bigbossman 

While working last week out in the Central Valley, BlankCrows took me to a bike bone yard out at the U.C. Davis campus. The bike pile there was mostly a spider condo, and most all of the "good stuff" had been long ago picked and pulled by the fixie crowd. But, as we were about to leave we spotted a little blue Nishiki mixte frame set. It was dirty and the steel parts (bars, seat post cable stops, chain, FD) were crusted with rust, but it looked like it would clean up nice so I gave a donation to the students running the place and took it home.

I completely stripped it down for evaluation, and quickly discovered that the stem was frozen in place. After 3 days of soaking it in ammonia, I was able to get it loose and am now ready to build.

I just finished cleaning the frame and buffing out the paint - this one will be a real jewel and I'm glad I took a chance on it. The headset and BB are now cleaned and rebuilt, and all the chrome bits came out of their Oxalic Acid bath in sparkling condition.

So here's the deal - I can go ahead and do the standard 6 speed build and make it like any other mixte I sell (which are pretty popular ), or I can do something a little bit different. I have on hand enough parts to build it up into a retro-modern road bike with drops and a modern 8 speed Sora group (with triple, even), or I can also go with a town bike 7 speed flat-bar trigger shifter set up.

The ultimate goal will be to sell it off, so with that in mind - What do you think I should do, and why?

USAZorro

Standard six speed. Why mess with success?

stringbreaker

I like the townie idea

cyclotoine

6 speed cruiser style...

or 5 speed like the one I just built for my girlfriend.. a 1982 Kawahara apollo your nishiki being a kawamura.

gregam

I also think a townie would be a good build.

Little Darwin

For some reason I think mixtes look best as flat bar bikes.

WNG

My choice of townie is purely from a bike enthusiast's POV. But you must make it marketable.
IMO, the mixte frame is perfect for the commuter/townie bike. More comfort, unisex, and building it like a hybrid gives you a versatile bike. 700x35 armored or knobby tires are resistant to flatting, SIS 21-spd shifting to handle anything it'll likely see, racks and/or fenders as required. I'd build it up as an urban gorilla.
But you might not find much appeal for it. The guys will think it's a girl's frame, the girls will think it looks too butch.

hxzero

I think they look best with some swept-back bars like North Roads or albatross bars, or even moustache bars.

John E

I would gear it with a triple in front, 7-speed in back. With flat handlebars, I would favor either barcons or thumb shifters.

bigbossman 

So far, standard build with flat/swept-back bars seems to be the consensus. as USAZorro said - "Why mess with success?".
If I go standard 6 speed, I can use either 700c or 27" wheels. If I go 7 speed trigger shifter, I've got a couple of decent 700c sets that will work well. hmmmm......

Personally, I think the best use of a mixte frame is as a town, path, or campus bike. For that use, an upright riding position would be preferable.... at least it seems to me. There's a 99% chance this bike will end up on the U.C. Berkeley campus or somewhere in the city (S.F.)

OK - standard upright bars, stem shifters, and a 6 speed wheel set it is. That will be a popular configuration, and give me the biggest ROI, to boot. I thought a mixte with a modern drive train would be cool, but when it is all said and done it won't bring back the money I'd have into it and probably have a limited appeal as well.

nlerner

I think you should build a fixie mixte. I mean, how can you lose the opportunity to market that name?

Neal

Grand Bois

Just don't put drop bars on it. I love mixtes, but I think they look goofy with drops.

I've seen a bike online that the owner called Fixie Mixte. It was a large-framed brown Raleigh Super Course with moustache bars.

sonatageek

What would be the best (good) up-right swept back bar for building up a mixtie?

I will be working on the Nishiki Sport that I picked up last week and want to have something nice, since it will be going to a friend. I have some of the Pyramid alloy north roads, but I don't think I like them for some reason. Maybe because the tube diameter is too small. I really like the look of some if Nitto bars but those are a little pricey.

Grand Bois

The Pyramid bars can't have a diameter smaller than 7/8" or grips and brake levers won't fit. If you want larger diameter, check the new bars on the Velo Orange site or find some Cinelli Priest bars. Grips and brake levers won't fit them either. You have to use inverse brake levers and wrap the bars.

bigbossman 

I'm with you on that. If I get my hands on a mixte frame set, I usually build it up with some type of flat/cruiser bar. Stem shifters work very well for mixtes, as do thumb shifters. One thing I can't understand is DT shifters on a mixte frame - just doesn't look right, or convenient.

My frame set also happens to be a Nishiki Sport, and it came with swept-back steel bars and stem shifters. My bars are very rusty, but initial cleanup tests look promising.

RobbieTunes

27's gums for a smooth 6. I like the upright bars, a little flared for comfort.

LBS wrench told me today, "a mixte is so a man riding it won't be embarassed and teased about riding a women's bike."

Doesn't matter, USAZorro "slashed" a mixte my way, and what I want it to look like is "we're going for ice cream."

bigbossman 

Yeah, I saw that little yellow pug he turned you onto. I'm amazed it didn't sell at the bike swap for the asking price. That thing would have disappeared in a New York minute at twice that price around here.

bbattle

+1

bbattle

It's called a Fixte.

stringbreaker

BBM: You guys are killin me I'm doing the Univega mixte I got from you with drop bars (my wife wants them) but I thought they looked kinda cool ( I'm unhip I know) They are Salsa short and shallow in black. I was gonna use the elkhide from Velo Orange but I'm going to try to talk her out of that and use something to go with the Granny Smith green with the gold topcoat. I am using stem shifters although from the looks of this frame it came with downtube shifters.

bigbossman 

No worries - I get a lot of mixtes with drops, and they are very popular. I just think of mixtes as "cruiser" type neighborhood grocery-getters, and so think they look better with an upright bar. Don't listen to me, do as the Chief Whip directs - but I'm sure you know that already......

BTW, I've seen relatively few mixtes with DT shifters, and of the ones I have seen only one (a Legnano) had DT shifter bosses. The rest were clamp-ons. Usually, there is a clamp-on cable stop/clamp on the DT where the little metal "biscuit" is welded on (underneath), and stem shifters up top. Almost always that has been my experience, and and I'd bet that frame I sent you was configured that way originally.

Usually, if I find a mixte with clamp-on DT shifters, I convert it to stem shifters. City folk prefer that for ease of use, and it is an easy conversion. Most of the young ladies that buy my mixtes have never seen lever-type friction shifters, and the stem shifters are much easier for them to use and master.

So, you're good.

stringbreaker

Yep its got the little metal biscuits on there fer sure. Its at the powdercoater as we speak. I stripped off most of the paint and sanded out the little dings that were here and there so hopefully by this time next week I'll be posting some pictures. I think you will like the changes when this ride is complete. You know its going to have a pink saddle and cable housing.

TBART

I vote a townie with flat bars.

Grand Bois

Nitto Dove bars, Shimano tri-color 600 7 speed and Ultegra bar end shifters converted to thumb shifters. The crank is 600 Arabesque.

Bionicycle

I like the Townie idea… but I’m a little partial, because that’s how I did (am doing) my Mixte. I put a semi-flat set of bars on it, with hybrid style brake levers… I have kept the original Fuji Suntour drive train, with stem mounted friction shifters… six gears in back, two up front, and upgraded to some brand new 27X11/4 gum wall tires.

Now I just need a set of fenders, and a rack on the rear… and maybe a headlight, tail light, computer, and so on, and so on….

Maybe I’ll get my wife to show me how to operate her digital camera someday in the near future, and get some pictures posted up in the Mixte thread…