This French Ficelle Mixte's brake blocks were hardly used. Mounted on Racer centre pulls, they still have good stopping power but are a bit too noisy. And although the tires still look unused, cracks started to show once I inflated them to the proper psi. It cleaned up quite well with the use of fine steel wool. The rear tire has to be adjusted as it almost touches the lower left chain stay. Since I got it more than a month ago, so far, I've only had to replace the inner tubes and the tires. The chain appears to be a bit short as the rear derailleur seems stretched to its limit when moved to the biggest cog. Got to get me a set of those Kool Stop pads.