alecw35

I had a few mixtes over time. I had a Raleigh Panache, before. I had cut the seat stays and bent them back. welded a cross tube from the seat clamp to the brake bridge. The intention was to fit a chopper type seat on a hinge at back. then a spring on top of the seat tube. But my welding wasnt too great. so never finished it.

Ive got another Panache at the junk yard. Heres it when I got it home. bag has the chain in it.


I tried various mtb forks in it. as I wanted suspension forks and smaller wheels. nothing had a long enough steerer tube. I was back at the junk yard. Found the Panaches forks.
I fitted them with the moon bars and bmx style stem from a Bart Simpson kids bike. I fitted mtb 26" wheels. those parts were from junk yard again. but tyres on wheels were 1.95. so rubbed the frame and fork. I got a pair of 1.5" tyres from ebay. they have clearance. look better too. I fitted ape bars, as moon bars rubbed my legs on steering. I fitted bmx brakes. they have enough reach. so no welding or rubbishy brackets need fitted.
Im going to make a chopper type seat. a bit of wood with foam and a leather cover. Ive got a long cushion. An old leather jacket and a big chrome stappler. but dont have a bit of wood yet.
Im thinking I could cut the seat stays at the seat cluster and bend them back as a sissy bar. I did this on my first panache and they cracked at the drop outs. could hold it somehow so the tube bends a bit above the join. If it does crack. I'll cut them off. then make a sissy bar out of stainless tube. a hand rail from a boat washed up on the shore near my house. its about 7 feet of 19mm stainless steel.
Heres the latest pic of the bike.

I'll spray it when Im happy with the way it runs.

alecw35

Ive got some pics of my old Raleigh Panache that I modified
.
that frame was a bit smaller than my present one. I fitted a 5 speed 20" rear wheel. MTB 26" suspension forks and wheel. Raleigh Pioneer SR Custom cranks. they had 2 rings behind a smoked perspex chainguard.

I wanted a chopper type seat with springs under it. So welded, badly, a cross tube. I bent back the seat stays. they cracked at the drop outs. I tried to weld them. But my skills at arc welding arent very good.
That bike was thrown out, when I got rid of everything, following a family dispute. Was made homeless by the gits. :/

alecw35

I have been using my Panache. The chopper bars I got from ebay werent any good. the centre sleeve on them had cracked its weld. So bars would turn in the stem. I broke a bolt trying to tighten it up. :/
So I had a BMX type stem from a Bart Simpson cruiser bike. Its got a 22.2mm quill tube. So fits. I put Mongoose bars in them. They have the upright tubes are thicker at the bottom, then thin out at the top. like a wine bottle. Not to good for fitting bungee hooks too. I'll fit other straight guage bmx bars to it.
Ive got alloy mtb brake levers on it. They are for V brakes. Leaves the lever with a firm but dead feel when connected to sidepull brakes. Even tho theres about 20mm gap between pads and rims.
I fitted a cheap mirror. Its rubbish. bendy stems about 3" long. should be more rigid and a foot long, fnar!!!. I can just about see traffic under my arm.
I went upto Dundee. A town about 10 miles away. Heres a pic of my bike coming down to the edge of town. You can see the huge wind turbines.

FlatTop

Looks good. That Pioneer crankset on the first bike looks great! It's a shame it was lost, keep an eye peeled at the junkyard for another.

jockotobling

I like the look of the mixte. It is nice to see someone customizing one.

alecw35

Im getting annoyed at this bike. I biked to the Broughty Ferry Gala day on sunday. Great sunny day. lots to see at the fair. bike going well. So I biked home a long way. was about 3 miles from home on a quiet country road. there was some earth lumps on the road, from a tractors tyres. I got rattled about by them. The left leg of my jeans went in the chain. ripped a 3 inch long hole in there. First time in 30 years of cycling thats happened to me.
Then the next day, I was going to the library. got to the end of the path from my house. and my left foot was caught. The brake had caught my laces of my trainers. ripped 6 inch off of the lace. The rear brakes under neath the top tubes, just behind the seat tube. Its a MX1000 style bmx sidepull brake. Admittedly it pokes out that side a fair bit. actually further ot than the crank. so I just put my foot further out on the pedal. Well not on monday, so it seems. :/
I'll see if I have thinner brakes. got some more modern design calipers. see if there better.

michael k

Been fitting up a beach cruiser mixte.Not sure I like the way its turning ooutso far.

alecw35

have a google for Cotton motorcycles. they had a similar frame. In the 1920s. They had a young lad con his way to getting a ride on the Isle of Man TT races. Stanley Woods sent letters to a few motorbike companies, saying he was a successful rider on another brand of bike. Cotton gave him a bike. Start of a successfull career for him

FlatTop

Didn't the Scott motorcycle look a bit like these?

alecw35

Yes they did. Cotton had straight tubes from wheel spindle to headstock. Scott were more like a regular ladies bike.

alecw35

Ive been working on a Silverfox SFX mountain bike that I got from the scrap yard for £5. Its an alloy frame, with a big banana shaped alloy swing arm. Ive got it going good now. Did 3 miles yesterday around town.
Anyway. I took off the bars and stem to paint them. As they are rusty. The bars were too pitted. so I sanded 2 handlebars I had. so I had a choice of shape.
Heres a tip for painting them. I had some old worn tyres. I ripped the metal bead wire from the edge of the tyres. Its about the thickness of brake inner wire. I straightened it out. pushed it all the way thru the handle bar. bent over one end. the other end was bent into a hook. then hooked onto the clothes line and spray them out in the sun. A good height for working. and theres no chance of them falling over if they were just propped against the wall.
Ive got the cranks to do as well. there heavier and tricky to sand. but hopefully they will come out nice