Ha!! I'll have to check those out! :pQuote:
Originally Posted by malkin
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Ha!! I'll have to check those out! :pQuote:
Originally Posted by malkin
I was coming home from St. Louis and I thought I would stop in at my local flea market. Tucked back in the corner was this mixte. Grand Touring Motobecane. I did a little research, dated the components and it's one of Motobecane's 1978 mid to upper range touring bikes. It's in great shape, just needs cleaning, and I'll probably grease the hubs and bottom bracket. I don't think it's been ridden much. No visible scratches. It had a black seat, but I put the brown brooks on to see how I liked it. I like brown and blue together, but I'm not sure about this. Otherwise I haven't touched it yet. I really like how the top tube is one tube and then divides to make the third seat stay. Not sure if it was really worth the $12 I spent on it!:D No, I'm not divulging the whereabouts of my flea market. Giant bike for $18, this one for $12, Raleigh Gran Sport with Campy components last year for $10. I think I'm in the middle of a gold mine.
Oh, that's nice, Claudia! I have some spare downtube cable stops if you're going to move your shifters. That Brooks looks great!
uforgot, I haven't even been around here for that long and I saw your post and was instantly like "she found ANOTHER amazing deal?!?!"
What's your secret? Care to share it with any of us who have thousands of dollars of student loan debt? Wait, does your bargain-radar work on finding... apartments? Or insurance plans? Maybe I should concentrate on that sort of thing instead. :cool: :D
anyway. To keep this more topical, I also think the brown saddle looks lovely. :)
It's probably location. There aren't a lot of people cycling around here, and no one, even my lbs is interested in classic bikes. They are dusty when I find them and the only name that means anything around here is "Schwinn". Oh, wait, and Trek. When I had my Trek Navigator several years ago I got all kinds of comments on my "fancy" bike. Now I have a Surly Cross Check and the name means nothing.lol I have, however, found more deals and fixed them up and given them to a few of my students. One is now at Brigham Young university, another (a $5 Schwinn) turned one of my senior students into an avid cyclist (he just took the parts, the bike and a book and restored it himself!) and I hope to finish another today which will go to a former student at UMR. I enjoy it and I tell them that they have to give the bike away to someone who will use it when they are finished. Hopefully cycling will become more popular around here in my corner of Missouri.
I definitely don't make money on my "deals", the bikes are all well used and loved. Maybe that's part of it? Although that Motobecane is MINE!:D
Thanks Ellen, that's very nice of you. I'm going to keep the shifters there. They work great, so I'm not messin' with them. I will, however, take the pug. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by oxysback
Oh, how pretty. I tried to buy a very similar Motobecane with that kind of top tube for my first mixte, but I got outbid. My husband still wishes I'd gotten that one because he really liked the look.
Now that I am "commuting" again (working at coffee houses 2-3 days a week while my husband watches the kid) my mixtes are actually being ridden. My Puch is so much fun to ride. (I need to get a newer photo, now that it has a different saddle, bar tape, and the brakes moved to the ends of the bars. Uforgot, that is your saddle in the photo.)
Hey, I had a Puch once! we called it a PUKE. :cool: it was a 3 speed but only 2 of them worked. It was too big for me though, I couldn't straddle the top tube.
YOURS is cute though.
I think the "used and loved" aspect is the best part! That's so awesome that you've given bikes to students and spread the joy of cycling. You're like your own personal Red Bikes Project! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by uforgot
I should point out that before TE, I had never heard of or noticed a mixte before... now, whenever I see one, I exclaim "mixte!" Well, I don't usually do it out loud, but I do if I happen to be with my boyfriend who appreciates my quirks.
[Sorry, one more OT question... UMR=Rolla? My boyfriend went there for an engineer-y conference once, and was considering applying there for grad school, so we drove around town once so he could show it to me. We happened to be passing through on a Winter Break road trip to Arizona (where we're both in grad school now :p).]
Quote:
Originally Posted by oxysback
i know the vanilla discussion was awhile ago, but i feel compelled to point out that this bike was built by sacha for his 8 year old daughter, which is why the geometry on it looks a bit different. lucky girl, no?
i'm glad i found this forum and this thread in particular. i'm in the process of having a Sweetpea mixte made and it's giving me lots of ideas :)
That's a sweeeet Moto!
Welcome, jdubble! Yes, that is a very lucky girl. So is his wife - I believe the blue step-through commuter bike on his site is his wife's. Congrats on your Sweetpea too.:cool: We want pics when it's ready, pretty please.Quote:
Originally Posted by jdubble
Uforget, nice score! I'm a little envious but mostly happy for you too.:p:D
Thanks for the welcome!Quote:
Originally Posted by sgtiger
And yup, the blue step-thru is his wife's, though I see him on it as often as not. It's a beautiful bike.
And definitely I will post pics of the Sweetpea, one of these days. I put in my deposit at the Oregon Handmade Bike show last November, and have been patiently waiting (and breaking in a Brooks B-68s for it) ever since. But Natalie said we're getting close to fabrication, so hopefully by spring, I'll be tooling around town on my new ride. I've been seeing more and more mixtes around lately and it's driving me crazy with jealousy. But delayed gratification will only make me love mine that much more, right?
jj
I think this fits our "is it a mixte? or is it not?" discussion, but I am currently trying to buy a mixte-style Schwinn Pixie. I've seen a couple of these in person and they are adorable, but I didn't buy because I didn't have a kid yet. We want one for Penny, but I am trying to buy one now because my niece is coming to visit and would like to ride while she's here.
I'm trying to figure out what on earth they've done to the seat post there, though.
Lucky daughter...it's a beautiful bike!Quote:
Originally Posted by jdubble
And lucky you for getting a Sweetpea! We'll be awaiting pictures when she's done!
I looks like it's jammed on the springs of the saddle. Weird. You could always ask, but if they took a pic like that, chances are good that they don't even know the term "seatpost".Quote:
Originally Posted by xeney
My husband thought they'd just tried to make it fit a kid it was too small for, and he thought the seat post might be installed backwards. (I've seen that on eBay and Craigslist fairly often!)
I won the auction so we'll figure it out when it gets here. Only two stays so maybe not a mixte, but it sure is cute. (But of course, by the time my daughter is old enough to ride it, she'll refuse to ride anything that is not pink.)
I don't need another bike and don't have space for one but this thread has made me want a mixte. i've just seen this for sale and am very tempted, waiting to find out how big it is though. It's a Raleigh
I think it was Extra-vert who wanted one of these?
You need to think about this one. While a Raleigh mixte is nice, you would have to buy wheels and components. I'd wait for one that is complete. They aren't very expensive.Quote:
Originally Posted by ms pepperpot
That was my thought too about needing to buy the rest. One of the reasons I'm tempted is I'd like to do up a bike myself someday and a frame would take up less space until i'm ready to build it up.
I don't think there are as many mixtes available over here, I have seen some around and for sale on ebay/gumtree but not that many.
It's a 52cm frame though which is possibly a bit big for me. I may go and see it then decide and maybe see if they'll reduce the price.
I am a novice rider, and bought my first bike for commuting to school in August. It is a cruiser, and I enjoy riding it, and it works for me because I live in a very flat town. But, I find my eye strays when I see a bike with gears, and I practically fawn over older model 10 speeds, and I love the mixte flair. The pictures on this thread have solidified my desire for just such a creature.
A few days ago I saw a bike on craigslist (a women's Gitane Gran Sport Deluxe, probably from the mid 70's) and almost bought it for $150. But, after speaking with my LBS and reading about older french bicycles online, I decided it was too much investment for my needs/budget. I really want a cute, reliable bike that I can ride in town and maybe a ways out of town when the mood strikes. Again, as much as I love my cruiser, sometimes I need a bit more speed!
I found this forum to be helpful and inspiring, and it is nice to finally read some comments by women about cycling. I am wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a reliable place to buy a used mixte near Sacramento or the Bay Area?
Any thoughts are appreciated!
I bought a great mixte from ebay. It is gorgeous and I dearly love it.
Sandra!!!!! You're back!!!!!! We've missed you!!!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by sandra
I can't resist the mixte thread! I still have my love affair with mixtes.
THANK YOU for the kind comment. :cool:
I still want one, but haven't found *the* one yet. Maybe the new Riv. I need a job first:rolleyes::rolleyes:
I rode mine downtown last friday. It was fun for a change. Sandra, it's me, Mimitabby ..
Ahhhh, Mimi, thanks for telling me! You've changed. :D
Yeah, Mimi got all embarrassed-like because she accumulated over 20,000 posts on TE, so she changed her user ID figuring no one would remember just how many posts she's made. Some of us won't let her off that easy though. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by sandra
I've carried on looking (not that i can justify getting one yet) and found that they turn up relatively regularly on e-bay sometimes very cheap. I currently have a bit of a crush on this one although it's probably too big for me.
20,000 INDEED. :mad::cool: I can assure you i never went over 10,000.Quote:
Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl
I want to like a mixte but I just can't.
i like leaning my knee on the TT but I have trouble with hip/pelvis ROM and it's not easy to swing over a standard TT
That's why the FX series appeals to me so much...it's kind of in between.
:D
I just bought it today for $65... I'm super excited! (keep in mind I live in the bay area where bikes are always ridiculously overpriced). All it technically needs are tubes, tires, pedals, and probably new cables/housings. This will be my very first complete restoration project. Gonna take it all apart including cranks/hubs and de-rust everything, and repaint it properly custom style (gonna have a auto shop sand blast it for me and buy replica decals). Hubs and cranks are the only mystery parts left for me, so I'm looking forward to it.
It's got nice rims and breaks, cool shifters, and the handlebars he gave me (new) are pretty nice too. It weighs 26 pounds and it's got the original plastic brake levers (which the guy I bought it from was super excited about cuz they're always broken at the tips). yey!
here is slideshow:)
http://s226.photobucket.com/albums/d...t=d6b09676.pbw
Congratulations! What a great project. You will learn so much. I used bicycling magazine Bicycle Maintenance and Repair Book for my mixte. Park Tool website is good, as is their repair book and bicycletutor.com. You will not believe how nice it will clean up. I love those classic mixtes!
Neat bike, Ivona. Very cool classic! :)
Just a question: can you make non QR wheels into QR wheels? I would ride my mixte more if I could change the tires more easily. I guess I could just put a wrench in the saddle bag, huh? It just takes sooooo much more effort, tho. I'm being lazy...
congrats on a really nice mixte! I think you got a great deal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tri Girl
I believe you can but you have to buy the whole quick release skewer, and replace the axle you have with it. I'm not sure about how the sizing works, but i think you might need to take apart the hub... once again I'm not sure though, hubs are pretty new to me!
In any case I know it's possible somehow and you have to replace your axle with the skewer. I'm sure your LBS would help you find the right size and give you a thorough explanation of how to, or do it for you if you asked!
(hehe ask me in a couple weeks after I've played with mine, then I'll know how!):D
Thanks! Do tell when you find out. :)
I am looking at this tomorrow and it will most very likely become a new sistah!
Please tell me whachu think!