Hi all,

I am in the market for a commuter bike for a 5 mile (one way) commute in the Boston metro area. The roads are terrible here, and to avoid the traffic, some of my commute may involve some trail riding through city parks. As such, I'd really like to be riding on a hybrid tire, not a road tire, and not a mountainbike tire.

In looking for cheap old used bikes in working order, I have really fallen in love with the mixte frame. I'm a 5'4" woman with short legs and a long torso, so a bike with a straight top-tube is really just not very workable for me and I hate the way those swoopy women's bikes look and love the architecture of the mixte.

Will all mixte frames accommodate hybrid tires? I asked someone selling a Shogun mixte road bike and he said it wouldn't. But in reading the threads here it seems that many people fix them up and call them "basically hybrids."

Any mixte frames (brands) I should avoid if I'm planning to put hybrid tires on it? Any that are particularly bad or heavy compared to the rest? Thanks in advance for any advice.

I'm looking at a Peugeot tomorrow that is going to tempt me something awful, but I really don't want something that'll be difficult to find substitute parts for.

-Stephanie