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"VINTAGE LIFE CYCLES"
CANADIAN & VINTAGE LIGHTWEIGHT BICYCLE
PEUGEOT SUPER SPORT: MADE IN CANADA
e-mail [email protected] |
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HOME THE BICYCLES FIX IT UP ARTICLES LINKS |
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| FINDING TREASURE: PEUGEOT UO9 SUPER SPORT |
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On the way to the landfill site, one Saturday afternoon, I spotted a sports van approach and stop at a controlled intersection. What appeared to be two ten speed bicycles were barely visible in the trailer being towed by the van. I assumed that the van was headed to the landfill site also, and decided to wait there until the van showed up.
After discarding my own refuse, I parked my truck at the scrap metal location, and patiently waited for the two bicycles to show up. When the van arrived, it appeared that the driver intended to go right past the metal pile.
With considerable shouting and arm waving, I managed to get the driver�s attention. When the van had come to a stop, I excused my interruption and went on to explain that I collect old ten speed bicycles and that I would help the two ladies in the van unload the bikes. They said that they had other garbage to dispose of and would be back shortly. And then they drove off.
Once again, I waited patiently for them to return. When they did come back, I was less than impressed. A near bottom of the line Sekine and Venture (department store toy bike) were all that the trailer had to offer. Too bad! However, I once again offered to help them unload the balance of the debris in the trailer, which, I might add, was miserably over-loaded.
With the trailer nearly unloaded, one of the van�s occupants opened the rear hatch back door of the van to reveal that seven more bicycles had been shoe horned into the vehicle.
The first bike out of the van was the 1984 Peugeot UO9 Super Sport seen here. The bicycle was, all but, immaculate sporting only the kind of damage that long term and poorly planned storage might cause (minor scratches and the like). The bike had never seen any real use.
As it turned out, the bicycle was purchased as a Father�s Day gift. The original owner saw little or no reason to ride the bicycle, and it was left to sit, unused, for twenty years, only to make one final journey � to the dump.
The bike was handed directly to me and I quickly placed it in the box of my pick-up truck. Turning quickly, in anticipation of what was to come next, I was disappointed to find that the Peugeot was the only really nice bicycle in the collection of nine. I did, however, take a �Le Circuit�, primarily because I did not know what it was.
The �Le Circuit�, a Canadian Made bicycle, was nothing special but it was in very good and condition. It still sits in my shed waiting for what, I am not sure.
The Peugeot, on the other hand, has become my favorite commuter bike, displacing my 2002 Giant NRS 3 full suspension mountain bike. I like the UO 9 so much that I have spent extra money on it in an effort to make it even more suitable to my riding tastes.
Say what you will about the Canadian Made Peugeots. For my money, they are incredibly nice bicycles to ride, and the Super Sport, now with about five hundred miles on it, is the nicest of them all. |
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1984 PEUGEOT UO9 SUPER SPORT |
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This 1984 Canadian Made Peugeot is practically brand new. The condition, aside from scratches in the paint which could only have occurred during storage, is virtually unused. Why was it sent to the landfill site? One can only imagine |
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| Eight other bicycles accompanied this beautiful Peugeot to the dump. Of the nine, only the Peugeot and a Canadian Made "Le Circuit" were spared the crushing effects of the D9 Bulldozer. Since then, the Peugeot has had a thorough going over, checking all things mechanical, to ensure that it was safe and reliable to ride. A guess would suggest that the bicycle has had about five hundred miles put on it since being rescued from the landfill site and put on the road. |
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The bicycle is the best rider in the collection. It is so comfortable to ride that it now shares commuting duties with a 2002 Giant NRS 3, full suspension mountain bike. Cruising, at eighteen to twenty miles per hour, is not all that difficult on the Peugeot, even though the bicycle, as it now stands, is quite heavy.
As a bike used for commutting, and just about everything else, certain modifications seemed in order. Though not shown, the bicycle came with a saddle bag (the kind that attaches to the back of the saddle) which is being used on the bike today. The original tires were replaced with new 1 3/8 inch ones which, when coupled with a set of "thorn resistant" inner tubes, should help keep flats to a minimum.
Because the bike is ridden a lot, Shimano 515 pedals were chosen to replace the original quill style. And finally, a new Brooks B17 saddle was added to the mix. |
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As the virtues of the Super Sport became known, attention to cosmetic and comfort concerns surfaced. Soft handlebar tape found its way onto the bike shortly after the brake cables were replaced. The Weinman brake levers are unblemished and the hoods are still in good condition, however; some of the rubber's flexibility is gone. |
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Not all, but a good many Canadian Made Peugeots were identified by a very nice and well defined Head Badge. The extra effort and expense associated with the head badge suggests quality, however; when compared to an earlier Canadian Super Sport and to this Sprint, the quality statements have been reduced considerably. The earlier models sported a number of pantographed components such as this crank set. The UO 9 featured here has absolutely no pantographed components included in its component group. |
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The UO 9 Super Sport is the highest end bicycle of all the UO "whatevers" in the collection. Alloy wheels with quick release Maillaird hubs. The rear hub is the Helocromatic model and it still had the original manufacturer's sticker on it, as found.
The frame sports an integral rear derailleur hanger and forged droupots. When one considers the higher end frame coupled with all of the alloy extras included on the bicycle, it comes as a bit of a surprise to learn that the frame is made out of Carbolite 103, the same material used in this low end UO 6, a Canadian made bottom of the line model. |
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RIDING IMPRESSIONS... |
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This bicycle rides great right out of the box. Its ride is so good that extra cash has been invested to customize the bicycle to the present owner's tastes. The 1 3/8" tires and "thorn resistant" inner tubes, coupled with the Super Sport's long wheel base, soak up most of the road surface irregularities. The original saddle, a plastic model sporting the Peugeot name on the back, was comfortable on short jaunts but tended to hold and reflect heat back on longer rides. A newer Serfas was installed and, comfortable though it was, it still had the heat problem. Finally, as part of a test to see what all the chatter concerning leather saddles is about, a new Brooks B17 Special was installed. With a couple of hundred miles use, the Brooks is turning out to be very comfortable. |
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| The UO 9 has been on several lengthy rides, the longest of which exceeded the one hundred kilometer mark. The bike has been carted to Duluth for a cruise on the "Munger Trail, a 74 mile long converted rail line between Duluth and Hinkley. What a wonderful ride to make and the bike performed without incident. Top speed to date is just over the sixty-five kilometer per hour mark and at that speed the bike's stability really shines. Smooth and solid are words that come to mind. |
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