I spruced up this nice little Miyata:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7556...@n06/541257963 On Sep 1, 2009, at 20:35, John Aydelotte <[email protected]> wrote: > It rides very well -- with the sprung saddle she get's a very smooth > ride, even on rough city streets. > > Yes, the Le Tour series are quite nice, and this one was (from what > I could glean online) made by Panasonic. There are still lots of > them out there in garages and they pop up on Craigslist pretty > frequently. They are a step up from the World Tourist (made by > Giant in Taiwan, I believe), and certainly lighter than the old > Varsity bike, which may have still been cranked out in Chicago back > then. Was that the one you were thinking of? > > The original catalog page for the Le Tour Touriste can be seen > here. The Mixte isn't prominent, but the lower left photo shows one. > > My only regret is that she will be too tall for it in another year > or two and will need something else. And even though it will fit my > son by then, he probably won't want what he calls a "girls bike". > > On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 4:28 PM, JoelMatthews <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > 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: > > Thanks John. That really turned out well. > > When I warned against Schwinn earlier, I was thinking of the old > Chicago cruiser models with the one piece crank, and old north > american standard stem and seat post sizing. The Le Tour - I believe > there was another as well, conform more readily to modern parts. > > And it has the nice center seat tube join design. I bet it rides > pretty well. > > On Sep 1, 5:07 pm, John Aydelotte <[email protected]> wrote: > > 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 > <[email protected]> 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 <[email protected]> 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 <[email protected]> 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 <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > On Tue, 2009-09-01 at 09:57 -0600, PATRICK MOORE wrote: > > > > > > > > > On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 7:45 AM, JoelMatthews > <[email protected] > > > > > > > > > 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 -- Hide quoted text - > > > > - Show quoted text - > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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