Hi guy's.

My mrs is looking at building up a Mixte to use in and around town and wanted to know if anyone knew what are the lightest frames you can get hold of?

We have seen a few Peugeot's up for sale and i'm trying to find out the weight differences between those and the Reynolds 531 frames. The bike will have modern parts aside from the frame so just trying to get an idea of how light we can get it.

Cheers.

Lotus Mixtes, Challenger and Excelle, are discernably lighter than the Carbolite Pugs, 1020 Moto, Raleigh GP, Schwinn Le Tour II, Nishiki, and Fuji mixte frames. I have a Mot Grand Jubilee in 531, but IIRC, it doesn't feel all that light.

Cool cheers. Do you know roughly how much weight you save by going with the 531 frames? Just trying to get an idea of how it will actually feel as my mrs is getting fixated on weight / numbers.

There may be exceptions, but most mixtes were mid-range to lower-end frames so add about 1.5 lb to the weight of a top-level conventional [not mixte] 531 frame of the same vintage which is roughly 4.5 lbs for typical double butted 531 (not the superlight SL stuff). If you use light but not superlight components and rims, modern or otherwise, you might end up roughly 24 lb for the complete bike. Versus roughly 22 lb for a top-level vintage 531 framed roadbike with light but not superlight components. 20 lb for a weight weenie vintage 531 build. 18-19 lb for a extreme weight weenie vintage 753 build.

I wouldn't worry much about the weight. Choosing a light saddle instead of a Brooks leather/steel saddle will make as much weight difference as a mid-level mixte frame vs a typical 531 frame. For use around town, where you are always accelerating away from stops, light rims and light but not too skinny tires will make an even bigger difference. And once you add fenders, racks, and lights, weight of almost any bike rapidly rises toward 30 lb. My commute bike is Super Vitus 980 (as light as 753) with all high level components, and should be around 20 lb as a bare bike, but with fenders, lights, saddlebag, a few tools, pump and spare tube, and flat-resistant tires, the weight as ridden is >30 lb.

Great response, cheers Bro!

Another option, although not truly vintage, is the Soma Buena Vista. They are made with Tange Prestige and Infinity Tubing and make a pretty spritely bike if you gear them up correctly.
Marc

Splurge on the wheels and tires.

Presently (last 15 months!) building a mixte "town" bike from a 1976 Raleigh Record Mixte "10speed". Just weighed the 20-30 Hi-Tensile frame and fork at 8.2lbs. Frame alone was 6.7lbs. A lot of the weight of the original bike was in the cottered steel cranks, pedals and wheels. My build will use newer alloy cranks and be a five speed with modern saddle and pedals. I also have some later Grand Prix alloy 27" wheels to use with it. I'm expecting the final weight with fenders and rack to be around 30lbs.

Be very careful. If she gets to the point of asking "does this bike make me look fat"....DONT ANSWER!!!