Better Late Than Never: Critical Bike Maintenance

For the past few months I've had a couple ongoing - and probably unrelated - issues with the drivetrain on my 1980 Peugeot Course. The first issue was a clicking sound that was consistently happening at the same point through my pedal stroke. Visual inspection didn't reveal any observable problems with the crankset, so I figured the problem was with either the bottom bracket or one of the pedal spindles/bearings.

The second issue was more worrisome. Under very hard pedaling, such as when accelerating from a stop, the chain would occasionally 'slip.' This would usually happen when I was mashing down particularly hard and standing on the pedals, so to have the chain suddenly slip forward would sometimes cause my feet to lose traction with the pedals. I nearly ate shit several times trying to power through busy intersections. Not good. This problem appeared to originate from the rear derailleur, as the freewheel seemed to be in good shape and was relatively new. Replicating this problem on the repair stand was difficult, though, so I was never able to observe it very clearly.

Fixing the first issue was pretty straightforward. The problem could have only originated from the bottom bracket or pedal bearings, so I just replaced both. I didn't necessarily expect to replace my pedals, but when I went into my LBS for a new bottom bracket, I spotted a beautiful pair of gold MKS touring pedals. I had not been overly happy with my All-City track pedals for commuting and was feeling like something with a wider platform/cage and more grippy surface would be better on the Peugeot. So I took the opportunity to swap them out for something a little better suited to my needs.

The second issue was a little more tricky. I replaced the rear derailleur with a cheap used Suntour GT that I picked up on eBay, but the problem continued - and in fact got worse. So I found a newer derailleur that more closely matched the vintage of the bike, and also matched the front derailleur: a Suntour AR. For good measure, I swapped out the freewheel with another unit that I happened to have on hand. Unfortunately, it was a bit wider than my old freewheel, and the wider freewheel was rubbing against the frame of the bike. I moved some hub spacers around to get the freewheel away from the frame, but now my rim is out of dish. Not a big deal...I just haven't had the time and motivation to re-dish it. Probably something I'll get around to later this Spring.

I set out to fix a couple maintenance issues. In so doing, I ended up making some unexpectedly significant changes to the look and function of my bike. I'm pretty happy with the matching derailleur set - something this bike has never had, at least not since I took possession of it in early 2012. And the MKS touring pedals are pretty great...grippy and functional with a sleek, classic look. I'm probably a little behind on some other regularly scheduled maintenance - repacking hubs, in particular. But for now, the old Peugeot is running well enough.