Michael Angelo 

Great attention to detail, is what makes the difference in a quality build. Beautiful Bike.

surreal

I'd think the folks at VO would do well to send you a complete loaner, just to promote their frame a little bit. Personally, I think the VO mixte frame is kind of a dud for the price, and it's the primary reason why i sought out a vintage mixte for my wife's new bike (which is very close to completion; just need to build the wheels and run some cables.).

I'd already seen your bike on your blog, veloria, and it sure is beautiful. I think i'd commented about it there, too, but it'd feel weird to respond to this thread without mentioning it. Very nicely done. Kudos to you, and to the builder.

-rob

edit: just checked VO's website; they liste their mixte as "out of stock", and had reduced the price to $300. Perhaps it's dead?

ColonelJLloyd 

My bike has a crush on your bike.

I agree with Andrew; that's an heirloom bicycle. I want to have a bike like that.

mkeller234

I like the modern equipment. The whole bike is beautiful and I think the modern equipment also makes it look highly functional. The way the RD hangs is so cool in my opinion.

Hey Veloria, how about posting some pictures of the frame being built? I realize that you have some in your blog but it may be nice to post some here too.

Pars 

Very nicely done!

Veloria

I doubt VO would have the resources to just send me a complete bike to borrow, though it would be nice. Maybe at some point Harris Cyclery will build up a floor model.

Why do you think the frame is a dud for $550? It is fully lugged, with twin lateral stays, braze-ons for racks and fenders, and reasonably wide tire clearance. From the pictures, I kind of love it, except for the colour. I really believe the colour was a mistake, and that sort of thing is important - particularly for women.

The mixte frames are out of stock because they sold out. For a while they had remaining ones in the smallest size, and those are the ones that went on clearance for $300. If one of the 54cm frames had gone on clearance, I think I may have bought one just for the heck of it. But anyway, they are just restocking; the mixte is not dead. While they are at it, I think they should change the colour. But who am I.

A "Lovely Bicycle" reader emailed me a review of her VO mixte and she was fairly positive about it, with the exception of the bike feeling a little slow (which surprised me) and the tire clearances not being quite as wide as she understood from the specs. But I still would like to try the bike myself.

What kind of mixte did you get for your wife?

Veloria

with pleasure : )









It is a little strange to feel as if "I knew this bike before it was born"!

Roll-Monroe-Co

Yum.

CharlesP

Not my cup o' cappucino, but gorgeous nonetheless.

Eileen

That bike makes me want to cash out my retirement account. I will try to control myself by silently repeating "Blech! It's seafoam green!" But you could paint that bike baby-poo brown with a rattle can and I would almost give you my first and only born for it. Almost. I, too, would put up with the seafoam. I'd even wear a shiny polyester seafoam bridesmaid dress that matched it and smile for the camera.

David Newton

Somebody has to say it: it's a NEW bike, get it outta here!
Joking.
It is truly a Lovely Bicycle!

YoKev

This is really quite spectacular! You've got one beautiful bike

Eileen

I know you are joking, but I'm going to reply anyway. The forum is "Classic and Vintage. This bike and my soon to arrive Retrovelo Paula certainly count as classics, right?

mkeller234

Sure, they are "keepers of the flame"

Eileen

<waving BIC in the air>

Mike Mills

A bike that is truly vintage is a badge of honour, like grey hair on a wisened head. It's the real deal with some history. If it has a few scars and there's a good story related to that, so much the better.

Bikes that are classic (albeit, new) are validation that what was continues to have real merit and value.

Taken together, C&V bikes show that what is currently favored should not be considered the be-all and end-all.

I'll now get off my soap box.

What a beautiful bike.

David Newton

So, turns out the "keepers of the flame" as far as buying new classics, are WOMEN.
How about that bike-weenies?

Eileen

I also have a late 70s Raleigh Sport (brown, step-through) that is waiting for some new wheels and cables. And an 83 Raleigh mixte frame that I plan to 650Bify.

dashuaigeh

<whistles>. Just as I was looking for something to get over the "modified" (read: severely drewed) mixte, this shows up. Made my day!

surreal

The VO mixte frame isn't a total dud; it just has a few minor details that i feel were mistakes (canti-posts, the ever-popular but seldom-needed compromise rear spacing) and it's over-priced. When i think "generic chromoly steel frameset from taiwan", i think of the various cheapies at bikeisland.com/bikesdirect. To be fair, the VO is lugged, so it more specifically makes me think of this: https://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_S...ls&ProdID=1876 . Given a few extra bones for extra braze-ons and twin toptubes/stays, i think the VO is at least $200 overpriced.

The colour is fine with me. My wife liked the colour, but she hated the price; surprisingly, she opted to have her frame powdercoated a very basic pink colour. My problem with the VO's finish is more to do with the decals; VO is another example of a weird middleman-style vendor that sells cheap stuff at a premium, relying on an effective marketing strategy. Personally, i feel that the VO hype is rather fake marketing. The practice of taking sweatshop-produced products from the far east and selling them by making believe they are French is akin to the Hot Topic stores that plagued our shopping malls around the turn of the century.

I guess it makes sense that to sell off the less popular sizes of a frame, but only if you're going to change the colour. If they sold off all the smallest size in blue, only to reorder another run of sizes in blue, well... that'd make no sense whatsoever.

I got my wife a very ratty Fuji Gran Tourer from the late 70s/early 80s. $50 on CL. A little overpriced, but the larger sized mixtes are hard to find, and she's 5'7" or so. Tore it down, refinished it, built it back up with mostly new components. It'll be a 3 speed, with drum brakes. We talked about all the things she has liked and hated about her past bikes, and figured out a build that she'd likely enjoy. I hope we hit the mark...

-rob

PS- if VO doesn't have the resources to build up their frame, send it to you, have you write a review, and then sell the same bike as "lightly used" at a few hundred bucks over cost, with links to your review in their ad... Well, if that were the case, the "resources" they lack don't have anything to do with money. Maybe you could ask em?

Edit: oops. i guess those aren't canti-posts, but rather just little braze-ons for a high-mount front rack? They're not on the back, so... Maybe one design flaw, and overpriced= dud @$550

Veloria

but... but... some of the tubing and lugs are NOS vintage!
doesn't that count?

Mike Mills

True dat!

Plus, the carbon and iron in the steel tubing has been around since the Earth was formed. Now THAT is what I call vintage.

Veloria

rob - Oh boy, what a can of worms!

I will forgo formulating a well-phrased debate and just say that I agree with you on some points, not on others. I will also say that at least one reason I do not think a $550 lugged steel mixte frame is overpriced, is that the lugs alone are a "treasure" nowadays, since they are no longer produced. VO must have either had them specially made, or found the one remaining factory that was still secretly making them. Not sure how they did it, but Bravo! Oh and the fact that your wife got her mixte frame powdercoated not-royal-blue when given a choice, only confirms that the colour is not really appealing IMO.

Inspired by you, I did contact VO. They were unexpectedly receptive, but there is a problem. I need to get confirmation that I can say what the problem is, but I won't be testing the mixte, to my great sadness.

2manybikes

Wow! Nice!

How much was the paint job? How long did it take?

Veloria

Paint job was included in the frame price (which was in itself a good deal as I got to the framebuilder when he was just starting out!). I think Circle A's pricing for a liquid paint job is about $300 to start, but please don't quote me on that.

The frame took a few months, because it was sort of an unusual project. I had a lot of input and we discussed the design a lot, taking breaks to ruminate at various stages. All in all, including paint, I said "go" in September and had the finished frame in my hands in February. Then my husband and I (well, okay - mostly him and I helped) built it up in August, with components most of which I selected before the frame was built (meaning that the frame was built with specific components/set-ups in mind).