Tuesday, August 15, 2006

The new (old) bike

The green L.L. Bean hybrid bicycle that appears to the right is no longer with me. Last month I sold it in an effort to reduce my bicycle inventory (mine was a two person, seven bike household). This initiative also included the sale of my 1979 Peugeot UO-10 single speed conversion.

There was really nothing wrong with the Green Bean. It was a perfectly serviceable bike. The bottom bracket was starting to get a little creaky, but other than that, it was mechanically sound. I've heard that the new owner is making good use of it. I just wanted a change.

Since the sale of the Green Bean, I've been using two of my remaining three bicycles for my commute. One is a 2005 Raleigh M40 DX, which I'll be become my primary bike after I complete some alterations (more on that in a future post).

In the meantime, the bicycle I'm riding most often is a 1979 Peugeot UE-8.



Well, most of 1979 Peugeot UE-8. Students of bike boom Peugeots will notice that several parts are missing and detect a number of alien components that are not native to this bike. For the most part, however, it's pretty much what you got in an entry level bicycle 30 years ago. In other words, it wasn't exactly high tech, even back then. Still, it's almost perfectly suited for commuting and a lot of run to ride.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sweet grips!

What the heck is that rack? It looks cool.

John said...

Thanks, Jim. I've received a lot of compliments on the grips. I noticed you have a customer review of bar tape on the HC site and I'd be happy to wite a review of the grips. I've been very pleased with them.

I bought the rack from one of the big bicycle mail order operations. It was advertised as an Ascent brand rack (I forget the model name), however, I'm not sure that's what it is at all. I think it might actually be a Bor Yueh rack, because it has a small logo with the letter "B" in it. Since I bought it, it has disappeared altogether from the Web site.

I bought it because it has the spring-loaded "luggage clip" which is similar, at least in sprit, to the bungee cord fastener on the original rack, which I foolishly removed years ago.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, when you get time to review the grips, I and the entire HC readership will be happy to read it.

LvilleTex said...

purty wheels! and i mean overall wheels!

Michael Lemberger said...

I'd ride it in a heartbeat. Very swank, really, and I love the pie plate. Are those the original fenders?

Anonymous said...

Now THAT is a bike!

A thing of beauty indeed...

beautiful!!

-Me

Anonymous said...

very nice ride for sure. a beauty!