Originally Posted by
Batman_3000
This will make me unpopular, but here we go : irrespective of Rene Herse having made some mixtes, living in France and having mostly grown up here, there is the man's bike, for men and for women who race or may want to prove that they are no different from men; there are women's bikes for normal women (the definition of normal woman, I admit, has changed a bit since 1970); and there is the mixte which I have only seen used by women wanting the absence of high TT with a more sporting or whatever ride, and older men who may have difficulty in lifting a leg over a men's bike. Any other definition of post war mixte, you are being fed a tall and embellished story, likely as not by somebody who has a commercial agenda. Doesn't of course mean that mixtes can not now be considered fashionable or efficient or anything you like. Those are just the facts.
Both europe and the rest of the world is swarmed with French bikes (around here they are as common as empty bottles) so you do not need to be French to be familiar with the french bikes.
The mixte is first of all a stronger frame than the bikes for "normal women". The mixte is not that easy to step over, you really need to lift your leg. I just mowed the rear brake from over to under the "toptubes" to avoid kicking the brakes out of adjustment ewery tine I mount, I sometimes think that lifting my leg over the seat as on a mens bike would be easyer.
Maybe you see a lot of mixtes with dropbars but they can easely be set up with swept back bars. The bars and seat is what decides the riding style (if it is going to be for "normal women"- I think you mean riding more upright-or for the more sporty fast style). I`ve got two bikes with frames for "normal women" with drop bars, and a mixte with swept back bars so this is not really a good description of the difference. Maybe you just do not find them interesting so you did not really look into them?
Most of these are not bikes with dropbars:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/mixte/pool/ http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ght=show+mixte