If I was building a bike for a girl, I'd do exactly what I did for myself - buy an old mixte and convert it. It makes a fantastic single-speed and great around town bike. I put on a rear rack after these pix, which increased the utility immensely.

I discovered mixte frames come in different sizes too, so check the virtual top tube length for fit. My neighbor had the older sister to my frame, a Peugeot also, in the same color, and it was about 5 cm shorter (both virtual top tube and actual seat tube), if I remember right.

The Peugeots may be harder to find, but a lot of mid-level Japanese mixtes, like Univega, Centurion, Nisiki, etc, were built in the 70's and maybe early 80's. I see them on craigslist. I may pick one up someday.

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