Show us your mixte!

[7rider]

I'm just marveling at the pristine condition of that bike. It's like it was in a time capsule for 30 years with lots of silica gel packets. Those are the kind of bikes I sold and worked on in a bike shop in 1973-74. By rights that bike should have rusty steel rims and spokes that don't turn and stuck cotter pins. But just looking at it, I'm imagining that everything works as smoothly as the day it left the shop.

Given this, would it be wrong to customize it with albatross bars and a Brookes saddle? Wouldn't it be like putting a CD player in a '55 Chevy??
I don't know the "value" of such bikes, but I think there's something to be said...from a collector's point of view...for original equipment. Hold onto those parts, at any rate.....

[oxysback]

Given this, would it be wrong to customize it with albatross bars and a Brookes saddle? Wouldn't it be like putting a CD player in a '55 Chevy??
I don't know the "value" of such bikes, but I think there's something to be said...from a collector's point of view...for original equipment. Hold onto those parts, at any rate.....

You know, it's funny...my ex husband was into the whole custom car show thing, so I've been to quite a few of them. There are a few people that choose to restore their car as close to stock as possible, but the majority of them make the car look stock on the outside but have all the bells and whistles on the inside.

The problem is parts. They just don't make replacement parts anymore for a French bike built in 1974. What do you do when they wear out? I'd rather upgrade to parts that work well and are safe and comfortable.

Is it wrong to make something cool and unique out of an old style bike, but not quite to the original specifications? I don't think so. To me, I'm just giving a tender loving home and a much needed makeover to an great old bike.

As for keeping the parts...most of them aren't able to be used anymore. The bike is probably only worth the $125 I paid for it...maybe a bit more due to it's general good condition.

I guess there's always opinions from both camps, though!

[7rider]

The problem is parts. They just don't make replacement parts anymore for a French bike built in 1974. What do you do when they wear out?

Yeah...I can see that.
Besides..you want to ride it, not look at it...right?