Riding around an old Peugeot...

[dddd]

Originally Posted by jamesdak

Yep, thats the "beauty" of bikes like this. French standards on a lot of it are different so you really have to do your research. After my U-08 I said no more French bikes. Then I got a Stella for a winter project that was fun, but a pain in the butt. Once again I vowed, "No more French Bikes"! Then last year I picked up a newer Peugeot that was supposed to be more standard in terms of parts sizes, threading, etc. Went to upgrade the DT shifters and found non-standard DT shifter bosses brazed on the bike. NO MORE FRENCH BIKES!!!

If those were Shimano's odd braze-ons then you can't blame the French for that.
Shimano had their own shift boss standard back then, after a few years they began making their shift levers to the standard used by everyone else.

Most of these U08's are entirely French-standard, even spoke threads, headset threads, bottom bracket and pedal threads.
But their axle threading was normal, 25.4 threads per inch, while Campagnolo had their own weird 26 threads per inch for their axles.

By the late 1970's (yours is earlier), bottom brackets became either English- or Swiss-threaded (you never know until you looked), freewheels and pedals became English-threaded.

To the credit of the French, the ~1970 vintage ten speed had seen perhaps most of it's development come from that country, and much of their design was copied by people in other parts of the world who haphazardly decided to apply their own version of fitment "standards" to the threaded parts.

From the early 1950's, this French bicycle that I still ride does everything that a racing bicycle needs to do. And it has room for fat tires, though it's 4x2 gearing is limited just like any racing bike from that period.

[pinkshogun]

the problem with Paselas is the tan sidewall is very thin and over time and exposure it degrades. the black wall kenda is thicker and if kept inflated prolly will last longer

[unterhausen]

Apparently some French people back in the day knew how to keep Mafacs from squealing by filing the washers that hold the brake shoes. You can look at the Rene Herse version for a pattern. Just need a small round file.
https://www.renehersecycles.com/shop...e-washer-pair/

We used to try to bend the arms, but that wasn't usually all that successful. After modifying the washers, mine still squeal for a second when the rims are wet. But that's it, and it's a big improvement over stock.

[El Chaba]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

Apparently some French people back in the day knew how to keep Mafacs from squealing by filing the washers that hold the brake shoes. You can look at the Rene Herse version for a pattern. Just need a small round file.
https://www.renehersecycles.com/shop...e-washer-pair/

We used to try to bend the arms, but that wasn't usually all that successful. After modifying the washers, mine still squeal for a second when the rims are wet. But that's it, and it's a big improvement over stock.

Yes, the washer filing is key, and that is really why the washers are as thick as they are. If your Mafacs have the wheel guide, you can do the same filing job to the wheel guide. Mafacs can also be sensitive to the braking surface of the rim. Sometimes a quick sanding of the surface with 600 grit wet/dry paper will remove whatever impurity may be causing the problem. There are a few other things as well including replacing the stock pads (now at least 40 years old) with new Koolstop ones. Once they have been set up properly, they tend to never squeal again unless the rims or pads become contaminated.

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by dddd

If those were Shimano's odd braze-ons then you can't blame the French for that.
Shimano had their own shift boss standard back then, after a few years they began making their shift levers to the standard used by everyone else.

Nope, not the Shimano ones. They are completely round.

Discussed here:

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...rench-ugh.html

This problem was on my "newest" Peugoet. I was going to upgrade it to some nice Suntour parts.