It turns out that the bottom bracket used in the Peugeot Record Du Monde is a Swiss type BB. Apparently a Swiss BB is the same as a French BB but with left thread on the right side, making it less prone to working loose during pedaling. They also haven't been used in the bicycle industry for more than 30 years, so you won't find a replacement at your average local bicycle store. Great!...... so now what?
So far I have found five possible solutions.
1. Rob a bank a buy a Phil Wood bottom bracket. Phil Wood is the only company that still supplies Swiss BB´s. But they are expensive, really expensive. So, not an option for my cheap Peugeot.
2. Buy a set of Phil Wood bottom bracket cups and find an old style Shimano BB. Apparently a set of Phil Wood cups can be used with a old type Shimano BB to make a Swiss BB. Complicated and still too expensive.
3. Buy a threadless bottom bracket. This might be an option but since I haven't found a local re-seller it will probably be to expensive for my project.
4. Re-thread the bottom bracket with Italian thread. This could be the solution for me. Italian BB's are still available for reasonable prices, but I would need to find a skilled mechanic that can re-thread the BB for a reasonable price.
5. Buy a new cottered crankset and try to reuse the old BB with new ball bearings and hope for the best. This might be the cheapest solution for me, but I hate cottered cranks, and this way I won't be able to use that nice vintage aluminium crankset that I have laying on a shelf.
I really wish Shimano or Suntour or some Chinese company would start making reasonable priced Swiss bottom brackets. Because I'm sure I can't be the only one with this problem.
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