Pretty Miyata Mixte on ebay.

[Trek420]

French bikes do have funny threading. But Trek420 got her French mixte all fixed up by leaving it at her LBS for a year.

Yeah, but like Chris said (Hi Chris!) "good things come to those who wait".

It's like no mixte I've seen, a very puhrty bike. But why do we like them? In a world full of fast and sporty bikes, touring bikes, why mixte?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

But why do we like them? In a world full of fast and sporty bikes, touring bikes, why mixte?

Because we can get in touch with our "inner little girl" again when we ride them. We can feel like kids in summertime, free, with no grownup obligations, and no one expects us to be fast or athletic or competitive when we're on a mixte. Happy childhood memories are very powerful things.

But then again, that's why I ride a bike all the time anyway- and I don't even HAVE a mixte!

[sandra]

I wish East Hill would reply here. East Hill, you have so many of them, why do YOU love them?

[DebW]

When I sold bikes back in the 70s, the people who bought mixtes were either (1) women who wanted to ride in skirts, or (2) people too short for a standard diamond frame. Group (2) people can now buy compact frames to get the extra stand-over clearance. There wasn't really a large market for mixtes. They were mostly sold to short women who had trouble fitting any other frame (shortest standard frame was 21", plus a few 19"). I do remember selling one mixte to a young boy who wasn't quite big enough for an adult bike otherwise. I bet he got teased riding it though. Technically, it's a good frame design, but a bit more metal and heavier than a comparable diamond frame. Personally, I shied away from anything girly, so I've never owned one.