Help Identifying Peugeot Bike, Please!

[Chas Argent]

Hi Folks-

A friend recently gave me his older 12-speed Peugeot road bike and I'm wondering if anyone could tell me what year and/or model it might be; he says it's from the mid-'80s; here's a description:

-Reynolds 501 chromalloy frame & fork; frame is lugged
-black paint on frame
-lettering is white; 5-color (yellow to red) chevron on both the top tube & the seat tube; says "made In France" on the top tube
-fork is silver; possibly chromed...?
-Nervar crank
-Peugeot front derailleur; label has fallen off the rear derailleur
-Weinmann brakes
-Maillard Helicomatic rear hub; no label on front hub
-Rigida 700c wheels
-"B3117.40" is stamped on the underside of the bottom bracket

The frame seems pretty light so I'm thinking this might be a fun "project" bike to put some newer components & rev it up. I don't yet own a road bike so is this a good frame to start with? Many thanks in advance,

Regards,
-Chas

 

[Wally]

I had a 12 speed peaugeot in the mid 80's it was called a Versille not sure if that is what you have mine was white and came with clip on pedals but it was a long time ago.

It was one of three bikes I have had stollen in my life. My TREK 2300 lives in my living room.

 

[nomad]

I still have a similar Peugeot, but not quite the same, mine is light blue and probably has similar gears (made by Simplex but branded Peugeot) and Peugeot butted tubes in the frame.

Beware of the following when "updating it":

I may have "non standard" threads in crank and for pedals, maybe elsewhere as well. The French hung on to Metric and "specific French" threads longer than anyone else after the ISO standard for bicycles was established.

On mine I had to re-thread the crank to accept modern clipless pedals. The thread was M14 with 1,25 pitch, a modern standard thread but ISO bicycle standard threads for pedals (on my new clipless ones) is 9/16" with 20tpi. The taps for this can only be bought from specialist bicycle tool shops and are really expensive (70 AUD). I eventually got a local bicycle shop to do mine for 10 AUD.

 

[Black Belt]

I had a Peugot in Central Florida rainy weather and EVERYTHING that could possibly rust did. I'd definitely recommend a wheel change ASAP if there is so much as a hint of trouble with them. Good luck with threadings.