mswantak

Set aside you gender identity issues and give us a gander at your mixtes.

Here's that '72 Motobecane Orly 'Belle de Paris' I picked up the other day. Got it from the original owner who still had all the paperwork from when she bought it at Emporium's Sporting Goods Department -- assembly instructions, Huret setup chart, caliper instructions.

nlerner

That Moto Orly is very sweet, Mike. Here are two 80s bikes that I sold on CL back in the spring, a Miyata and a Raleigh. Both came to me for free, and went to good homes for a reasonable price.

Neal

xeney

Here is mine ... not a great photo but I love this bike a lot. It's a Nishiki Sport, I think an '84. Obviously we've made some changes -- it had drop bars and stem shifters, and it was made for a woman about a foot shorter than I am. Right now it's my daily commuter and my grocery-getter, but my husband thinks I am going to need to swap out the rear wheel for something stronger if I keep carrying beer in those rear baskets. (He doesn't want me to stop carrying beer so I think he's either going to buy or build me a wheel.)

mswantak

Noah, that Pug's a sweetie; got the same Pryma saddle as the Orly. It's crying out for white handlebar grips, though.

Grand Bois

If I could just get someone to make some decals for it.....

[IMG][/IMG]

Seggybop

That Miyata was total win; I wish I could find one like that. I didn't even know they made mixte-type frames.

I had a Peugeot mixte bike that I let an exchange student use, but she went back to the homeland and I never found out where the bike is T_T

Mhendricks

Mike,
Sweet little mixte of yours. I'm drooling I sold that Centurion today. Anyways, here's some pics of the ones I've come across and a picture of my wife's pink Centurion.

raverson

Fuji Allegro that was sold on CL awhile back. Same as Mhendricks above. Snapped up by a girl from Cal Berkeley

raverson

A couple more that I sold to the OP, mswantak, awhile ago. Mike did you ever find that Schwinn?

swen0171 

I built this up last winter for my wife. It is the only picture I have right now but since then it has a nitto rear rack and SKS silver finders are next (I bought a set of dimpled Honjo fenders for it but the dedicated long single speed dropouts made it pretty impossible to set up, DAMN!).

She loves it, it has given her the gift of cycling because now she rides almost every day. Kogswell doesn't make them any more, and he gave me a good price on the frame, wheels (with his beautiful single speed rear hub), and the long reach double pivot brakes. He is an excellent guy and everyone should look at his stuff before buying any new bike/frame.

It seemed crazy to build a mixte at this $ level but now I wish there were some options for me. Other than a $3000 rivendell what does a 60cm rider do when he wants a mixte for his very self! Glad to see all the fancy mixties out there keep them coming. I'm building Kristin a geared road mixte this winter so we can take on the hills of southern Indiana next summer!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/97495177@N00/238540590/

Brynnar

mswantak

No, dammit. I was assuming the thieves were neighborhood kids, so I was sure it would eventually turn up in the bushes somewhere. After all this time I guess the little snot-noses must've hopped on BART with it and headed for Oakland.

texbike

Here is my newly acquired Peugeot PE 25.

It appears to be an European model with the following features:

-black head-lugs (with little geometric cutouts in them)
-650b wheels (Rigida rims with nicely polished Atom hubs).
-3 speed drivetrain with a Huret Svelto rear derailleur and Atom freewheel (shifter on drive-side DT)
-Front and rear chrome fenders
-Headlight, taillight, and generator
-Rear rack
-Huret wingnuts on the front and back wheels
-Peugeot bell, and
-Peugeot-branded center pull brakes.

It's 99% all orginal and in beautiful condition. I've rebuilt the headset, hubs, and added new tires. The bottom bracket will be done in a week or two as household projects and travel allow and I'll add new brake pads to the centerpulls. It's fun to ride!

The original owner decided it wasn't worth taking with them when they moved and left it on the curb for trash. It now has a new, more appreciative home.

Cheers,

Texbike

tomacropod

holy mother of beautiful bicycles! Vive le hard rubbish!

that looks to be in wonderful condition.

- Joel

mswantak

Damn, tex -- what a little jewel! Have you opened up that Soubitez headlamp yet, and discovered the extra bulb holder inside?

texbike

Thanks for the kind words. It is a really nice little bike. I haven't opened the headlight yet (it works along with the tailight) so haven't discovered the bulb holder. Interesting! I'll have to take a peek this weekend.

Other than the less-than-stellar braking performance (35 + year old pads are still on it), everything seems to work fine. It shifts very smoothly and the bell has a very distinctive ring. The generator works, the tailight shines red, and the headlight actually lights the road in front of you (with the original yellow lens)

Cheers,

Texbike

Noah Scape

That is pure sweetness! What are the brakes on that, by the way?

MnHPVA Guy

Here's a shot of the mixte I built for my wife in 1979.



Mostly Reynolds 531, with laterals made from Reynolds 5/8" seat stays spliced to 5/8" plain gauge 4130. Much stiffer in torsion than the typical 12mm laterals of the time.

Braze-ons weren't commonly available in this area in '79. So cable stops were salvaged form Simplex front derailleurs, the pump pin and diamond shaped reinforcement were cut from an old Raleigh 3 speed frame and the brazed on brake pivots were cobbled from bits of seatstay and old rear axles. Cable guides were cut from tubing.

She's a great-grandmother now, and still uses it regularly on club rides up to 50 miles. Over the years, the bike has evolved to meet her current tastes and needs. Tires are fatter, the train wreck shifting has been replaced with a Sturmey Archer S5, saddle is now a Honey Brooks B-66 and pedals are SPD. Due to degenerated lumbar disks, she now needs flat bars with one of those adjustable angle "Comfort" stems sticking straight up. (I probably ought to take a more recent photo.

BTW All the mixtes shown on this thread are sweet, but that Peugeot PE 25 is an absolute stunner.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/35685161@N00/ Shows what may be the nicest mixte ever. Built with 650B wheels, by Peter Wiegle, for his sweetie.

Mhendricks

Nice mixte there Curt. I looked at the pics of Peter's and that is very nice. I'm drooling as I speak and "YES" I agree on that Peugeot. There are some sweet mixtes out there and that's why the women just love them.

MnHPVA Guy

I should have been clear that I'm not Curt Goodrich. I just linked you to his photos. He's a friend and was probably in 3rd grade in '79.

BTW He is Rivendell's US builder and one of framebuilding's elite. Because only a few of the bikes he's built have his name on them, he's sometimes referred to as "The best framebuilder you've never heard of.".

Mark Stonich, Minneapolis MN.

Serendipper 

Do guys ride Mixtes? Were they not originally unisex frames?

I think a cheap one would make a great winter commuter, for car coats, etc.

The Rivendell site had an intriguing Peterson prophecy that " we will one day all be riding mixtes".

!

Venom10mm

Real men ride mixtes.........

nlerner

I just saw a Specialized aluminum hybrid thing parked outside my building that must have had a top tube sloping down from head to seat tube at a good 30-degree angle or more. Is that the new manly mixte? Or some kind of modern metrosexual model?

Neal

mswantak

If I could find one that had enough distance between the seat tube and headtube, I'd have no qualms about it as an everyday rider. All the ones I've ridden are a little close-coupled for me though.

-=(8)=-

I have a Peugeot Mixte..... How much more manly can you get than me,
I ask ?

10 lbs of "Y" Chromos in a 5 lb bag !!
Nothing sez "wutchyu lookin' at ?!?" like a guy on french mixte

East Hill

Here is my 1980 Centurion LeMans mixte
https://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...argaret006.jpg
https://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...argaret008.jpg
https://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...argaret007.jpg

It's drying off after being out in the rain.

And no, the saddle doesn't slope down nearly as much as it would appear from the angle of the photo.

East Hill