Hey C&V'ers.

My oldest son has just "graduated" to a proper road bike (raleigh technium, 6sp suntour downtube accushift drivetrain), and my middle son is begging me for a road bike (in addition to his smooth-tired mtb which suits him better than he realizes).

I know, this is a good problem to have, right?

Well anyways I was cruising the local CL for bikes in the 48/49cm range, found a couple likely options, and wondered what you thought (any san diego flippers, be cool and please don't steal these out from under me!)

Bridgestone flatbar mixte for $95:



Hey, another Raleigh Technium (asking $175)! Although this is not the cool Black/Pink "Pre" with the 6sp accushift, this is only 10sp, and I can't quite read but I think that's "Shimano" on the RD.



Anybody want to weigh in with opinions about those prices? Since both are extremely lacking in detail, I get the impression they are being sold by non-bike-nerds, thus a good chance the ask is soft and can be countered.

What's the deal on the Bridgestone frame? It almost looks like as-straight-and-simple-as-possible lugwork, but the whole headtube would have to be a unitary double-lug, and that doesn't seem right. And is there a better way to route the rear brake cable for a mixte?

Bridgestone is not a mixte, if it was, I would buy it. Its a bottom end step through. Its really, really, rock bottom. Pass.

The Raleigh would be a pass too, but you are in a hot market, so its probably OK, and as you point out, there may be a little flex in the price. If so, it becomes a pretty good deal.

OK good to know (also thx for correcting me on "Mixte" -- I guess that would be if the "top" tube extended all the way to the dropouts?)

There are two schools of thought on mixtes. One says that there must be to stays that go from the dropouts to the headtube. The other permits a single "top tube" that branches into stays. But either way, there needs to be a line from the head tube to the dropouts, which is what gives mixte designs their stiffness compared to traditional step through.

Raleigh looks the best option, cool looking bike too.

If your looking for step up possible step through bike on the cheap early 80's Schwinn and or Japanese are great. In most markets you can pick up a nice preacher framed medium step thorugh bike for almost nothing.

Yeah, the internal cable routing is pretty boss (or should I say boss-less?) I just don't know if I love my son $175 worth.

Anybody know or recognize the components on this model's 5sp drivetrain? Crankset looks somewhat pretty to my eye, and the shifters seem to have a decent shape that may indicate decent stuff. My son will probably outgrow this in a few weeks, and we're all tall, so I'd be needing to sell a 49cm bike on to a new owner.