bicyclridr4life

Did anyone mass produce a mixte that uses "Mountain Bike" 26 inch wheels and tires sizes, or were they all 26x1 3/8; 27 inch and 700c?

I don't recall ever seeing a mixte with 26x1.75/1.95/2.2 tires.

I want to swap my mountain bike parts over to a mixte frame, because it has become quite painful to get my leg over my bike.

thumpism 

I built one from a Chiorda road bike mixte. Used a cruiser fork for the front but this frame took the rear wheel fine. I built this for my then-girlfriend in '83 and it's in our garage at this moment. Don't know if anything was mass-produced but there's bound to be some out there. Who could have missed that niche?

hokiefyd 

I don't know, but the swells in the chain stays of the frame of my '60s Pug sure appear that they were designed for 26" tires:


IMG_20180524_194416050 by jnjadcock, on Flickr


IMG_20180524_194428690 (1) by jnjadcock, on Flickr

Those are 26x1.75" tires. Here's the same frame with 700x42s (which really measure 38mm):


IMG_20180524_193604433_LL by jnjadcock, on Flickr

It only barely squeezes in there. It appears that the frame was sized for 26" or 27.5/650b wheels (559mm or 584mm)...but that would make for excessively long brake arms. I compromised and I'm running 700x35 on it right now, which fit nicely between the rear chain stays, but the frame swell still doesn't visually line up with the tire bulge.

Velo Mule

Good question. I have been tempted to think that you could take an older women's Trek 800 series, or similar bike and braze on mid-stays from the intersection of where the women's top tube meets the set tube, to the drop out. I even have a seat stay that I saved for that eventuality.

I like Mixtes and this would be a good solution to make a mountain bike into a mixte. The downside is it does involve brazing and then painting.

The Peugeot U0-8's seem to have lots of clearance. This could be an option as well. One problem is how to mount brakes to the rear wheel.

Thiumpism, nice job on that Chiorda.

TenGrainBread 

There were plenty of mountain mixte bikes in the late 80s and 90s. I see 26in GT, Fuji, Giant mixtes all the time.

Definitely no need for frame modification or wheel swaps or anything like that.

Velo Mule

TenGrainBread, that is good to know. Of the rack. is better than custom anytime.

madpogue 

We turned down one of those "near mixte" GTs a couple months ago; very cool design, but this one had been rode hard and put away wet. Purists would balk at calling it a mixte, since it didn't have long-stays from the head tube to the dropouts. Rather, the "top" tube met up with a third set of stays at the seat tube. Overall geometry is the same as a "true" mixte", though, and the top tube extends beyond the seat tube a few cm, which tips a hat to their "men's" triple-triangle design. Hah - here's one right on BF - Unusual Modern MIXTE Mountain Bike .

That era also saw a lot of smaller-frame MTBs with pretty steeply sloped top tubes that might fit the bill. My wife has a 1991 Talera with a TT frame, and the

"So I'm packing my bags for the Mixte Mountains,
Over the hills, where the sprits fly."