She's here! The Mixte has landed :)

[breeze]

What a gorgeous ride! I love the color!

[silversurfer]

Hi Hebe,

Hope you're enjoying the bike - she's pretty. I wanted ask a question: How tall are you and did you get the 17 or 19 in?

Thanks.

[hebe]

Hi, I'm a smidge under 5ft6 and I bought the 17inch frame. It's a good fit for me.

Thank you I absolutely love the bike, running errands is so much more of a pleasure now, and the relatively low price and the lack of quick releases mean that I don't mind leaving it locked up in town. I am always getting smiles from people when I ride it, although in many cases the smiles are from men of a certain age smiling fondly at the bike. I don't mind.

[Scrappy]

Hebe, 2 words describe your mixte: DROOL FUEL!!

Simply gorgeous. Congratulations :-)

[hebe]

Here she is with her super cute new backside too The Brooks is fantastic, I just don't notice the saddle at all and happily ride in jeans or summer dresses with no discomfort. I am going to get a mobile mechanic to check the bike build over, as the handlebars suddenly rotated towards me on a ride yesterday. The bike itself is fine, but I do have my doubts about how well it's been put together in the shop. Or she might just have suffered from being the display model. Their wrench isn't in until Thursday, so I'll treat Minnie to a proper once over and sort out a couple of minor niggles.

[hebe]

Hello again well the small girl is now 11 and completely in love with her own bike. I had surgery earlier this year and am keen to ride again, with the girl. I am considering getting a bit of an overhaul for Minnie the Mixte. The rear brake is still rubbish, I’d like grippier tyres, I want to replace the grips for cork or leather ones, change the pedals for metal ones, take off the basket and put a rack on the back instead, remove the plastic chain guard and put a chrome one on instead. The bike has always felt as if everything except the frame was done on a budget. It’s a Dawes Cambridge Mixte with a steel frame, but that frame makes my heart sing. I’m just trying to get my head around spending as much on upgrades as the bike originally cost (£230 seven years ago...) but there’s nothing off the shelf for the same total cost that is exactly what I want. I’m fed up with not riding, and the Vita is not an errand bike.

Anyway, hello ��

[Trek420]

Welcome back. This is so much fun when you love the frame but hate or dissatisfied with everything else.

In my mind building up a customized bike is every bit as fantastic as going full custom. Enjoy the ride.

[hebe]

Thank you Trek �� I was starting to wonder if I was planning on throwing good money after bad. I just know that that mixte is never leaving, so it might as well be as good as it can be. I’ll keep you updated.

How are you?