This was my wife's birthday present this year. We built it up together. She had wanted a mixte, but finding a 58cm vintage mixte is difficult. Finding a 58cm vintage mixte with room for wide tires is impossible. So we went with a new Soma mixte frame, which lends itself very nicely to 650B conversion, and has everything we wanted in a frame (except lugs, but that's okay). The bike is built up as a comfortable, all-purpose city bike that's capable of pulling our Burley Piccolo trailercycle, as well as being able to have a little fun off the beaten path. Everything is new (or new-ish) except the crankset, BB and brake levers, which are vintage.
Full build list:
Rims: Velo Orange Diagonale 650B, 32H front/36H rear
Hubs: Shimano 105 front/Shimano Nexus "Red band" 8 IGH rear
Tires: Grand Bois Hetre, 650 x 42B
Crankset: Takagi AR-T, 170mm; Q = 164mm
Pedals: MKS Touring
BB: Tange ALU124, 124.5mm
Gearing: 45/21 with Nexus 8 IGH (29-90 gear inches)
Brakes: Tektro R589; Shimano BL-MT62 levers
Saddle: Brooks B17
Seatpost: Kalloy Uno, 27.2
Stem: Velo Orange 1-1/8" threadless, 80mm, 6o rise, 25.4mm clamp
Headset: Velo Orange 1-1/8" threadless
Bars: Nitto Albatross
Lighting: Cateye HL-EL540 headlight, custom fork mount, Spanninga Pixeo taillight, fender-mounted
Extras:
Velo Orange fluted fenders, 58mm
Velo Orange bottle cage
Axiom Seymour panniers
Brass bell
Burley "Moosehead" rear rack (for Burley Piccolo trailercycle)
Pletscher double-leg kickstand
On to the pics!
