Peugeot Carbolite 12 speeds - circa 1983

grantus

Hi,

I have one of these with a single chainring on it at the minute.

I like it so much I intend to put a double chainring on and use it as my main bike.

Was wondering if anyone could tell me the most appropriate front mech for this bike.

(I am putting on a 50/34 compact)

Thanks

peejay78

hmmm. no idea, sorry. although i do know that 'carbolite' is a euphemism for 'very heavy french proprietary tubing'. and if you lose the seatpost you're jiggered. and if particularly unlucky it might even have a french BB and stem.

Dales1

Crikey, 12 speeds on a single chainring!

Seriously though, mine has its original double front mech. It's entitled Simplex, and is a band-on type. The chainrings are 52/42.

Dales

NorwegianBlue

Carbolite was a tubeset at the low end of the Peugeot range. So yes it was heavy, basic plain gauge stuff. However that doesn't mean it wouldn't be good for a day to day ride. Indeed you could argue that a hefty plain gauge tubeset makes the ideal working hack; old english sportsters are probably the unlimate working hacks and I don't recall many of them coming in 531.

I have an, admittedly later, Peugeot Electra in 501 tubing, which would probably have been a step or two up the ladder.

Given you can find something in the right clamp size I would say something from Sachs/Huret would suit a Peugeot of that type from that period. However if you want to do it on the cheap a basic Shimano mech in the right clamp size would probably be the way to go.

grantus

Yes - 12 speeds on one chainring :oops: (it's next year's Campag prototype - I'm testing it for them 8) 8) )

I actually think it's surprisingly light and it's extremely comfortable to ride - smooth as silk.

I paid £25 for the frame and it had a seatpost in it and a modern bottom bracket recently fitted. It also had the original quill stem and bars and weinmann calipers and lever so I reckon I did ok!

I just put new blocks and brake cables on, new bar tape, a saddle, SPDs, a 46 tooth alloy chainring with forged cranks, a SRAM 8 speed cassette and Tiagra rear mech, new double rim alloy wheels with Vittoria Zaffiro tyres - grand total of £132 it cost me!

I can't believe how lovely this frame is - the quality of the joints is very nice and the paint finish isn't too bad considering it's 25 years old.

It's far smoother than my 2 year old Schwinn aluminium road bike which has a carbon fork and only slightly heavier. Obviously putting the double chainset on and fron mech will add a bit more but the quality of the ride has convinced me that my next mtb will be a steel frame!

Thanks for the replies guys.

woody72

i've also got an original setup but it's all sachs - huret with weinmann brakes & rigida wheels
i must say i have to agree about the smoothness of the drivetrain
it amazed me how good it was . i have a 18 month old ribble winter frame
with campag mirage kit and shimano 500 wheels and it's not a scratch on this old thing!
unfortunately the frame is around 2" too short so i have to use it as my third spare so as to avoid chronic backache shame really

woody72

btw it has a sachs 42/52 chainset

grantus

I toyed with the idea of keeping it as original as possible and sticking on a 52/42 chainset however I opted for 50/34 so I can use it as a do-it-all bike.

NorwegianBlue

Peugeot's frames were always nicely built whatever the tubeset. And their basic tubesets tended to be better than the stuff that, for example, Raleigh were using at the time. The most basic Raleighs were cheaper than the most basic Peugeots, so you would expect the Peugeot to be nicer.

SJLcp

I remember buying one of these in 1983 when I started Uni - it was a pearlescant graphite colour and my pride and joy - then one day I ledt it locked to itself outside the maths building and it was gone :-( I was very sad.

But do agree that the frame was actually quite nice - the simplex stuff wasn't that good but it rode better than you might expect. I replaced it with an old Claude Butler Coureur with 531 main tubes which I also loved - until my stupied flat mate left it unlocked outside a record shop - and it was gone...

Ho Hum

NorwegianBlue

Now you've got me thinking, the bloke a couple of doors up has a white Peugeot road bike sitting in the shed that he isn't going to use again and....


No, no, NO.

I've already got my Electra and two projects (a singespeed and a cycle speedway bike) then there's the wife's bike that needs rebuilding, and a 16" wheeled bike I'm working on for my son when he gets a bit taller.

Must resist, must resist...

grantus

You know you want it!!!!

bagpusscp

NorwegianBlue wrote:

Now you've got me thinking, the bloke a couple of doors up has a white Peugeot road bike sitting in the shed that he isn't going to use again and....


No, no, NO.

I've already got my Electra and two projects (a singespeed and a cycle speedway bike) then there's the wife's bike that needs rebuilding, and a 16" wheeled bike I'm working on for my son when he gets a bit taller.

Must resist, must resist...

Resistance is futile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

peejay78

still heavier than gold ingots.

NorwegianBlue

But lighter than anything British from the same period at a comparable price.

I had a Vindec in the early eighties. I had the choice of the Vindec, a Raleigh or a Peugeot at similar prices, under £100! The Raleigh was horribly built and weighed almost as much as me, the Vindec was a little lighter and better built the Pug was however considerably lighter than either and much more nicely made. It was even lugless, gulp!

I knew nothing about bikes at the time, but I knew of Raleigh and Vindec. I bought the Vindec on the grounds that it was better than the Raleigh and I knew nothing about Peugeot bikes. I thought "I bet they know nothing about building bikes, they're a car company."

Shortly thereafter as my interest in road bikes grew I learned about Peugeot's history in the field and used to kick myself every time I passed the LBS.

peejay78

i'm going to stick to my guns here, and i know, being young once and having an uncle who had a peugeot road bike, the attraction of these beasts. i also had a late model px-10 fairly recently for a while. however, these days, the elusive higher end raleighs are not hard to come by.

i bought this one: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... otohosting



for £...21

but missed this feller just the other day:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... otohosting


both 531, thus carbolite seems like a bit of a bum deal. pick out the right raleigh and you've goot a tight road frame for next to nothing. much better value nowadays than lardy peugeots.

NorwegianBlue

So £21 for a well used frameset against nowt for a very lightly used complete bike. Oh yes, I'll pay for the frameset every time.

Or indeed £30 for a basically never used 501 Pug Electra (my main ride these days). Again, as far as I'm concerned the Pug is a much better buy.

It's not just Pugs, IMHO old Raleigh's tend to be over priced. There seems to be an assumption that anything over 20 years old with a Raleigh badge is an investment. So lots of brands tend to be better buys than Raleights.

grantus

Well I paid £25 for my frame, fork, seatpost, callipers, levers, headset, handlebars and bottom bracket.

I saw a peugeot seatpost go on ebay alone for £22 so as far as I'm concerned I got a good deal.

Horses for courses - nowt wrong with Raleigh - I just wanted a Peugeot for nostalgia purposes and didn't expect much from it however I liked it so much I sold my modern aluminium framed carbon forked STI equipped racer.

I would quite like a Raleigh Banana - again for nostalgia's sake - and I don't care if they're made out of crapola pipes - them's what I likes! - I'm carrying 2 stone excess baggage on my gut so a few pounds doesn't matter to me anyway 8) 8)

NorwegianBlue

The Banana came in a variety of specs and tubesets. If you're lucky you can get one of the higher spec ones for next to nothing, or if you're foolish you can spend a fortune on one of the lower spec jobs.

I've seen a nice one sell for £6.50 on ebay, and one of the crappy ones with 27" steel rims go fo £90. Although the best bet is usually to steer clear of ebay. And develop patience.

NorwegianBlue

grantus wrote:

You know you want it!!!!

And guess what?

And it's nicer than my Electra, so I think the Electra is going to get fixed.

Pirahna

I bought a Peugeot Carbolite bike when I started work in 1979. I used it as a commuter for several years and when things got a bit tough for me in the mid 80's, converted it to fixed and dispatched on it. Great bit of kit, but as mentioned, very bottom of the range.

Croxted Avenger

I bought one of these new in 1983 with a years paper round money for £110. It was light years ahead of same price Raleighs. Peugeot Equipe mine was called, there was a similar 10speed called the Premiere. Mine had 700x20c Michelin tyres, weinman brakes, Simplex mechs and Rigida rims. At the time it was simply amazing, I'd be very interested to see how one rides now. Very fond memories indeed.