You can't teach an old bike new tricks

What a mess. I bought an old peugeot project frame and I was ready to bring it back to life. I wrestled with the bottom bracket and eventually got it loose. I even bought used shimano ultegra integrated shifters (gear shifting integrated into the braking system) that are used on all high end road bikes today. I thought that I would add some new technology to this old girl. I bought a 9 speed cog for the back wheel and front and rear deraileurs.


But alas, you cannot teach an old bike new tricks. It turns out NONE of the stuff I bought was compatible. In order to make this frame usable, I would have to bend out the back triangles to accommodate a 9 speed cog on the backwheel. This would cost me an extra 40 dollars, when I only paid 60 dollars for the frame. What's more, I found out that the frame I am in possession of is actually the wal-mart level bike put out by Peugeot back in the day. All of this work for a crappy bike? I think not. So do I feel like a giant ass? Of course. But you don't even know the half of it. When I was deluding myself into believing that I could go against all odds and build this bike, I even found and bought another, fully built Peugeot from the 70's which I decided I would strip of its necessary parts and sell the rest. Thats right, I now have not one, but TWO old French bikes, which I need to get rid of. Why not keep the second Peugeot I bought? Well, it is too large for me. Fuck.
Now what? Well, the bikes are listed on craigslist. I am starting over, but now I have the wisdom of experience (and mistakes). I also have a seat, shifters and deraileurs. I am thinking from here forward I am going to stick to an English threaded frame so everything just fits. I am either going old school English or old school Italian. French may be out of the question. But only time will tell.