Hi. I'm looking for your opinions on step-throughs in general and mixtes in particular.

My wife rode a nice British 3 speed in her college days (um, yeah, back when they were actually making them new). Since then, she has only ridden in the stoker seat of our tandems, until recently. After riding a Townie she recalled how much fun it is to ride on her own. One thought leading to another, it occurred to her that she might like to ride her own bike for touring, instead of always being on the tandem. But she still is not open to the idea of a diamond frame.

We're looking for a mixte, or other step-through, that would be suitable for multi-day tours. I have explained to her that there isn't (AFAIK) any such bike equivalent to my (wonderful) Miyata 1000...but maybe you know better?

I have seen the beautiful Rivendells, but it would be our preference to start with something a lot less pricey to see whether she enjoys it before moving up to the luxury market. (Actually, it would be my preference to find something from the 1980s 'golden age' of bicycles that she would fall madly in love with, and skip the luxury market altogether!)

(Yeah, I know that not everyone agrees with me that the best mid '80s bikes are the pinnacle of human achievement, but that's a different thread, right?)

So then...what do you think? Who made great "ladies" bikes that will be comfortable to ride 50 to 75 miles a day carrying about 1/3 of a couple's touring kit?