I just picked up a Colossi Rambler mixte and some polished tb14's for a birthday gift for my girlfriend.



I have a pair of 70's drilled and polished sugino cranks for it and a plain jane silver seat post that I'd be tempted to replace with a Miche supertype.

maybe???

I'm having trouble finishing the build though.Pasela gumwalls or something all black? Cork grips on risers or something with a low key backwards swoop? Add some color in the front brake line? Stems other than Thomas that still look good in silver.

Gumwalls. I think you have the right idea for handlebars as well. VO Stem. White cable(s) would like nice, or ones that match the paint.

Nah, needs track drops.

Definitely gumwalls. I'm not sure I'd do the Supertype, I'd stick with a more traditional silver post for the mixte frame. I think white on the brake cable housing and bars with some backsweep, cork grips should look perfect. Should be a great-looking build.

Did you ask her what she wants on the bike?

This isn't about her.

This is just a chance to build a sw8 fixte.

he mentioned it being a bday gift. kinda hard to say "say girl...what kind of handlebars you want on this bike I'm surprising you with?!"
use a bar like the soma Oxford or similar. it'll put her in a comfy riding position and look good with a mixte frame.

I'm really excited to see this finished.

Lmao with some of the replies. Oh, and gumwalls.

Gumwalls for sure, and perhaps something like Noah's Arcs for the bars

Tried this before. Surprises when it comes to bikes rarely work out when we are dealing with most females. The best thing I have found out was to find out what they like and want, and go from there.

Maybe my wife isn't like "most females" but if I were to build her a nice bike for her birthday she would just be thrilled that I built her a bike for her birthday. I find it hard to believe that his girlfriend would be like "Those are some nice gumwalls, but wtf is up with the jank seat post and handlebars?". I agree with the Oxford-esque handlebar suggestion though!

Velo Orange Tourist bars are real nice. I put one on my GF's bike and she loves it. It's a pretty good all around bar that fits the look for a more relaxed style bike.

Assuming TenSpeedV2 is a straight male, and his girlfriend built him a bike based on the input from strangers—without anyone involved knowing the intricate details of his aesthetic preferences—he would have a bike with gumwall tires.

Had his girlfriend said to him: “Happy birthday! I’ve gotten almost everything we need to build you a gorgeous bicycle—look at how beautiful this frame is—though there are a few things I wanted to get your opinion on, so let’s go to the shop right now to finish this thing up!”—he would have a bicycle without gumwall tires.

If she didn't reply to this thread, she probably doesn't care as much as any of us do.

(Nixed. I can't believe I fell for the bait in 2016.)

I heart this. And yes, straight male. Girlfriend status is currently on hiatus. Timeline unknown.

She is just getting into cycling. Really enjoying it but always has to borrow a bike. I know her tastes pretty well and dropped some questions inconspicuously. The color frame is what it is; ex-display frame so a bit of a sale, buying a Colossi living in the US at all was pretty tough, especially given that I only left myself ~2 weeks before her birthday. If as she rides it she decides to change a couple parts that's cool; I'd be happy to add anything I bought for this bike to my parts bin.

And for reals, I'm giving her like a $900 birthday gift, she can deal with it. It's going to have cheap ugly practical pedals for now until/if she decides on clips and straps or clipless, you guys can deal with that.

That bike is hella dope. A+

I see you don't like her enough to put brakes on her bike.

Survival of the fittest. S1ck whip skidz or death.

Like all great well thought out bike builds I ran out of money before buying one. We went to a lbs a few days ago and she picked one out, as seen in the big pic thread.

"here babe, ride this brakeless fixie with no foot retention. Yeah those flip flops are great for riding bikes in."