Originally Posted by
Firochromis
Hi all,
Recently with help of you guys I acquired my first steel frame and now my wife is jealous about it. I guess she feels the truth about being in the second place. Anyway, I want to buy her a suitable frame so she can join me.
Ok, she is not most sportive wife in the world. She will be commuter when rides, and she doesn't feel comfortable with a dropbar. So I think a mixte frame is best choice. What do you think about mixte frames? Are they worth to own?
Lots of people own and love Mixte frames. If you are on Facebook, look for a group called Mixte Heaven. You will get all kinds of info and Mixte Love there.
I have almost all components of Campagnolo Veloce grupset and Campagnolo Proton wheelset to use on this bike. But on the other hand, I know that she'll not give their worth, any they may be a bit overkill for a seldom used bike. So buying a complete bicycle (not only frame) and selling the Campys may be a better option.
This would be entirely possible, although you would need to have a shop spread the rear triangle to fit the wider rear hub. I have done this on several older steel-framed bikes, and it is not a problem. You also would need to get a suitable bottom bracket for the cranks, because the existing one has cotters.
Currently I have two options:
1.
Seller labels it as a PH-45. Year info is absent. This one comes with a Simplex rear shifter and Peugeot crankset. This is in my home city (I haven't seen it yet).
It is $270
Looks like an early 1980s bike. It will almost certainly be made with Peugeot's proprietary Carbolite tubing, which in my experience offers a very sweet ride, at least under about 20 mph. The bike has fittings for lights, a rack, and so on. IMO this is seriously overpriced; in Seattle you can find nice Mixtes of similar age, in good complete shape, for $150-175.
Seller claims it to be from 1972. No modem info. This is a complete bicycle with Weinmann Brakes, Maillard hubs and Rigida wheels, Simplex derailleur and rear shifter and
it is $210 This will be shipped so another $30-40 for that.
This bike is definitely not a 1972; the frame paint suggests a late 1970s to me, going from memory. The bike will be another Carbolite frame, and it looks like the wheel rims are steel. Those do not stop well when they are wet. It looks like it is in better shape than the other bike. This bike also appears to have a cottered steel crank, and would need a new bottom bracket if you want to put on your Campy crank.
Any reason to choose 1 over 2? If I can use a 10 speed 2012 Veloce set on this frames I CAN think about the choice, but if this is not possible I don't want to haunt vintage parts from ebay anymore.
Like I said above, you could use the cranks and hubs with Minor adjustments. Your brifters would work with drop bars, and you might be able to find other shifters that could work on flat bars.
As I said my wife is not a sportive type. So I'm not sure 5 gears will be enough for her. Can I add a front derailleur to mixt frames?
yes, indeed you can, Firat. But consider also the option of putting a smaller single chainring on the crank. It's not so much an insufficient number of gears, but having a low gear that is still too hard.