Peugeot PX10 restoration and build. Classic vintage road bike 1972 

It could well be that the hard black plastic part you could not polish (and melted eventually) is cellulose acetate. If so, a bath in acetone should melt the outermost layer, removing the scratches without rubbing (it's important not to rub anything). Once out, the melted outermost layer solidifies again, but in this phase is important that nothing enters in contact with it or it will leave a mark (eg, a classic is fingerprints or hair). Best of luck!

In the UK and in other wet conditions the cloth bar tape was often lacquered with shellac. I still do, keeps it much nicer much longer and gives more grip. Give it three layers and sand in between for optimal result.

Lovely clean and build up John, the bike turned out beautifully 👌🏼 Don’t stress burning the delrin, I doubt any structural damage was done 👍🏼

In 2007 i bouhgt a bike simlilar to that it call Monte carlos for $350.00. and still riding it today

excellent job and very beautiful bikes. Warm greetings from Netherlands

I'm a bit late to the party but black boot polish will restore the plastic on the derailleur. Works for me anyway 🙂

I restored exact same rear mech, take a torch to it. Be carefull amd it will restore the color.

With regard to graying on plastic, I've encountered similar problems with ABS camera finished cargo boxes from Yakima/ Thule. I've used 303 protectant and it helps but doesn't eliminate the problem. Moving up the ladder I tried Back To Black and it's mostly heavy ArmorAll that you really have to let soak in ( possibly heat up with hair dryer). Somebody makes a bumper restorer that's like $70 for a tiny bottle and that's what Honda Element folk loose their shit over ( haven't tried that). I have had fishing reel side plates gray up before and remedied that with some type of gunstock oil by Birchwood Casey but it leaves the part a bit greasy. Also a wipe with boiled linseed oil may darken it back up. Sorry I don't have direct empirical knowledge of your Simplex but I've seen hundreds of those with that same condition including the wing nut thingies for the shifters. The trick is when cleaning one not to soak it in anything super nasty. Same goes for cargo boxes...don't blast a shitload of purple cleaner on one in direct sunlight and expect it to still be black when you get back from Starbucks with that massive Vente Nuovo Tipo Super Intercorsa FrappaCino.

old motor oil or automotive trim restorer works wonders on the old simplex plastic bits

I lusted after one of these when I was a kid. Excellent work bringing it back.

TOP TIP: Simplex black plastic is made from Delrin which has the unusual quality, when dry and brittle, of "rehydrating" itself with oil. To renovate back to original condition, no buffing wheels, just clean then soak (no danger of over soaking) in oil. I use old engine oil. Seriously, it works.

I did worse to my px 10. I removed the shifters and broke the band. The hard to find, expensive diamond shaped band. I was ready to jump off of a bridge. Luckily I found another. Now I won’t remove the band anymore on a resto that I’m not going to paint.

I just got one of these. I bought the wrong size tires. I bought 27 1 1/4 tires. Do you know the correct tire size for me to buy?

All you had to do to make the Delrin on the Simplex Criterium back to black was to spray it with WD-40, then give it a good wiping. And, the front derailleur is not correct. It should be the parallelogram Criterium model, not the pushrod model. And, the Weinmann brake levers? In the 70s I assembled more of those than I can remember.

I sure like the French stuff. Peugeot had it's own ride...I never liked anything from Simplex, but they are really beautiful when presented like you do here...Thanks!

VW guy too i see. Me too. Just got into vintage cycles. Got my first one. Motobecane super mirage out of the dump in really good shape.

The Stronglight 93 is a fave of mine, partly 'cause it looks so good when polished up! As for bar tape, wrapping cloth tape from top to bottom was the standard way back when. Was it just a few French folks that wrapped from the bottom up and then shellacked it?? Congrats on the weight loss!

Watching you build these bikes bring back LOTS of memories of when I start out riding. I built everything from hand me down parts. My first real frame was a Somec that was stripped of paint. I painted it and put hand me down Campy Chorus 7 speed. LOVED that bike. Thanks for taking me on a trip back in time.

I have front simplex derailleur with plastic bits from 70es, just like that one you have and found that Vaseline restores it completely, it's pitch black now. All you have to do is put vaseline, no buffing no nothing. I works on all plastic parts by simplex.

Hello, greetings from Costa Rica. I have a KIA road bike from around 1974, but I can't find much information about its history. Do you know anything about it?

Using a heat gun and food oil on the rubber/plastic normally bring back the dark black color from the gray. Nice build!

I had the exact bike in Tampa in 1975. I briefly got caught up in the Italian thing because our club was sponsored by Coppi. But went back to another PX-10 not long after the Coppi Craze. There's nothing like 20 pairs of Mafac Racer brakes Squealing while going into turn one of a Category 4 criterium.

01:92 Have you tried with a heat gun? It is just the plastic.. try to rejuvenate the top layer on low settings. keep the gun away and slowly bring it towards the plastic and see when it starts to rejuvenate itself... try not to melt the whole thing :P

as far as i am concerned your a superstar here here

Simplex CRITERIUM shift lever band is upedge down.

One thing to note about French bikes of that era: the aluminum parts are not anodized and so they CAN be polished. But if you try to polish an anodized part, you will ruin it. So be careful.

To restore/revive the original dark color of plastic you can flame it. Use a propane flame and lightly brush by the plastic item and the original color will appear immediately! Just don't linger and burn stuff.

with this work of your here an audience with the pope is hearby Granted BRAVO

Abrasive dental tooth paste with baking powder might work on those plastic parts

hi john, i've heard 'flood penetrol' is good to bring back the black luster of plastic bumpers. you might want to give it a try.

i sand the plastick and give it a touch of satin black spraypaints, holds up pretty good

Just found this exact bike in the basement of my apartment. It definitely hasn’t been touched in years. Time to restore it! Any idea what tool I need to remove the free hub?

I have a Peugeot PFN-10 I bought new and I thought it was a good looking bike then and now. I changed the components to Campy Chorus and moved the shifters from the down tubes. I like the look of your PX10, iteresting video!

You torque a stronglight 93 crankset you ruin the inner shoulders! Its done by feel and by eye. Main thing is chain line must be redpected!

Absolutely amazing video, job and a stunning bike! It is amazing to see how much care and love you put in this bicycle. Can agree with French products - they might be reliable, but are an absolute pain to work on. Used to own a Renault - and even changing a front headlight light bulb was no easy task 😅 I hope in distant future I will have space and spare time to do a similar project - absolutely love the aesthetics of this bikes. I'm kind of old fashioned, I know. One last thing - you didn't mention why you changed the braking levers. The old ones had extensions all the way to the stem - a great convenience and safety feature. I know modern day brifters are slick and stylish, but God do I miss the times of design, prioritising convenience and function.

John, another possibility for restoring the black and original sheen of the Delrin parts is to use a very light smear of Vaseline on the plastic. Allow it to soak in for a while and then wipe it clean with a paper towel. That should buff it right up.

Those old Poopgeots were the worst to work on. We would literally fight over who had to fix those things when they came in for repairs. They were half a step above the old 70's KIA bicycles. Barely.

the crankset looks different than the one on my px what kind is it and is it original -and i would love to see a detailed wheel lace up im wanting to do mine but afraid ill mess it up thanks for any feedback and im gealous of your collection buddy

👏👏👏👏👏👏

This was my first dream bike. Had just begun riding a ten speed and rode to Desmond's Cycles downtown San Jose CA. Old school shop, wood floors, wood w/glass display cases. The PX10 was on the upper rack row so couldn't even get very close, but I was mesmerized.

I like the WD40 suggestion for the plastic components. Another option is there used (still?) to be a product that worked great on 1980s BMW black bumper inserts called “Back to Black”, it worked way better than Armor-All Overall, nicely done!

Had this same issue with Simplex plastic graying. Vaseline and a microfiber cloth will restore it to like-new!

John, great job on the PX10! “It’s not wrong, it’s just French!” Came to mind during your build. Gotta stick a little piece of cork in the hole in the back of the stem. The Weinmanns are way better levers but I was surprised you didn’t go with MAFAC levers given that all of the other parts are accurate to the build and the MAFAC levers are a dime a dozen. Another fun video. Thank you.

Esse plástico preto do câmbio pode ser revitalizado com soprador térmico.

I learned from another vintage bike chanel, cant remember which one now, but delrin was supposed to be fed a light oil to keep it from cracking and that also keeps the colour black. Nice looking bike at the end

I’m in Milwaukee and really enjoy having found your videos.

Think Ive seen colour restored on plastic with heat gun. Great video I always find the French components hard work

Great job. What marvelous happinnes when restorations are finished. Why cables are in front of handlebar on your bikes? Could be more aesthethic cables behind handlebar? Thank you for your video.

You put on different brake levers. It originally had the cheat levers for if your hands are on the top of bars. Nice upgrade. Thanks for not ruining it with Campy

Hello, I have the same question, does the pedal box have English or French threads?

Another great build, John. I saw how you had Richard Schwinn repaint the Campus Green Paramount for you. Ever repaint one yourself?

Nota 1000. Meusoinho eter uma desa

Eddy Merckx early in his career rode these bikes, Tom Simpson won Pari Nice on one similar in the 60s from PEUGEOT.

When Delrin greys out, it means it is drying out. I suspect the cleaner you used displaced whatever plasticizers that was still in the material.......which unfortunately means, it might start cracking on you at the Delrin pivots if you put any stress/use on the RD. If you plan on riding the bike, you should just replace the RD with an NOS one. Those Delrin pivoted Simplex RDs shouldn't cost that much, compared to an all metal one.

Hi I just finished watching the PX10 series restoration. Very impressive. You mentioned that the frame is too small for you to ride. I you are interested, I have a 25 inch PX10 frame with the Nervex Professional fancy lugs instead of the plain lugs on your restoration. It also has gold Mafac brake levers and a Phil Wood bottom bracket plus some additional Peugeot parts. I built it up with a modern drivetrain and had my fun with it but it is time to let it go and want to part out the original Peugeot parts. Let me know how to contact you if you would like pictures to check it out and possibly make a deal.

Its called 700c but that is for wired on rims. Sew ups are only slightly smaller than 700c. Hope Ive been of help.

Is there a list of the bikes you're selling someplace? Also, any info on size?

Hi I would love to know what you do for work to fund this hobby! I dream of something half the size of your setup. I’ve started my first restoration bike this year.

Armor-All plastic protectant will fix plastic that's grey and not happy! It soaks into the plastic and freshens it up ... In the 70's nobody ran brake cables under the handlebars. They need to go over & behind to drop into tt clips & calipers.

Was that bike made with an "AFA" brand stem? If it's ridden by someone heavy, I advise you to compromise on authenticity. An AFA stem will break, why take a chance? A Cinelli stem looks nicer.

Great work there! Dull plastics can be darkened by a hot fan. it closes the surface again 👌🏼👍🏼

great job John i love old bikes, i worked at the Raleigh factory in Nottingham in the 70s and made lots of bikes up. regarding the grey plastic i had the same thing on my transit van bumpers i used a heat gun to solve it and they ended up good as new.

Hi John, Can you please do a more thorough job of showing us how to spoke both front and rear wheels, thanks

Loved the video, thanks John! I am wondering why you didn't use that great chrome polish on the stem and handlebars?

i use graphite grease on most bearings. it's filthy but rubbing it into that old greyed out black plastic works quite well.

I have this exact bike. It still has its Wastyn Cycles decals on it too. I think it was purchased new and ridden perhaps for one year.

The hardest thing about a px10e is keeping the wheels taught! Otherwise the biycle staggers when you ride it!

gud day!do you guys familiar bout urago minivelo roadbike?i want to retore it to original paint but i have no idea,TIA for any sugestion

Those plastic simplex derailleur often explode into bits a few of my club mates told me then they made all alloy

try a heatgun on the grey plastic, it works on trim on my car thats faded, lots of guides on youtube

Man my old man would have slapped me across my head for being stupid

Hae I need some while 271/14for my vintage bike

mineral oil, soap and water is the way to start avoid chemicals or solvents

Aqui é Brasil uma obra prima, parabéns pelo seu trabalho!! Meu nome é Anderson Silva.

I’d rather buy an olden day bike that looks rubbish and waste a couple grand on parts than buy something new.

your level of expertise is otherworldly

and do you have a good source for a replacment pump that goes on these i lost my original aluminum one and cant find one thanks again

Use a permanent black marker., or nail polish.

Don't forget to torque the crank arms, don't ask how I know.,

The first time in my life seen you build a spoke of a bicycle wheel. Never seen anyone doing this before.

I used black shoe polish for my Simplex plastic parts and works great.

brasil 04\07\2023

Is that a quill stem? Don’t see those much anymore?

linseed oil will bring the derailleur plastic back to black

Is that a 74 Le Tour opaque blue on the rack? Looks great!

Nice vid. One remedy for faded Delrin which nobody seems to have mentioned is simply to use a small brass brush - and an occasional wipe with mineral oil is said to help preserve the material. Oh, and don't overtighten any Delrin clamps, of course.

Un très beau PX10, j'admire la passion qui anime John, sa patience, sa dextérité. Malgré tout, John, les poignées de frein weimann alors que les freins sont des Mafac , je suis désolé de te dire que ça ne convient pas. De même les gaines de freins ne passent devant mais derrière le guidon et doivent être croisées. La patte de tirage arrière des freins Mafac racer est montée à l'envers. Je suis en train de restaurer un Peugeot PX60. Je suis ravi que partout dans le monde des passionnés se mettent à restaurer des vélos de tous pays. Ces vélos qui sont de véritables bijoux le méritent bien. Bravo John.

I got one similar latter year in Goodwill

Nice work. What seats do you have on the bikes in your workshop. Are plastic seats comfortable?

I need to build a garage like yours...

For polishing just use never dull ✊🏼

❤Minh rất thích chiếc xe này , trông còn rất, rất đáng yêu !

Thats a beautiful garage you have there, love classic cars and vintage road bikes!

Great job John, looks beautiful!

Linda bicicleta , como todas as outras. Se tu quiser pode mandar uma para o sul do Brasil.... Kkkk abraço.

Mineral oil will restore Delrin appearance.

Looks great, belíssima

I guess the edges roll down the bars

That’s beautiful, I have one before but it’s big for me, what size is the frame?

What kind of tyres do you put ❤