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Reply to "Hood, engine lid gaps and levelness"

I will bet the Peugeot had a Stronglight cotterless crank, Mafac brakes, Simplex (black plastic!) derailleurs and Mavic rims if it was one of their racing bikes.  They sponsored my team prior to Cannondale and, provided us with thier top of the line bikes at the time, the PX-10 model with Reynolds tubing and the above equipment.... I converted mine to all campy groupo with Cinelli bars and stem. Keep in mind, this was about 1979 - 1985. 

   I also had a full chrome plated Holdsworth from England that was a really nice reynolds frame with the most incredibly fancy lugs (at the tubing joints) that I ever saw. I wish I had pics of it! The workmanship in the old frames was amazing.

   Also, the Reynolds tubing is British steel. Not aluminum as we might assume here on this side of the pond. If the Reynolds 531 label was at a diagonal, it meant the tubing was double butted, or thicker at the joints where the stress was magnified during sprinting or climbing. 531, straight across meant the tubing was the same thickness throughout. 

   The French, English and Italian bikes all had their own threading for the bottom bracket and headsets.  It kept things interesting when someone would want to switch equip from one bike to another! I had the full Campy tool box that was many thousands of bucks with precision taps and dies wand tool guides to properly fit their components.  Customers would come in from all over Ohio, PA, Canada an NY to get their frames alligned, tapped, repaired etc.  We did brazing and later started repaints too! 

  I had the first Cannondale dealership in NY State and sold a bunch of them.  Their first bike on the market was about 3K back then, a 15 speed touring bike that had a wheelbase nearly as long as our Speedsters! LOL 

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