1983 Peugeot with Mangalite tubes

[flopner]

Hi;

I have this 1983 Peugeot PB14 I want to repaint . It is made in Canada and has a mangalite tubing sticker on it. The catalogs I looked at for 1983 show a PB12 in the Canadian catalog and the PB14 in the U.S. catalog. The PB12 was sold in Canada and has Reynolds 501 tubing and the PB14 was sold in the U.S. and has "Mangalite". The bikes both come from the same factory which is Procycle of Quebec. The bikes both have the same simplex forged dropouts and same lug set and same forged fork crown.
I tried to find some information on this "mangalite" tubing and there isn't any to be had , no record of anyone manufacturing that and that is kinda weird. Also the Mangalite sticker doesn't look very professional , like some local shop made them and there isn't any info on it other than "Mangalite" and "double butted".

So since the PB12 sold in Canada and the PB14 sold in the U.S. are pretty identical I wonder if the mystery tubing is actually reynolds 501 and was labeled that way for some unknown reason.

When I repaint I can still get a reynolds 501 decal and I don't think I would feel guilty putting it on the bike.

Anyone know anything more about this mystery "mangalite" tubing?

 

[V-CC]

We understand that Mangalite was Miyata's name for their proprietary, manganese alloy steel. Its strength properties, and consequently its weight, were appropriately half way between those of high tensile steel and chromium-molybdendum steel. Univega used Mangalite too.

 

[flopner]

Hi V-CC;
Yes I looked at that Miyata tubing and their product was called "Magnalite" which is pretty easy to get mixed up with Mangalite.

My best guess is that "Mangalite" tubing is a proprietary tubing from Procycle of Quebec. Procycle made Peugeots in the 80's and early 90's until the licence from peugeot ended.

I sent an email to Rocky Mountain cycles yesterday which Procycle bought and became.

They actually responded and said "Sadly, no one from that era is around anymore and our archives cut off at 2005 so I have no documentation prior to that. Can you send us a picture of the frame so I can look into it with one of my colleagues?"

I sent them some pictures of the bike and frame tube sticker and also the 1983 pics of the Canadian and U.S. catalog page showing the PB12 course and PB14 respectively. Maybe they can shed some light on the mystery tubing.

From what I read Reynolds 501 is a seamed tubing that is single butted while 531 is not a seamed tubing and it is double butted with a high Manganese content like what is purported on the "Mangalite" frame sticker which says "High Manganese Density" also.

I'm awaiting their reply hopefully they will know something.

 

[flopner]

V-CC . you were right!
I found this 1986 Miyata catalog where they list "Mangalite" forks on their competition models and spelled exactly that way.
https://www.ragandbone.ca/PDFs/Miyata Catalogue PDFs/Miyata Catalogue 86.pdf

They should have furnished a better frame sticker on the peugeot.
Thanks for steering me in that direction.

 

[flopner]

Well I'm still a little confused because here is a 1985 Miyata catalog where they spell their steel name " Mangalight" not "Mangalite"
maybe something was lost in translation.
https://www.ragandbone.ca/PDFs/Miyata Catalogue PDFs/Miyata Catalogue 85.pdf

 

[flopner]

So here are the Miyata decals;
https://velocals.com/miyata-mangalight-frame-fork-tubing-decals/

And here's a pic of what is on the peugeot

Probably will never solve that mystery......tbc

 

[dihummer]

First. Cycles Peugeot USA was a company that distributes the Peugeot brand bicycles in the USA. That company chose bicycle models for the USA market and where to have bicycles produced with the Peugeot name in the USA.
Some bicycle came from France, some from Japan, some from Groupe Procycle in Canada, and possibly other places.

Groupe Procycle in Canada where licensed to produce and distribute Peugeot brand bicycles in Canada.

The PB12 in Canada and the PB14 in the USA are not related. Reynolds 501 is chromoly. Mangalite implies something other than chromoly.

Second. Mangalite tubing. As far as I know no Mangalite frames where made by Groupe Procycle for the Canadian market.
Mangalite tubing was used for the PB14 and UO14 for Cycles Peugeot USA.

My guess is that Cycles Peugeut USA selected this tubing for certain USA models and Groupe Procycle built the frames. Cycles Peugeot USA wanted something different form Carbolite 103.

Who made the Mangalite tubes and where? I have not seen any indication of the tubing manufacturer.

 

[goldcoastjon]

Flopner and all,

Quite a few members of the Classic Rendezvous (CR) list know a lot about various Canadian bike makers and about
Peugeots.

You might re-post your request there (with as many photos as possible) to see if they can come up with
an additional info:
https://groups.google.com/g/classic-rendezvous-lightweight-vintage-bicycles

There are more than 4000 worldwide members in CR now so the replies could come from anywhwere...

Jon
who remembers Mangalite, Magnalite, and many other trade names but not much about Canadian Peugeots.

 

[flopner]

Hey thanks for responding guys.
The mangalite tubing on the peugeot says" High manganese density" and there is no way of knowing what ProCycle of Quebec used. The hokey frame decal doesn't list an actual manufacturer.
But there is a Reynolds 501 tubing called 501 Chromalloy - M which I would say is the closest cross reference to the mangalite mystery tubing.

I found this on it which is in a 1980's Reynolds brochure;
https://www.equusbicycle.com/bike/reynolds/006reynolds80brochure.htm

Reynolds 501 Cromalloy-M A completely new tube specification developed by Reynolds in response to the need for a true performance tube for the sports/general purpose frame. It's super-light and super-strong, manufactured from chrome molybdenum with a high manganese content, DOUBLE BUTTED, and specially cold worked. Reynolds 501 cromalloy-M outperforms all competitive tubes in its category​

I think any definitive answer is lost in history somewhere.

Although wiki says 501 was introduced about 1983 which is the same year the PB14 was made and the PB12 sold in Canada in 1983 has 501 listed in the brochure for that bike.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynolds_Technology

"501 - Reynolds 501 was a chromium-molybdenum (CrMo) steel, seamed, butted 3-tubes tubeset that made its debut about 1983 and was available in two different thicknesses."

 

[dihummer]

I have done some more checking on Procycle built Peugeot frames. For one year in Canada the Peugeot Sprint used Reynolds 453 tubing and the frame was lugged, not TIG .

Quoting Stan Copper:

"Reynolds 453 was a single butted high manganese steel alloy tubeset in the mid-1980s".

Read more here:
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-...isals/945877-peugeot-reynolds-453-tubing.html


Reynolds 453 tubing is a possibility for what was labeled Mangalite.

 

[flopner]

Here's a cool Reynolds video though;

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqLzO3wkc_k&t=216s