KillRamsey
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Hood River, OR
- Name
- Kyle
Wife's favorite bike is a ~1971 Peugeot UO-8. It was $74 new back then, all steel tubing that is NOT butted, so it's not as light as it could be, but you aren't going to crack the frame. She got it around 2007, in untouched original condition. That was cool for a little while, but SImplex shifters / Mafac Racer brakes on steel rims kinda suck, to be honest, so one day about 8 years ago she had me remake it into a very specific build:
- Singlespeed
- Front hub generator and hard-wired lights fore and aft
- Coaster brake out back / hub brake up front, ie "no rear brake cable"
- Velo Orange "Porteur" handlebar with VO leather wrap and a reverse lever on the right side for the front brake actuation
- Vintage bar bag with a little diving board support over the front wheel to keep it from drooping
- VO hammered aluminum fenders
She took it when we biked 340-odd miles from Pittsburgh to DC in 6 days. I bought a front rack set for the front wheel to carry two bags. She loved it on that trip, and the rack has stayed on permanently. I salvaged a brand new set of abandonned 700c wheels from a bike a neighbor girl bought / locked up outside / abandonned. Laced those to the new hubs myself. Now it wears normal 700x32c rubber instead of that 27" nonsense it had.
Then a month ago, the 48 year old front section of the drivetrain (front chain rings specifically) taco'd themselves into oblivion cranking up the steep hills here. That meant new bottom bracket, new cranks, and new chainring had to go on. New chain ring was larger than old, so new sprocket out back had to go on, with 2 more teeth, to get her gear ratio back where she likes it (about 60 gear inches, for the bike nerds).
It's done, and I'm so happy.
KBRX4798 by gordopuggy, on Flickr
KBRX4760 by gordopuggy, on Flickr
- Singlespeed
- Front hub generator and hard-wired lights fore and aft
- Coaster brake out back / hub brake up front, ie "no rear brake cable"
- Velo Orange "Porteur" handlebar with VO leather wrap and a reverse lever on the right side for the front brake actuation
- Vintage bar bag with a little diving board support over the front wheel to keep it from drooping
- VO hammered aluminum fenders
She took it when we biked 340-odd miles from Pittsburgh to DC in 6 days. I bought a front rack set for the front wheel to carry two bags. She loved it on that trip, and the rack has stayed on permanently. I salvaged a brand new set of abandonned 700c wheels from a bike a neighbor girl bought / locked up outside / abandonned. Laced those to the new hubs myself. Now it wears normal 700x32c rubber instead of that 27" nonsense it had.
Then a month ago, the 48 year old front section of the drivetrain (front chain rings specifically) taco'd themselves into oblivion cranking up the steep hills here. That meant new bottom bracket, new cranks, and new chainring had to go on. New chain ring was larger than old, so new sprocket out back had to go on, with 2 more teeth, to get her gear ratio back where she likes it (about 60 gear inches, for the bike nerds).
It's done, and I'm so happy.
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