Classic & Vintage - Go-Fast Wifebike - recommend a non-French Mixte?

New project in my life! Mrs. Road Fan wants to change to a utility bike (her old Breezer Liberty with a pair of Breezer grocery panniers) and a drop-bar bike with indexing. She doesn't care how many clicks, it just has to have clicks. I've also convinced her that steel is realer than her previous aluminum, and will give a better, more bump-tolerant ride.

We'll be selling her pretty nice Cannondale Road Warrior 800, with Shimano compact 10 speed and pretty nice Shimano clincher wheels.

Obviously, more tire room is better, better tubing is better, and nicer paint is nicer. She also likes still to be of a girly style, but we don't want to spring for a Terry Isis quite yet. We'll see how she feels after I get a job.

So mixte design, good tubing, non-French (needs to be rebuilt with a modern Frankengruppo), and ... sport-tour cool.

Let the suggestions now begin ...

Anything Japanese. I built up a Centurion Lemans 12 for my wife with various parts I had on hand. Nothing special tubing wise, but it is Tange Champion 5 cromoly (5 is the lowest Tange grade).

Mixtes are tough to find, so I would not be too picky. Only mixtes I have found this year were Peugeots..... If you want indexing, you are probably going to have to built it up that way. I put friction on this Centurion, as again, that is what I had. It would be easy to upgrade to something better. If my wife rode it regularly, I would probably upgrade it to seven speed brifter bike. That would be a nice project.

I do also have a Terry that is Tange 1 tubing, and has indexed shifting. Terry's are even a tougher find.

It started as this (fortunately it came with a bottom pull rear brake caliper, and the brakes accommodated 700c wheels just fine):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3635/3406877253_538ba11259_o.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2592/3740074369_a12425f84e_o.jpg

If you can get thickwalled (Japanese) French-threaded BB cups, you can build up what you want on a Peugeot or Motobecane frame. If you get a late 1970s Moto or early 1980s Peugeot, you can force aluminum ISO bearing cups into its Swiss-threaded BB -- been there ... done that.

Yeah, there are some decent Japanese mixtes out there, but I have a feeling your search is going to be limited more by whats for sale than what we recommend as good. Mixtes are in style, that's all there is to it.

In any case, in addition to the Centurion above, I've seen some fairly decent Univega mixtes.

My girlfriend just bought herself a modern mixte (Trek Belleville). Definitely more of a utility bike than a gofast roadie, but still pretty damn cool as far as I'm concerned.

'Go-fast' being a relative term as mixte frames were generally offered only on the entry to low-middle range of a given company's bikes. From what I've seen (and I've bought five of them in the last year, including yesterday :rolleyes:) I bet not one in 20 mixtes gets past the level of stem shifters, safety levers, and Tange #5 or similar tubing. Not that they're bad bikes, far from it.

But if your definition of fast is a road bike weighing in the low 20s, you're going to be hard pressed to find a mixte for your wife that is less than 26. Fine for all but really hardcore riding, right?

As for recommendations, this 1986 Miyata 100 is a basic bike on the specs, but pretty sweet nonetheless. We have a couple of Shogun 400 mixtes too, of which the 1985 model is particularly nice.


(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3427/3713148547_bace4e1c66_)

I don't know a ton about the model...but...the Univega Nuovo Sport mixte I scored for my wife for $30 seems nice enough. Miyata triple-butted chromoly...indexed shifting...DT shifters...Araya alloy wheels. I threw on a Brooks B17 and a Pletscher along with some fresh cork and a pair of the RH sale Minehana panniers and I would say it's a pretty good ride!

Well, my wife likes her mixte, but in upright form.
As far as that riding position, her Trek 7.5FX is nearly the same, and it's a lot faster, and it clicks.

Well, my wife likes her mixte, but in upright form.
As far as that riding position, her Trek 7.5FX is nearly the same, and it's a lot faster, and it clicks.

My favorite mixte is the 1984 Trek 420L. Trek only made it one year, so you don't see many of them out there.

+2 But when it comes to mixtes, they are all hard to find, and most of them are pretty low end, so if you see anything decent, you need to pounce!


For riding, my wife likes her 1994 Trek 950 a lot better than the Centurion. It clicks too. Paint's a little chipped up, but it started with a $20 frameset and a $5 donor. I should go ahead and touch up the paint. Ignore the high seat position, that was for my test ride.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3229/2959020027_e798fa87a5_b.jpg

Bump!

And thanks, folks!

There out there. I have a 531 Raleigh Mixte.

This is a nice one, but priced for our market.
http://dallas.craigslist.org/sdf/bik/1793960206.html

buldogge, where the heck did you find that beaut??? As a fellow St. Louisan and CL lurker, that class of mixte never shows up! I ask because I'm looking for a large framed mixte (>57cm st) right now, and have been locally for few months.

I went over to look at a different bike on the Eastside (Columbia) and the lady had already sold it from underneath me...but...she had this mixte for $35 and a purple Cannondale SR300 for $85. The Cannondale was a little small + she wouldn't budge...but she knocked $5 off the basically unridden Univega! :lol:

Couldn't pass it up for $30!!!

Sometimes an initial bike you look at will lead to other things...this woman had a good 30 bikes she needed to get rid of (auction/antique business). Most were low-end and/or junk. I probably should have bought the Cannondale but I don't really care for them and don't really need another bike just to have...gotta be something interesting.


buldogge, where the heck did you find that beaut??? As a fellow St. Louisan and CL lurker, that class of mixte never shows up! I ask because I'm looking for a large framed mixte (>57cm st) right now, and have been locally for few months.

Raleigh Super Course, Centurion, Fuji or Univega

http://velo-orange.blogspot.com/2010/09/mixte-build-kit.html

Yeah, I'm looking, Johnny (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?678832-Large-Frame-Mixtes-VO-vs-Soma ;)
Just want to also shop around for something older and cheaper too.

Much thanks for the list, lord_a!

Ah, so you're a good bike hunter, buldogge. I can't get that into the hunt, but I love figuring out options.

If I see anything I'll be happy to let you know. Large frame Mixtes are hard to find though...


Ah, so you're a good bike hunter, buldogge. I can't get that into the hunt, but I love figuring out options.

Bridgestone 300.

http://gallery.me.com/justinhughes/100135/IMG_3072/web.jpg?ver=12832343740001

http://inlinethumb36.webshots.com/45283/2760023170068014369S600x600Q85.jpg (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2760023170068014369VlwVBW)
http://inlinethumb23.webshots.com/15126/2363758060068014369S600x600Q85.jpg (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2363758060068014369LbHuMQ)

Stop it with the mixte pr0n! Those are incredible. I assume there are like two of each in the wild and will never be put up for public sale ;)

Don't rule out gazelle
http://velospace.org/files/Maxima.jpg

If you aren't sold on the double top tubes, the Schwinn LeTours are pretty nice, and are fairly common. They have the single top tube, similar to the Riv Betty Foy or Yves Gomez. If you do want top tubes, remember that Raleigh made a few Mixte frames in the 80's. I've got a Rapide now that is pretty nice - It's going to be built up into a fixed gear this winter, I think.

Whoa! That Gazelle is very nice.

Sure don't see many of those!

Raleigh Super Course, Centurion, Fuji or Univega

I would add Bridgestone or Nishiki to that list. Got one of each in a Mixte frame and find them very good.

How about a nice Cinelli. believe this bike is still available: http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/kk267/slotcar55/?action=view&current=IMG_0023.jpg

I'm not sure the they're go-fast 'caure they're set up fairly upright, buy my wife had a couple of Raleighs that came pretty cheaply.

Her (probably 80's) Tora:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/4651902574_95617414bf_b.jpg

And her 81 Record:

http://velospace.org/files/NishikiMixtie.jpg

I have no idea what this is, but it just showed up on the phx cl

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/bik/1947328197.html

Funny, but after all these years my wife decided that she wanted a mixtie frame. I built up a Vitus 19" frame aluminum road bike for her, over 20+ years, ago, and she no longer rides it. I found a Puch purple mixtie frame road bike with Suntour derailleurs and safety brake levers. She loves it, which surprises me because she usually rode a mens frame bike. Ultimately I would like to find her a Motobecane mixtie frameset, but for now this will do. I am trying , without success, to find a Sugino Maxy double crankset in a 34/48 combo, rather than change to a triple on the front. (Right now it is a 40/52 front and a 14-32 rear). There are used Univegas, Puchs, and Schwinn mixties around in my area. I have not seen a mixtie Raleigh in ages, let alone a Super Course. Kudos on the Trek 420L bike.

The Soma Buena Vista mixte is a newer one on the market. It should be completely compatible with modern equipment, and I believe it (frame only) goes for about $450. It's made with Tange Infinity tubing.

Thanks again, all! It's really nice when a thread I start not only teaches me something, but takes on some life of its own.

Mrs. Road Fan's story: We found her a really nice 1998 Terry Classic, standard diamond frame with 700c front and back, and Mirage 8-speed gruppo. She LOVES it, and being red, it looks fast, as well as being a really efficient bike for her. We've done two metrics and a number of 30 milers together in a month, and she feels the miles MUCH less. I put a B17S Imperial on it for her.

Mrs. Road Fan's story: We found her a really nice 1998 Terry Classic,


Nice! Need pics.

http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr314/jimr2527/Bob%20Jackson/IMG_0274.jpg

Wow, Jim! I'll take one of them, that Cinelli, and a Vent Noir. Don't wrap them, I'll ride them on my way home!

Working on pictures of the Georgena Terry.

Also my Woodrup Giro Frankenbike for the FB thread, and my Mondonico Vintage/Ergo10 for the Vintage/Ergo thread. I might throw in the Trek 610 just for fun.