I've barely ridden my Peugeot UO 14 in five years, mostly due to an impractical setup. Using only a front basket (pictured below) meant I couldn't swap my work pannier between bikes, should I discover some morning that I had a flat tire. And as functional as the basket is, it's also too large - I had trouble tightening the bolts to keep it from rubbing on the tire.
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| The old setup. |
I test rode the bike in the neighborhood and realized I needed to slide handlebars towards me plus tilt the seat so I sit more upright - apparently my tastes have changed over the years - and this 20" frame feels much better. I've been commuting for several days now on this bike - at least until I fix my regular commuter bike - and enjoy the zippy ride to work, especially on comfortable Panaracer Pasela tires. Stock gearing, however, on this old 12-speed isn't optimal for my aging legs so I ride mostly in the smaller chainring. Still, it's nice to have a fast, alternative bicycle should I need it.
Nice bike, Annie. Perhaps it can become a regular member of your rotation now that you have it sorted out.
ReplyDeleteI notice that the rack is seemingly quite level even though it has a non adjustable bracket. Was any "non factory recommended adjusting" necessary or did you get lucky?
Louis
I got lucky! I just had to dismantle and reassemble the back brakes.
DeleteFor some reason I'm not getting notification that you've written new posts. I had hoped I sorted it out but obviously I haven't. Anyway, nice bike and I read your linked post and was interested to read about your handlebars - I had come to the conclusion that I needed the ones on my Trek higher to improve my posture, as despite having ridden it in its present set-up for years and been what I thought was "comfortable" I have lately looked at photos of myself on it and noticed that my back is bent and my shoulders rounded and that that's not how they should be. However Husband just had a look at the bike and says they can't go any higher as the head tube post can't safely come out of the head tube any more. So now I'm wondering what other options I have...
ReplyDeleteA handlebar switch may help. Do some research, talk with LBS. There are many bars with rise, some not so drastic as the bars you see on the bike in this post.
ReplyDeleteYes that's what I'm wondering. I keep drawing diagrams, looking at photos of people on hybrids, and trying to work out what's wrong and how to make it better. I might do a blog post about it.
DeleteOne of the indignities of getting older, bike-wise, is that a once comfortable bicycle no longer IS comfortable. On the bright side, it's an opportunity to try something new!
DeleteGood post. I'm dealing with some of these issues as well..
ReplyDeleteNicely Done Annie, always nice to have a useable backup ride, or rides, if your Peugeot is of a vintage that used a more standard bb, i.e. not French threaded, I have found vintage MTB triple cranks tend to be plentiful and cheap and even suitable for converting to compact doubles. I also like the Shimano Mega range 6 speed FW with the 34t big ring, if your RD will handle that, for helping out aging legs ;-).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip, Ryan. Still not sure how much I'll ride this old beauty, and yeah, the crank threading is adaptable. It's an 83 vintage. But dang it's going to get a bell and I couldn't resist discounted new handlebars...
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