This bike was given to me simply because they guy did not have time for it and wanted it out of his garage. Lucky me! It’s an early 70′s Peugeot UE 8. The exact year is unknown because Peugeot did not put a year into their serial numbers (if you can even find a serial number). You basically have to go back and look at old brochures and compare head tube badges and decals, and even then it’s not very accurate. The head tube badge on this bike is supposed to be between 1975 to 1979 and the decals are from 1970 to 1976;  BUT the frame mounted air pump brackets are on the down tube and these were shown on the 1970 to 1976 brochures along with the headlight and taillight operated by the tire generator. (A few pages I used to reference the year are Peugeot Cycles, Re Cycles, and Bike-boom Peugeot. Thanks for the help)

Either way, it’s still a pretty cool bike. The plan is to restore it pretty close to it’s originality, but in the meantime update some parts. The frame looks to be in pretty good condition; it just needs some thorough cleaning. As with the rest of our bicycles, I’m looking forward to getting this one cleaned up and in running condition. Stay tuned to see the outcome!

[Update as of April 9th, 2012]

After almost a year of working on this bike, it is mostly complete. I still need to find or fabricate a tail light lens for the light bulb. I would love to find a nice frame mounted tire pump that fits into the brackets that were made for this purpose. And lastly, I am still undecided with a Peugeot decal on the seat stay.

The plan for the bike was to restore it back to it’s original state, but after the headache I had with the Raleigh and the cotter pin crankset, I decided to make another fixed gear. The bottom bracket came from Velo-Orange. A nicely sealed bottom bracket. The rims, crankset and 14t cog came from Eightinch.com. The cream and white tires are from Panasonic and add a very classy look to the bike. I got my first Brooks saddle for this bike. I love the looks of the Imperial B17 saddle on this bike. The paint scheme was been done by Liquid & Powdercoat Finishes. There was a lot of elbow grease that was involved with polishing of  all the chrome and aluminum and I rewired the dynamo to the lights and they work perfectly. This is by far, my favorite bike build as of yet.

{Update} The bike was just posted on  Fixed Gear Gallery as bike #14404! This is my 4th bike on that website. You all should check out that website! They post lots a great looking fixed gears on there!