Show us your mixte!

[HillSlugger]

As I attempted to explain in a previous post, my personal interest in a mixte started out as just wanting a little more standover clearance and less toe overlap with medium width 700C tires, and certainly a "compact" or "semi-compact" frame design could work. Growing up, I had a fairly macho uncle who rode a mixte, and I like the sort of retro-look and didn't think of it as a "women's bike" and thought it looks more elegant than a bike with a really long seatpost.

Cheers,

Michael

Mike,

What made you decide to go with a single downtube? For me, mixtes are all about aesthetics, and IMHO the double tube has it all over the single tube for looks.

[uforgot]

Mike,

What made you decide to go with a single downtube? For me, mixtes are all about aesthetics, and IMHO the double tube has it all over the single tube for looks.

Oh, I like the single tube! I especially like how the seat stay meets the tube. Every time I see a mixte with a single tube I want it, because they are so rare!

Thanks for your story Michael. It was interesting how you really thought through everything and I enjoyed the blog too. I also didn't like the upright position on my Bianchi Mixte so I put on Moustache Bars and "voila". It was perfect, although my current one is a little on the heavy side since it's old and has 27" tires. It is nice to see that you have blended the old/new look on a nice road bike.

[furryblue]

Oh, I like the single tube! I especially like how the seat stay meets the tube. Every time I see a mixte with a single tube I want it, because they are so rare!

I'm glad you like the single tube, I also think it looks really nice.

It is nice to see that you have blended the old/new look on a nice road bike.

I'm pleased with how the mixte turned out. Thanks Claudia for your comments and for reading my blog.

[xeney]

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/bik/742210667.html

That is a really nice Univega. Maybe not worth $185 and a trip to Galt, but it's one of the better ones I've seen: it's big (a lot of the used ones I've found are very tiny), it has downtube shifters instead of stem shifters, and it's in nice shape. I can't tell if it's got the bent chain stay, though.

I don't need any more mixtes but I thought somebody might be interested.

[furryblue]

Mike,

What made you decide to go with a single downtube? For me, mixtes are all about aesthetics, and IMHO the double tube has it all over the single tube for looks.

Hi MDHillSlug,

I agree, there is a nice aesthetic to the lateral twin tubes running from the rear wheel to the head tube. The builders I talked to felt strongly that they would prefer not to build the frame with the twin tubes - they said the single downtube makes a stronger and less flexy frame (I think they used words like torsional or lateral stiffness...).

Cheers,

Michael