supercycle62

I just picked up a vintage 1980's SuperCycle Medalist Series II mixte bike for $20. It had been parked in a garage for a few years so there was little to no rust on it. All that I had to do was put air in the tires and adjust the seat height and handlebars to fit me and start riding! Here is the crappy pic from the seller.

TenGrainBread 

Sanwa Classic (1987). Rebuilt recently with mostly new parts, but the wheels, crankset, and headset are original.

irwin7638

Sweeet!

HEH3RD

First time caller, long time listener. I've been enjoying the mixte porn on this site for some time.

My wife uses her bike everyday to commute to work, the store, etc. Her older bike is an old mtn bike that has been there and back. It was time for me to find an upgrade. For her, the bike is a valuable utilitarian tool and not some exercise equipment that sits around the garage collecting dust. I found this mid 1980's Sekai 510 Sport Series on craiglist last summer. I really liked the look and aesthetics. Upon further investigation, this model was built for Sekai by Dodsun in Taiwan. As it turns out, they are one of the original Taiwanese bike makers. It is straight gauge 4130 cro-moly with hi-tensile stays and fork. Now, in searching for a vintage bike, one indication of quality is a forged dropout with a proper derailleur hanger. I've discovered that finding a mixte with high quality frame materials and construction is pretty tough! Some of you folks out there have been lucky to find some gems. Unfortunately, this bike has a stamped dropout and no derailleur hanger. Nonetheless, the bike's aesthetics caught my eye. Overall, the frame is of descent quality and in otherwise excellent condition. The paint is bright with only a few chips here and there. No rust. It was obviously not used that much and stored inside. Now, technically, I gather the bike is a "hybrid" mixte in that it has a step through frame with the mixte style rear stays.

The bike has 126mm rear spacing. It originally had a 7 speed freewheel and mediocre parts and 27" rims. I replaced everything on the bike. The only thing original in the photo is the frame and seat (which may get replaced later). Given the short triple stays, I was worried about spreading the frame. First thing I did was purchase off of Ebay some really nice NOS Shimano 600 hubs (the precursor to the ultegra line). The rear hub has 126mm spacing and originally came with a uni-glide hub body. FYI - uni-glide is the first generation of the modern cassette which was quickly replaced with hyper-glide. More information can be found on Sheldon Brown's website. Sheldon also discusses how one can replace a uni-glide hub body with a modern hyper-glide hub body that allows one to use modern cassettes. The swap worked perfectly. Sheldon also talks about how one can take a 9 speed cassette, remove a cog, and end up with an 8 speed cassette that will fit on a 7 speed hub body! I tried this and it worked great. I installed Shimano DuraAce 9 speed bar end shifters and installed them on paul thumbies. However, I had a difficult time getting the indexed shifting to work. The primary reason was that the derailleur hanger "adapter claw" for the rear derailleur was way out of whack. I straightened that out. Nonetheless, that adapter claw made me uneasy. A friend of mine said he could never get his indexed shifting to work well with those things.

I decided that 9 speed is not necessary at all. I switched the rear shifter to friction mode and installed a 7 speed cassette. Consequently, the bike sports a 9/10 speed crankset, 9 speed chain, 9 speed shifters (but in friction mode front and rear), with a 7 speed cassette. Works great. Modern cassettes have all sorts of ramps and indentations to make shifting really easy. But this poses a problem with friction shifting. The chain too easily ghost shifts. I've always had problems with friction shifting with a 9 speed drivetrain. However, with the wide 7 speed cassette cog spacing and the narrow 9 speed chain, ghost shifting has not been a problem at all.

I finally finished it recently. Wife really enjoys the ride!

Here are the parts:

Hubs: NOS Shimano 600 uni-glide 7 speed converted to hyper-glide.
Rims: SunRingle 700c 36 hole CR18 (polished) and double butted sapim race spokes.
Brakes: Tektro R539 caliper brakes. Note that I used a "front" brake for the rear as it has the longer bolt that fits the older style chainstay bridge.
Crankset: Sugino XD600 with 165mm arms 46-34-24. I replaced the chain rings with some 9 speed 7075 chain rings I had laying about. We have lots of hills so she needs that granny gear.
Cassette: Sunrace 7 speed cassette 12-28
Rear Derailleur: Microshift RD-R47 long cage. It has that shiny vintage look.
Front Derailleur: NOS Shimano 105 9 speed triple, also with that shiny vintage look.
Shifters: Shimano Dura-Ace bar end shifters on Paul's thumbies.
Brakes: Tektro 3 finger
Handlebar: Kalloy
Grips: Ergon cork.
Fenders: SKS
Tires: CST 28mm. I would have liked to install 32mm, but the fender clearance was too tight.
Pedals: MKS platform pedals and MKS caged clips.
Headset: Tange
Bottom Bracket: Shimano square tapered UN-55 107mm length.



https://www.flickr.com/photos/142271...57667343103682

motogeek 

I picked up this silver/black 1975 Motobecane Grand Jubile for my wife a couple years ago as it is a perfect match for my '75 men's GJ. Turns out that it is just a little too large for her so I'm selling both of them to a collector in California.

Last summer I picked up this (also) '75 red/black GJ mixte. Haven't gotten around to doing anything to it but it will require fork straighening and general rehab. All the parts are original.

fas2c

It has been a while since I've posted anything but here is a recent find

As pictured in the CL ad. It needs new tires and a bit of clean up but pretty awesome for its age. It rides like a dream. We drove to the beach to pick this gem up for the wife. My wife wants some Honjo hammered fenders, and a front basket.

AZORCH

Much to my delight, the boss said she wanted a vintage drop bar mixte. "No problem!" quoth I, and then began an ernest search for a frame to build up. You know how it is when you're not looking for something, and your world seems to be raining stuff? Well, just the opposite happened: I couldn't find a mixte frame to save my life. Forum member jeirvine reached out and let me know he had a cratered Moto frameset that he'd be willing to let go of - importantly - on the cheap. Skinflint that I am, I jumped. So this is the bike I built up for her from parts bin stuff, surprisingly light for a bunch of "nothing special" stuff.

But that's not the rest of the story.

The boss took a short ride down the street. She came back with a look of consternation etched on her face. "I don't like bending over to ride this," she said. "Can't you put 'normal' handlebars on it?"

"But you specifically asked for drop bars!"

"I don't like them."

Because I used bar ends, this - of course! - meant re-cabling everything. So here's the rest of the story:



And she's happy now. And I'm happy too, because I wanted to get her situated before nailing down the fender lines. Those are driving me crazy! (The boss thinks I'm OCD. There might be something to that.)

jade408

I don't know if I posted my bike here, but I just swapped my front basket for a porteur rack, so my mixte is now a porteur.

This is a Soma Buena Vista with 8sp Alfine, 650b wheels. Hiding my Brokks 67s for parking on the streets.

Here is a gallery:
https://imgur.com/a/SM1h2

juls

https://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...1&d=1475226364
https://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...1&d=1475226364
The Trek is a WIP/upgraded wheels/drs/calipers etc....
Inter 10 is a 1976-but upgraded components.
Need to take better pics of this.

drewrockstarr

I like my Peugeot Riviera. Got it for a steal as well as the French Motobecane. Sold the Moto, slighty heavier to ride.

Abu Mahendra

Gerryattrick

I have been looking around for a winter project and this barn find was going very cheap on Gumtree (the UK Craigslist).

I think it's an 84 Claud Butler Majestique in Reynolds 531. Plenty of surface scratches, but nothing serious, dead front mech, chain and saddle, but everything else will be good after a lot of work.

I wasn't looking for a mixte but this was just too good to turn down and I'm looking forward to rebuilding it.

irwin7638

non-fixie 

Lovely frame! I especially like the way the stay lines come together at the rear axle. I wouldn't mind more and bigger pics.

Gerryattrick

I've started already and the bike has been completely stripped. I will obviously post some pics of the finished rebuild, but if you're interested here are some more detailed pics of the dismantled frame. The rear dropouts do look quite attractive imo.

non-fixie 

Thanks! Much appreciated! Looking forward the results.

Rebecca19804

It has been six years since I shared photos of the Puch Princess mixte I had just acquired...!

She's been through a number of re-builds. Then I acquired a second one... here are the details of their current builds and here's a photo of each:





The "modern road bike" build was first done on the scruffier frame (the bike I bought in 2010). That build posed all sorts of challenges but it all came together in the end. After acquiring the second bike in better cosmetic condition, we did a "bodyswap"!

opticyellow

Hi all,

Total newbie here. So I plan to go home from work tonight, (1 hr to go, yay) and unpack my new present to myself - an 80s Peugeot mixte from ebay. My plan is to turn it into a single gear, freewheel. I don't have many hills, (and anyway my other single gear i used to ride in SF, no worries). I really really want to strip down what I won't use anyway. So, I'm here to ask what others have gone through maybe converting their old mixtes and/or Peugeots to single gear? I would ideally like to keep as many original parts as possible, (i.e, do i have to get a different back wheel to pull this off??) Anyway, my other hopes are to switch out the drop bars to, say promenades or northends?? And then put some cool, maybe velo orange hammered fenders and a better seat. Like I said, I have yet to open the box and look inside, pics later, when I figure out how to upload them from my desktop. So far, btw, I asked one LBS if they will be able to convert it for me and the guy was very reticent to turn it into a fixte, freewheel. Is this such a crazy request? It seems lots of people are doing this conversion all the time, no?

rickpaulos

You are opening a big can of worms. French made bikes are different in nearly every measurement. But you say 1980s, it could be a non-french made Peugeot. IMO the Asian made were much better although more bland in appearance.

I sold and repaired Peugeots in the 1970s and they were a hassle then. Every thing was different except for tires as they spec's 27" tires for the USA market. Seat posts, stems, bars, ders, pedal threads, headsets, bottom brackets, freewheels, are all different. Even frame tubing is different. Seat tubes were metric vs "english" for the rest of the world so some front derailleur clamps would bottom out before getting tight.

I'd say your first investment should be in some decent and accurate calipers and a thread gauge. Harbor Freight sells a digital 2 or 3 mode version that is very handy to own. #69304

Also inspect the front end of the frame for damage. I bought 3 (~1978) for my sisters and all 3 got bent from minor front end hits. The twin tube design done with cheap carbon-steel isn't very strong. Very few of the Peugeot bike line up were available in the Mixte design. Mostly the U08 which was a hi-ten frame.

If the wheels are "french threaded", changing out the rear hub is an easy fix. The Normandy hubs was very widely used in many brands of bikes (also marked Schwinn Appproved) that are an easy swap (yeah, respoking a wheel is easy) so you can fit a single freewheel.

Really, get some calipers. Sheldon Brown has a webpage on the critical dimensions. Print that chart out for reference when you get started. Measure everything on the bike and see if it is a french made Peugeot or not.
French Bicycles

Handlebar & stem. The .833 stem may work and will match to standard size handlebars. The .833 stem was a 'fix' for stems breaking back in the 1960s and 1970s. Several companies used that size (matched with thicker steering tube wall thickness) and there are new stems available in that size even today.

Rick

opticyellow

Wow thanks Rick! I have a specialist mechanic on it now who use to sell this bike back in the day. He will tackle the conversion sometime this next week I hope. In terms of the front end, however, I am worried that there is an issue I'm noticing either in the fork or hopefully just needing a little re-dishing in the front wheel. I will let him figure that out.
In terms of the stem, wow, I had two old Nitto stems lying around and both are a hare too wide to fit - so bummed! I will invest in those calipers I think. I took advantage of a Velo Orange 20% off sale they're were having through the 18th to purchase new fenders, handlebars, ('Left Bank', brake housing - clear braided, and 1 or 2 other items, can't remember now.

Ok, well pictures soon I hope! Please let the bike be structurally sound!!!!

badmother

I have carefully sanded stems down to fit in the past. Do it at your own risk- and it can not be reversed

9volt 

This is a Takara mixte I just started working on. It has Suntour dropouts and based on the fork stamping Ishiwata tubing. The frame is relatively large at 22"/56cm and close to my size. Might be a keeper.



Bearings and races look good



There is no tubing sticker but the fork is stamped Ishiwata 3J. Does 3J indicate the tubing type?

sunburst

Now this brings a smile to my face. I'm working on my fifth vintage mixte restoration, but love the mini velo's also. Very cool.

rickpaulos

Looks like those were hand stamped, one at a time. They could be a date code similar to those found on most Japanese made components. Different companies followed different codes. some are 2 letters, others a letter and number. If you check the components, you will find the codes.

Here are descriptions for many:
Date of Manufacture of Bicycle Components can be used to date a bike: component dating

Tange forks 3 L would be 1983 December. check the rest of the parts to see if those are near that.

I did a single speed conversion on a Takara a while back. Here are pictures:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rickpa...57629656524248

rick

Abu Mahendra

Thanks. It is a minivelo and a mixte. A mixte minivelo. Not a lot of those.

A few last mods...it now looks like this: