Peugeot Comete Recall?

[BalkanExpress]

In a dark corner of the garage sits my old road bike, a Peugeot Comete from around 1987 with alloy frame and lots of French bits: Sachs Huret indexed gears, Maillard hubs etc.

I was goiing to dust it down and get it back on the road but after a bit of googling today it appears it was subject to a recall in the US around 1989. This it appears wasdue to fears about the safety of the frame. Does anyone know anything more?

Thanks

 

[ed_o_brain]

At nearly twenty years old, chances are the tyres will be a bit perished and the bike will need a good service.

The Maillard hubs with helico freewheel's weren't very good either. I used a couple of Peugeot's from this era has hack bikes. They were okay, but not really a pleasure to use.

That said, if it looks anything like this:

cyclespeugeot.com then I'd be tempted to hang it up on a wall or do a singlespeed conversion and ride it around town. The "Pechiney joining method" sounds a bit experimental.

 

[ed_o_brain]

Intrigued with a bit of searching around I found this quote

"When Peugeot decided to pull out of the American market they recalled all of the Comete/Galaxie bikes to clear themselves of any future possible litigation. (they were worried about future lawsuits) I asked if there were any frame failures which helped lead to this decision and was told 'no'. Do you think they'd actually say 'yes'? I worked at the dealer thast handled the nationwide recall. We literally sawed some of the frames in half."

I wouldn't worry about the frame breaking.

 

[BalkanExpress]

Ed

thanks for the comments, I'd seen the same reprts and was not sure if it was due to a real concernor just fear of litigation.

The bike itself is "interesting". It is a rigid as something made out of damp toilet rolls and 20 mm tyres (fitted as standard) do not help the ride any. I had to change the rear hub and rim in an effort to stop snapping spokes oh and the brakes were a bit iffy Replaced with Shimano exage after a couple of years.

The gearing is also very 1980s. Elsewhere on the site the merits of triples v compacts are discussed: the comete is 52/42 13/21 no wonder I used to have legs like a Bulgarian weightlifter. 20 years older and 20 kgs heavier i suspect I'm going to have fun trying to get uphill!

 

[tofer]

Hi i was surfing around looking into some my old cycling haunts, sad to hear of the passing of Peter Hare from Twyford, used to be my local bike shop. Anyhow I picked up on your post concerning the Peugeot Comete, I had one bought around 1987 from Berkshire Cycle. Used it until around 1992 it had some leading edge design features at the time such as an early freehub with semi helical splines and threaded lockring pretty advanced stuff in its day. The frame was alloy lugs with bonded alloy tubes, again ahead of its day.
Don't know much about the recall but I guess it may be due to premature failure of the frame. Mine snapped its top tube at the seat tube lug whilst hitting a pothole.
I had upgraded the chain set to Shimano Biopace, the oval chain ring set up, again ahead of its day. Should have hung on to the bike I guess the bits would have some classic appeal with a collector.
Do you remember the poster black background silver wigged model dressen in silver lycra?

 

[jimboalee]

Ed

thanks for the comments, I'd seen the same reprts and was not sure if it was due to a real concernor just fear of litigation.

The bike itself is "interesting". It is a rigid as something made out of damp toilet rolls and 20 mm tyres (fitted as standard) do not help the ride any. I had to change the rear hub and rim in an effort to stop snapping spokes oh and the brakes were a bit iffy Replaced with Shimano exage after a couple of years.

The gearing is also very 1980s. Elsewhere on the site the merits of triples v compacts are discussed: the comete is 52/42 13/21 no wonder I used to have legs like a Bulgarian weightlifter. 20 years older and 20 kgs heavier i suspect I'm going to have fun trying to get uphill!

NO.. the gearing is 'Traditional'...

My PX10LE from '74 had 52/42 with 13-25 std for a 21.5lb bike.

Having legs 'like a Bulgarian weightlifter' WAS also traditional.
These days, newbies haven't got the patience to build such legs and rely on the namby pamby 50/34 with 12-27 gearing that the mass producers fit to tempt the '5 minute wonder' crowd into cycling.

 

[youngoldbloke]

My Peugeot 525 of 1992 vintage has 52/42 (Biopace) with 13-26. Now used as the winter/bad weather bike, I do find I'm looking for a lower gear on occasion, but mostly I end up at the top the hill quicker than the compact or triple spinners, (if it's not too steep!). That said I am just about to change the front rings to 48/38 with 12-28 at the back, as I find it too much of a change when I move to the summer bike - compact 50/34 with 11-25.

 

[jimboalee]

Hi i was surfing around looking into some my old cycling haunts, sad to hear of the passing of Peter Hare from Twyford, used to be my local bike shop. Anyhow I picked up on your post concerning the Peugeot Comete, I had one bought around 1987 from Berkshire Cycle. Used it until around 1992 it had some leading edge design features at the time such as an early freehub with semi helical splines and threaded lockring pretty advanced stuff in its day. The frame was alloy lugs with bonded alloy tubes, again ahead of its day.
Don't know much about the recall but I guess it may be due to premature failure of the frame. Mine snapped its top tube at the seat tube lug whilst hitting a pothole.
I had upgraded the chain set to Shimano Biopace, the oval chain ring set up, again ahead of its day. Should have hung on to the bike I guess the bits would have some classic appeal with a collector.
Do you remember the poster black background silver wigged model dressen in silver lycra?

Oval chainrings were on bikes before the war. The FIRST world war.

 

[raindog]

The frame was alloy lugs with bonded alloy tubes, again ahead of its day.

I didn't know Peugeot ever built frames like that. This is the system that was pioneered by Vitus (remember Sean Kelly's bikes?) and there are still loads of those old Vitus frames being ridden now. Very light, but apparently lacking a bit in stiffness. But if Kelly got alot of his wins on one, then they probably weren't that bad.

52x42 or even 52x44 was standard bike gearing in those days, in fact it still is for racing. As jimboalee says, poncy "compact" chainsets didn't exist then.

 

[jimboalee]

Compacts? They did, or a sorts. They were never seen on roadrace bikes.

Beats me how anyone could be seen riding a roadrace bike with a 'touring' chainset.

52/42 with a 13-21 was pretty damned low.

The HARD lads rode 53/39 with a 13,14,15,16,17 and 18 freewheel.
Use all 6 sprockets with the big ring and the low five with the small ring.
It gives 59" to 110".

The 'retrofit' for the beginner on the Pug Comete was a 13-24 block. As (1/20lb) x 1000 = 50" and the 24 sprocket gave 47" allowing for a 12% gradient.

 

[SimonC]

Compacts? They did, or a sorts. They were never seen on roadrace bikes.

Beats me how anyone could be seen riding a roadrace bike with a 'touring' chainset.

52/42 with a 13-21 was pretty damned low.

The HARD lads rode 53/39 with a 13,14,15,16,17 and 18 freewheel.
Use all 6 sprockets with the big ring and the low five with the small ring.
It gives 59" to 110".

The 'retrofit' for the beginner on the Pug Comete was a 13-24 block. As (1/20lb) x 1000 = 50" and the 24 sprocket gave 47" allowing for a 12% gradient.

Those were the days - although I only had 52-42, but had a straight through block 13-18.

53-39 with 12-23 cassette nowadays - dont know if that makes me less or more hard on the jimbometer

 

[jimboalee]

Those were the days - although I only had 52-42, but had a straight through block 13-18.

53-39 with 12-23 cassette nowadays - dont know if that makes me less or more hard on the jimbometer

The 'scale of hardness' is there on my post.

If you weigh your bike, what was refered to as "the 10% gear" is the reciprocal of weight ( in lbs ) x 1000.
So a 20 lb bike would be 1/20 x 1000 = 50, ( in inches gear ).

If the lowest gear on the bike is higher, you are harder.
If the lowest gear on the bike is lower , you're soft.

My Pug was 22.5 lb and had a 45" lowest. I was 'right on the cusp' after fitting a 38 ring in place of the std 42.

My SWorks however, is 16.5lb and has an 'as supplied' 42" lowest, = "soft as shite".

Seems the whole world has softened up.

 

[Sylvain Perrault]

Hi people,
I just got on this blog so my comment myth be a few weeks/month out of pace but here goes anyways... I've owned and riden a Peugeot Galaxy for the last 25 years. It's got at least 30000 miles on it. I've upgraded to Shimano 600 Ultegra from the start when I bought the bike new back then and am still riding with this kit on the bike. I ride it hard and fast every week-end... especially now that my 13 year old son is riding in local competitions. I bought a Cervelo P1 last year (figured I was a little overdue!!!) I gave it to my son snce the peugeot is much lighter and easier to ride that the Cervelo. I understand the worries concerning the frame. I had mine checked out at the dealer when I hear about the claimes that the seams came apart under stress. From what I understand also, is that the tubes will probably bend before the welds come apart. This is the same technology they used on the Concord super sonic planes... I'm 6'1'' and weight in at 240lbs... If the bike was to have a weakness in it, I would have kissed the pavement a long time ago...thanks and enjoy your Peugeot!!!

 

[Deleted member 1258]

In the mid eighties I rode a Pollard, gas pipe frame, with 46/36 and 13-28 six speed on the back, the bike was eventually converted to fixed. When I joined my present club in the late eighties I ran 44/40 with 13-21 six speed on the back for a while then moved to 50/42 with 13-24 six speed on the back.
Balken Express your bike sound a gem, either do a full restore and ride it on sunny Sundays or do a fixed conversion and use it as a hack.

 

[Cyclerock]

Get a new bike.

I just came across this old post and wanted to share some info.

We had 2 Peugeot Galaxies in the family. (The Galaxies were similar to the Comet). They were recalled when I got them, and were supposed to be destroyed, but for years were in the basement of the bike shop I worked at. One day we built them up. Both of frames eventually separated where the down tube meets the headtube, under normal riding conditions. Another old-time Peugeot bike shop owner told me the tubes were 'pressure fit', pressing one tube into the headtube. This was supposedly similar to a method how some airplanes were assmebled, but these Galaxies were total failures.