Bridgestone Carmel, sort of a mixte
 

Picked this one up several years ago. Thought about flipping it but decided to keep it for my wife. I have no idea how old it is so any estimates on that would be appreciated. It is in excellent condition with only minor blemishes. Tires are due for replacement because of age, but I hate to do that since the ones on it are Bridgestone branded and look neat on this bike, but safety first so eventually I'll swap them out for something. I also plan to swap out the brake pads for something less squeaky on the rims. And this coming summer I'll probably give it an overhaul just to freshen up the grease on all of the bearings.

If I could find a comparable men's version of this then I'd be happy, but as it is I'll be using the old 1967 Schwinn I just posted when we go for a ride together. Her on this bike, and me on the crusty old Schwinn. Sort of a Lady and the hound dog thing (me being the cursty old hound dog :rolleyes: ) .

Anyway, here's the pics of it taken when the days were warmer. I'm currently between jobs and decided to catch up on a few things around here.

A couple more pics.

Nice!

If it has a pair of midstays between the seatstays and chainstays it is a Mixte.

I guess would be late 1970s to very early 1980s, based on the rear derailleur, crankset and die-cast lugs. Serial number?

I'll try to dig it out today or tomorrow and post the s/n, the bike is currently in the "storage" side of the garage.

I've always considered a "true" mixte as one with tubes running straight from the headset to the rear dropouts. I'm open to learning though.

Nice looking bike.

A mixte is a mixte regardless if there are two tubes running between the head tube and seat tube or one -or 3. It doesn't matter.

As far as the engineering/design is concerned it is one solid support brace running from the headtube past/through the steat-tube (via a lug such as this) and on to the rear dropouts, bisecting the rear triangle.

How it gets there doesn't matter. That's just cosmetics and an exercise in choosing different tubing shapes, sizes and lugs by the builder -not something considered in the definition of a Mixte.

+1 That is a *gorgeous* bike atmo! I'd snag it and convert it to an IGH given the opportunity. ;)

Consider me educated then on the definition of mixte.

And I do still have that 7-speed IGH wheel so maybe I'll give it some thought. But then when I come across something this complete and original then I tend to lean toward keeping it stock and original. Plus I still need to find the magic missing special washer for the IGH hub so using it is still on hold.

What brand of IGH 7-speed is it you are missing the washer for?

I'd have to go dig it out, I had a thread on it for awhile. It is a locking washer on the drive side that holds the shifter mechanism to the hub assembly. No longer available and not in stock anyplace that I nor the bike shop parts guy could find anywhere. I had one of the two options which doesn't work. If I ever get back to playing around with it then I'll probably just get out the dial calipers and the Dremel and start modifying a normal washer to work in place of what should be there. Or I'll just put it up for sale again once all the parts are back into one pile again, not sure yet and no hurry to decide at this point in time.

We had a family of nine people living with us for six months so a lot of projects got buried and stuffed into boxes and corners to make room for the family. Eventually I'll find and regather my projects again, I did find my missing box full of bike tools and cone wrenches recently so I am at least back on the path to daylight.

Very nice. That bike has some serious retro style going on. Many nice details.
I really like it.
The mid stay ends at the seat tube are beautifully done.

Thanks for sharing the pics.