends, and we had a blast! Definitely some good times. 😁

The bicycle has been hanging in my parents’ garage pretty much since the mid-80s and it needs a lot of love to get it back to the condition I’d like to see it in, but I have time and am in no rush to finish the restoration project. I just want to take my time and enjoy it.

To get it back into riding condition will be fairly easy: replace tires/tubes/rim tape, brake and shifting cables, and brake pads. To make it look nice will take a bit more effort, with the removal of rust and corrosion requiring a lot of elbow grease. I’ll also re-tape the handlebars and perhaps buy a new seat. A new chain would probably be a good idea too!

Unfortunately, the classic Peugeot decals are flaking off and I don’t know if there are any replacements for them. I also will need to touch up some nicks in the paint (gotta find some purple metallic nail polish), but it will be fun to work on little by little!