In Search Of: Curvy Sexy Fixie Mixte

[yin-haan]

Hello, my name is Gemma, and this is my first post!

I haven't really ridden in a long time, but I would like to put together a new bike (or ten!). In any case, when I was younger, I used to work as a mechanic in a small LBS, so I have an appreciation for fine cycles, but my funds are quite limited at this point in my life.

The last bike I had was a Specialized Hard Rock Comp that I loved, but was sadly stolen out of my garage while I was in Italy (and they didn't steal anything else?). At the moment, I have a Surly 1x1 frame and fork set that I got years ago on eBay, but never built. Lately, though, I've been thinking that I would like to find a nice mixte, either a complete bike or a frameset, but it's a bit difficult wading through the Internet to find one.

My plan is to build a fixie/free city bike (or bikes) with flat bars, and I would like some suggestions, if anyone has any.

What I'm looking for:

1. I'm 6' 1" (185cm) tall, with a 34" inseam in bare feet, so it has to be available in a large-ish size.
2. I definitely want a mixte and not a garden-variety step-through. I like skirts.
3. I want it made out of CroMo steel, with nice welds.
4. I would prefer curved tubing, like the Masi Soulville Mixte (geometry very laid back, hub gearing yuck, only comes in 16" or 18" sizes, although 18" might work OK, because I do tend to prefer a slightly smaller frame than "normal") or the Retrotec ($$$$$$$, way out of my price range). For some reason, I find straight tubing on mixte frames ugly. I also kind of like the Masi Speciale Chixed frame.
5. I would really like geometry that is more on the "road bike" side rather than like the "cruiser" or Dutch-type bikes.
6. I want it with fixed-gear type dropouts/frame ends.

In the end, I'm probably going to look a a Chixed and a Soulville Mixte, if I can deal with 53 cm and 18" max sizes, and do some mods. The Soulville I guess would make a decent grocery bike, with the more laid-back geometry, and the Chixed better for a liitle more excitement, but if anyone knows of anything they think might work for me, I'd appreciate a link!

[Biciclista]

Welcome to TE YinHaan. I've seen a lot of Mixtes go through here (we have a Mixte thread) but they are rarely extra large and I've never seen anything like you are describing.
You might just have to buy new.

[Trek420]

You might just have to buy new.

You might have to build one Welcome to TE

[Xrayted]

I find this one highly sexy....

http://cgi.ebay.com/1975s-Woman-Rale...item19c4daacf6

[SadieKate]

Well, it's not curvy, but Soma makes a beautiful Mixte frameset:

http://store.somafab.com/sobuvifrfo.html

Available in many sizes.

And here it is for about a hundred less:

http://www.outsideoutfitters.com/p-1...rce=googlebase

It's gorgeous for the price and a bit different geometry than your average mixte.

Of course, mine would be even more gorgeous if I could get the 2 year old frame built into a working bike. But, let's not talk about the Great Garage Project and other household members . . . .

[divingbiker]

I wanted the same thing, only with S&S couplers and touring geometry and the ability to swap between drop and flat bars, so I went custom. It should be done later this spring.