Probably the first things replaced on a PX-10 were the plastic derailleurs. Those ambitious enough to notch the rear dropout installed Campy, while others usually went with SLJ. Actually, I still maintain the plastic Criterium shifted better than a Campy NR, but people just didn't like the idea of plastic derailleurs, plus they associated them with the cheap plastic Prestige, which looked almost identical and really was terrible. Probably the part which should have been replaced first were the AVA bars which had a nasty habit of cracking. Lots of PX-10s wound up with Cinelli bars and stems, even though you had to sand the stem down to fit in a French steerer. Some of the less mechanically astute PX-10 owners probably just took the 0.2 mm off the stem by forcing it into the steerer. In the early 70's I used to do club rides in the western Cleveland suburbs with shop owner Heinz Linke, who some on the list remember. Most of the riders had PX-10s bought from Heinz. He had fitted Campy NR RDs on several of them, including his own. Quite a few had Cinelli bars and stem. One or two even had Campy sidepulls which sold for the then-princely price of $50 and required drop bolts.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Houston, TX
> In a message dated 5/10/2003 9:23:53 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> sachs@erols.com writes:
>
> > 1968 or so: PX-10 in Providence I think was $165 (certainly <<$200),
and I
> > thought that terribly high for a bike w/o any campy parts.
> >
>
> Harv;
>
> Lots of folks thought so... but it was about the only bike in that price
> range with 531 double butted tubes, forks, and stays... that might explain
> the price. Most of the other bikes in that range had straight gauge 531
or
> 531 in the main triangle only. Many PX-10 buyers were 'beer budget,
> Champaigne taste' folks who had the idea that the frame was more important
> than the components, and if they could get the best possible frame for the
> least money, the components could be replaced later as finances permitted.
> Maybe that's one reason why there's so few old PX-10s around with their
> original components compared to bikes that came with all-Campy parts (that
> and the fact that Campy parts probably would have lasted longer). My
PX-10,
> when I sold it, had Weyless hubs, LJ Supers front and back, a Phil Wood
BB,
> Pivo stem, a bunch of braze-ons and other goodies, plus a repaint... it
was
> practically unrecognizeable as a Peugeot.
>
> Bob Hovey
> Columbus, GA