A year on from buying the Peugeot I thought I'd better update my blog! Having bought the replacement wheels from the Sheffield Cycle Jumble I purchased a 9 speed Miche/Campagnolo freewheel to fit the Campag Daytona hub. The original chain was swopped for a KMC 9-speed compatible one. On the original set up the rear wheel had only a 5 speed block and it was obvious the Simplex derailleur didn't have the reach, so a....ahem....Shimano 9 speed Ultegra RD 6500 was donated and fitted with a new compatable hanger plate. A new inner cable was fitted and the gears work a treat. I think the limit screws will have to be adjusted as the chain rubs the diagonal stays when in top gear (smallest sprocket) ....but hey 8 gears are better than 5! As mentioned previously the original Mafac brakes had been replaced with some new Tektro V-brakes. Unfortunately these just don't work with the existing Mafac levers...no matter how much you try to adjust them. (basically there's more movement in the callipers than in the levers) So back to EBay for a set of Tektro cantilevers complete with straddle wires etc. Naturally I would prefer Mafac items....but I wasn't prepared to pay the prices! They now work beautifully and at some time I will adjust the tension screws to centre up the cable, but at the moment they work just fine. The handlebar stem has been replaced with a 3 ttt item and the heavy steel bars replaced with some alloy Ambrosio ones...again helping with the weight loss! I decided to fit a modern cork bar tape as the period cloth tape is very unforgiving! So with very little cost the tandem looks the part and is a lot lighter....saving over 4.5 kg and now weighing in at about 18kg. I just need to take it for a test run to see how it performs against the other Peugeot tandem.
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So far to date I have ridden over 1100 miles on the Allin since its resurrection last year, this includes participating in L'Eroica Britannia 2015 and 2016. As you can see from the photo some "modern" items have been added. I've fitted a B-Twin saddle bag for carrying a spare tube etc (I still haven't seen anything suitable to my liking... and my existing tool-roll fell off when my original Zues spare-tub carrier snapped after too many cattle grids...when filming for Eroica!) A Garmin is attached to the bars, also a very discreet bell is fitted to the stem....quite handy for the trails! Over those 1100 miles the only problems that arose were punctures...not caused by thorns and the like, but by those "Bandes anti-crevaison".....anti-puncture tape which I fitted from Decathlon. Where the tape butted up inside the tyre it caused abrasions leading to a hole in the inner-tube!...so they were removed and taken back to the shop. Every thing was fine until on the hottest day of the year, coming back from a ride on the Monsal Trail, on the A6, I suffered a major blow out in the tyre and tube! These were the Michelin Classic tyres which I fitted because they looked period....and yes they were cheap! I'll have to rethink my tyre choice for next year! So now rather than languishing in the garage roof, the Allin now adorns the wall in my recently decorated basement...ready for its next ride.
This is the view of the rear drum-brake bracket set up. To remove the wheel when changing an inner tube, first you have to un-clamp the cable from the lever arm and then remove the securing arm from the frame bracket on the chain stay! Oh yes, and you'll need a ring-spanner on the hub nuts...no quick-release here! What a faff. Imagine having to do this in the rain on a cold dark night! I later learnt that to overcome some of the hassle, people use wing-nuts on the clamps to make things easier. Once the wheel is removed you can gain access to the brake drum and shoe assembly. This set up will be discarded and braking will be solely on the rims. The original Rigida steel rims are reputed to be worst than useless under braking in the wet and not much better in the dry! You can see they tried to improve things by adding "grooves" on the braking surface of the rims. The original tyre is a Hutchinson 700 x 35 (28" x 1 3/8") with perished sidewalls which is a completely different size to other 700 series wheels. Imagine low profile tyre on cars with large diameter rims to match the rolling circumference of standard size rims....this is the same sort of thing! Amazingly the rear wheel complete with tyre and drum brake weighs in at nearly 3.5 kg! The front wheel complete with tyre is 2.1 kg....over 4.5 kg for a set of wheels....that's heavy! By removing the dynamo, rear mudguard and rack, it's saved another 1.5 kg! Getting the weight down nicely! With a visit to the Sheffield cycle jumble I managed to pick up a set of wheels for £40. They are Campagnolo Daytona hubs laced to Mavic CXP 33 rims. These are shod with tried and trusted retro-looking Michelin Dynamic Classic tyres, complete with new inner tubes and look in keeping with the classic lines of the tandem. Next on the list is to purchase a Campag 9 speed block and new chain to go with a replacement rear derailleur.
So after the Shimano Arebesque 600 front derailleur was bolted in place, new inner and outer cables were fitted. After removing 2 layers of sticky cloth handle-bar tape I discovered the original light blue plastic tape which was visible in the photo of mum's bike taken back in 1971! This was the fashion at the time: putting new tape over old just gives it a bit more comfort. The original Weimann red dot levers were stripped, cleaned and polished. A set of double Campagnolo shifters were found in Dad's box and duly cleaned, polished and fitted. The only ebay purchase was a Shimano 600 Arabesque rear derailleur. This was to replace the Simplex mech fitted to the bike and to match the rest of the gearset. Originally when I started the rebuild I was looking for a suitable set of vintage wheels to replace the clunky steels fitted to the bike. After spending months on ebay searching I soon realised nice period wheels fetched a lot of money and thought is it really worth spending that money on a bike which will only be used occasionally? So why not use the wheels off the Nigel Dean...after all the Dean is only used on the turbo trainer....and they match the Shimano 600 era. With a Shimano 105 hub laced to a nice set of Mavic rims, they looked the part. Tyres were replaced with a pair of Michelin Classic amber-wall ones to match those on the Allin. The Lyotard pedals and GB clips were polished and fitted. The Weimann levers were re-fitted to the bars and the original hood covers came up like new! The secret?..WD-40 ! The bars were treated to new blue Velox cloth tape...to compliment the Allin. New inner and outer brake cables were fitted along with the polished GB cable clips. Two vintage bikes side-by-side after a ride along the High Peak Trail. The Viking has now covered about 200 miles since the rebuild and, apparently rides beautifully! It was ridden along the Monsal Trail to L'Eroica Britannia 2015 and many people came up and chatted about the bike. Quite a difference from when it was saved from ending up in a skip in the eleventh hour back in December 2014.
I've been hankering after another tandem for quiet a while now....you know the equation: N+1, well that applies to tandems as well! The idea was to have another to keep and use in France...and what better than a tried and trusted Peugeot? This one came courtesy of ebay ....as did the previous one, but this was local and delivered to the door free of charge! A one owner from new it was bought at the Harrogate show in 1983 and is pretty much original. Obvious changes are 2 Brooks B17 saddles, stoker handle bars changed to alloy drops and the brakes changed to modern V-brakes, but everything else is as standard. The pearlescent white paintwork is in very good condition considering it's over 30 years old. It's interesting to compare the different transfer colours to the other, more apparent older Grand Tourisme model. The main Peugeot transfer is in bold black lettering, matching the famous racing jersey's worn by people like Tom Simpson. The chainset is Stronghlight with 42T/52T with 36T crossover rings. Front and rear changers are by Simplex with down tube shifters....I'm not sure how I'm going to get on with those, might have to change them to bar end shifters at a later date! Pedals are un-branded, but fitted with Christophe toe-clips and straps as standard! Also fitted to both sides of the pedals are Cibie reflectors. It is interesting to note that these pedals are what they call French threads..very close to English metric threads, but it means that clipless pedals wont fit. I understand that they can be retapped, but that means the originals wont fit! The standard wheels are un-branded hubs laced to heavy steel Rigida Chrolux rims, 36 spokes on the front and 40 on the rear. Tyres are balloon -ish 700 x 35 Hutchinsons. The front wheel alone weighs in at a hefty 2100 g ! The rear wheel has an Atom hub brake operated by the left hand brake lever...the right hand lever has a twin cable set up which operated both front and rear rim brakes. The idea of the hub brake was to scrub speed off when descending at high speed! To remove the rear wheel the hub brake cable has to be disconnected ...not sure how you would replace an inner-tube at the side of the road? Other equipment include full steel mudguards, rear rack and working (!) dynamo lighting with front and rear lights mounted to the mudguards. So what to do with it? In a way it seems a shame to further modify it, but a lot of the equipment is surplus to requirement. So the original parts will be removed, cleaned and labelled up so they can be retro-fitted. One of the major issues is that it weighs the proverbial tonne!.....so it's going on a strict weight saving regime...and first to go are those wheels! The other tandem is about 2 KG lighter and it has rather nice Shimano 600 tricolour hubs laced to a set of Mavic 30mm rims and it rides really nicely. The front mudguard and light were removed...these weighed in at 530G... and I fitted the front wheel, a Shimano R500, off my Scott just to see what it would look like! The black rims, white and red lettering and the blue tyre complement the white paintwork, black Peugeot lettering and the tricolour transfers on the tubing. These wheels can be picked up from about £40 off E-Bay. Other weight saving ideas are replacing both steel seat pins and front bars with aluminium replacements. The pedal/toe-clip and brake cable set up I will keep so it is in line with L'Eroica requirements....just in case!
It's that time again! Yes the Viking is on the bike stand having a quick wash. After it was on the bike stand in the comfort of the conservatory to look at to where to start! First I thought I'd start at the front end and remove the Blumells mudguard and front wheel. The brake, a well trusted MAFAC Dural Forge centre-pull, was stripped, de-greased, polished, lubricated and finally assembled and bolted back in position. The Viking has chromed quarter fork ends and fork crown. These had surface rust on and with a gentle rub with wire-wool and a buff with Autosol, they didn't look half bad. The lovely Nervex lugs on the head-tube were cleaned and polished with a tooth brush and when finished showed up the gold lug-lining. Next on the list was the drive train. The chain had one or two stiff links so after de-greasing these links were freed up, although to be honest I think a new chain is on the shopping list. With the back wheel and rear mudguard removed I had a closer look at the chainset. This is a rather cheap and nasty, heavy-as-hell steel single affair which did nothing to the looks of the frame which was slowly revealing itself as being something sexy and more deserving! So the chainset was duly removed as it felt like it was stirring treacle! The spindle was replaced along with new ball-races freshly lubricated with Campagnolo grease. With the chainset removed it was easier to get in and clean the bottom-bracket lug, the grease build up preserving the paint work and lug-lining. In Dad's box of bits was a nice looking Shimano 600 Arabesque double chainset (originally fitted to the Condor when I got it) and yes it's not from the correct period but I couldn't resist fitting it....and boy it does look pretty! Looks great and spins beautifully! Also in Dad's box of bits is a matching Shimano 600 Arebesque front changer with a Campagnolo double down tube shifter. I think I will replace the semi-seized Simplex rear-mech with a matching 600 unit. Paint work around the bottom bracket came up really well after a polish and the gold lug lining looks really smart. Next I removed the standard alloy seat pin because I found a 3ttt fluted alloy pin which looked more in keeping with the rest of the equipment. The Selle Royal saddle was given a leather treatment and fitted atop the seat pin which was just polished. The rest of the paintwork has been cleaned and polished with the tape and coloured bands removed to get it back to it's original condition without loosing any of that lovely patina which has appeared over the years. Next on the to-do list is replace the brake cables after cleaning the levers. Rear brake needs to be cleaned and the handle bar tape removed....I think the original is still there under a couple of layers! Wheels also need replacing as the originals are horrible heavy chrome rimmed items with cheap Sturmey Archer hubs and are just too nasty to re-fit! So I will be scouring Ebay, RetroBike forum and putting adverts on the Matlock Cycling Club forum for some replacements.
The first picture shows the original Simplex Prestige derailleur fitted to the bike. I changed the body to a newer version but had problems with the mech taking up the chain slack. This is evident in the photo on the header. This was eventually changed back to the Suntour mech which was originally on the bike back in 1973. Also evident in the second photo the rear-ends have had the paint removed and restored back to the original look. A new inner and outer cable was also fitted. The Stronglight double chainset was just cleaned. The existing 54T set up harked back to the days of time trialling and the 42T ring was added when I moved to Derbyshire!
The stem is a 100 mm reach Evian Ambrosio grand prix. Handle bars are GB with embossed raised centre ferrule. I decided not to cover the bars with modern cork padded tape, but instead stick to the more appropriate looking Velox cloth tape in blue, to complement the toe-straps and my retro cycling top. Ok, so it's not so comfortable but definitely more in keeping with the age of the bike. Saddle and pin combo have appeared on my old track bike back in 1972 and are still in use today! Saddle is a trusty Italian Unica Nitor and the seat-pin is a Campagnolo drilled.....not by me...for aesthetics, as this was the fashion back in the early '70's, just look at Alf Engers bikes of the time. Holding this in place is a Campag quick release seat bolt. The pump is a Spanish Heta Sport which was used on the bike in the day and is secured to the frame with Campagnolo umbrella pump bracket....which has seen better days!
Starting at the handlebar end, the original levers were a set of Weinmann painted black by me! Hood covers were a rather dirty looking Sun pair and with the frayed outer cable, weren't particularly attractive. When rebuilding Dad's Condor, I removed the set of Shimano aero levers, which was part of the update, (now on the Peugeot Tandem) and bought a pair of period Campagnolo ones of EBay, to complement the Campag stirrups. It was only at a later date did I discover the original MAFAC levers which were on the Condor back in the seventies. I made the decision to leave the Campag ones on the Condor and use the MAFAC ones on the Allin to match the MAFAC stirrups. I also came across the half hood rubbers. Unfortunately these have faded somewhat and have become discoloured where the bar tape has been wrapped round the body of the lever....evident in the before and after photo. The question was, will the new tape be wrapped the same way? The inner and outer cables were replaced, although I have to confess to using outer cable from the LBS not period grooved ones...but hey ho! The cables were cut to length using my new Park Tools cable cutter. Stirrups are MAFAC Dural Forge, which predate the Racer model. These were on the bike back in the early seventies and were the brakes used on all Tour de France bikes from the sixties. These are very efficient brakes and the shoes can be adjusted from all angles. As can be seen from the photo, the shoes need a final tweak. Also fitted are a pair of Allez flint catchers.
This is a photo of me and my first ever road bike taken in the back garden in Letchworth when I was probably 12 years old! The frame is a Frejus, obviously not in original colours, but hand painted with dad's trade mark of world championship bands and some rather natty Campagnolo stickers to the head and seat tubes. Note the internal cable routing for the rear brake. The forks are chrome replacements, as the originals snapped! Equipment includes a Williams double 47/50T chainset ..with no front changer and probably the ubiquitous Simplex derailleur at the business end. Brakes look Weimann centre pulls with matching levers and hoods. These could be the ones on the Allin? Wheels are probably 1 1/4" steels with HP tyres and maybe Milremo hubs. Recognise the saddle? Yes it's the same Unica Nitor saddle as on the Allin! Here is another photo taken at the same time with Leigh on Mum's bike....a rather lovely mixte stay Frank Lipscombe! Now I wonder what happened to that bike? Hang on...on looking closer at the photo I can see the handlebar and stem is the same Titan one on Kath's old Viking, which I rescued from a basement in Berkhamsted!!! Well at least we know where they went! The final photo in the back garden included Ian on his first bike!...and me and Leigh astride a 1950's tandem. Note the Cushway traditional hand painted finish complemented by those oh-so important World Championship bands! I don't remember much about it, but I think it was either a single freewheel or fixed gear. The angles look very relaxed with probably a lot of rake on the front forks. Chainsets look Williams and the rear brake is a centre pull although I thought it had Resillion brakes? Possibly the tandem came from Uncle Dave, as it isn't the one Dad and I raced on.
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AuthorI have been riding bikes since I was 11 years old and used to race my Allin in time trials back in the early 1970's. CategoriesArchives
January 2016
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