Another vote for the Schwinn idea -- I took this Craigslist special: 1981 Schwinn Le Tour Mixte<http://www.flickr.com/photos/aydelotte/2577031655/>
...which had a nice Japanese lugged frame, but otherwise rusty and/or broken components, and turned it into this: Birthday Mixte <http://www.flickr.com/photos/aydelotte/2577051527/> ...for my daughter. I wouldn't call it "Riv'd Up" so much as "Velo Oranged Up" but I think the outcomes might be similar. The frame was stripped & powder-coated locally, and my total cost was less than $400 plus some parts (saddle, pedals, brake levers) I had around the garage. I didn't want to spend a ton as she's gonna outgrow it in another year or two, but she loves the bike and gets more compliments on it than I do on my Atlantis. Good luck! On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 3:19 PM, JoelMatthews <joelmatth...@mac.com> wrote: > > > Its a middle ground between a Betty and a Beater but have you > > considered Soma's Buena vista? > > Certainly good looking bike, and I really like the fork. For whatever > reason, Soma went with the double skinny tube design with only a brace > attaching to the seat tube. > > If the rider is not a tiny little thing or carries any sort of loads - > and a mixte is meant to be an errand bike - the ride will be less than > ideal. > > I have seen a lot of people on these bikes. But with all my 165 lbs > to carry around, those I have ridden just did not feel right at all. > Maybe I am fussy. > > On Sep 1, 3:29 pm, RoadieRyan <rya...@hotmail.com> wrote: > > Its a middle ground between a Betty and a Beater but have you > > considered Soma's Buena vista? A quick google search shows them > > between $375 and 475 for the Frameset. I don't have personal > > experience with them but it seems like a sweet frame and good bang for > > the buck. > > > > I am actually building up a Mixte for my wife right now from a older > > CroMo Schwinn that I actually found for free at the side of the road. > > After taking it all apart its going to need some lovin' but I can't > > argue with the price of the bike. In Seattle I frequently see "Ladies > > 3 speeds" for decent prices on Craigslist an older english ladies bike > > will be plenty strong (IMO) but not light. > > > > R > > > > On Sep 1, 12:41 pm, JoelMatthews <joelmatth...@mac.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > - Rene Herse > > > > - Alex Singer > > > > - Jack Taylor > > > > > Well, yeah, I'll concede those three ;) > > > > > But the chances of finding a Herse or Singer on Craigslist or on eBay > > > with a starting bid less than $1k are virtually nill. Jack Taylor > > > does not have quite the cachet in the U.S. as its French counterparts > > > (though indeed, it ought to), so you might get lucky. More once in a > > > blue moon type of thing. > > > > > There are any number of bike boom French mixtes, Japanese came at the > > > tail end of the boom. Some good and some not so good. Schwinn made > > > some nice middle weight mixtes. I would hesitate to recommend them > > > here, as the proprietary sizing will make squeezing in Riv parts more > > > of chore than with the French and Japanese. > > > > > On Sep 1, 1:16 pm, Steve Palincsar <palin...@his.com> wrote: > > > > > > On Tue, 2009-09-01 at 09:57 -0600, PATRICK MOORE wrote: > > > > > > > On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 7:45 AM, JoelMatthews <joelmatth...@mac.com > > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > Off hand, I cannot think of one brand better than another. > > > > > > OK, here are three: > > > > > > - Rene Herse > > > > - Alex Singer > > > > - Jack Taylor- Hide quoted text - > > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > > > - Show quoted text - > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
