Two Tone Mixte

I loved this "swoopy" mixte for its Black & White color scheme. Why does Europe get all the funky mixtes?

Surprises from Lexington

A work colleague just emailed me to share a new bike shop and a new brand of bicycles. Has anyone out there already visited Ride.Studio.Cafe ? The concept sounds intriguing - high end bike store, community events, art gallery space, and coffee. I am intrigued, and hope to get out there soon to check it out.

When I go there I also really want to see the new Public bikes. In reading about them I didn't get much further than the mixte. I know there are lots of nice features they list, but look! The stock rims and racks match the frames!!!! These folks sure know their market, I'm tickled and hope to start seeing some of these out on the streets of Boston.

Boots and Handbag on a Red Mixte

It's a grey day here in MA, but this lady's out in style. I couldn't tell if she was wearing a skirt with those boots, but she certainly was looking stately as she moved smoothly through the intersection, not too fast, not too slow.

Mixtes across the Hexagon

While I couldn't possibly photograph all the mixtes I saw in France, here are a few of the photos that were convenient to get. I've mentioned that I came to urban cycling after living in Paris, upon returning I'm convinced that the archetype of the mixte frame entered my subconscious while I was there and that is why I love it so. They are so very practical, always have fenders and little platform racks, are lighter than most city bikes... I still don't own one, but they are lovely, aren't they?

This lady in Paris has the only reflective ankle strap I saw in France:



There's no lycra here in deep Provence! Monsieur was pumping up that tire and fiddling with the bike. I couldn't wait long enough to get a photo of him riding, but he must have gotten it running because the next day the bike was gone.



Fully loaded for camping in Lyon, that may be a 2 Second tent but I learned it's two seconds to put up and about twenty minutes to fold back down again:


This one looks better if you click to expand the image:


Finally, a pink mixte in Lyon:

Poised, in blue

She does look elegant with her summer trousers and her blue mixte.

Thanks for the submission from Lovely Bicycle!

Spotted in the South End

I love her mixte! Great chrome there.
It's been a long time since I've seen someone riding in a relaxed manner wearing sunglasses.

Funky Mix(te)

She's got it all goin' on! I LOVE the gold leather jacket.

A bit of this and that

First, a cute bike. She's for sale at Bikes Not Bombs, and definitely needs some chrome fenders and a shopping basket. Still, she has good "bones" and a lovely champagne color which caught my eye. But maybe champagne-colored bikes should have cork grips, on principle???

On to other things: Last night was the Boston Bikes Update. I'm happy to report that Nicole did an excellent job and a great deal of progress has been, and will continue to be, made. In discussions after the event, it was suggested that organize our own Tweed Run, so watch this space as details unfold!

Finally, don't forget to snap a photo on your way to your SuperBowl party, or your non-American-football-based Sunday afternoon activity. We're starting to get some entries for the winter photo contest, and they're looking very cute. Just like you!

Red Triangles

You know that red bikes are faster, right?

When I first saw the Citgo sign I thought it was a terrible eyesore. Now I understand it's an integral part of Boston. I don't even associate it with Citgo gas, it's become an icon on it's own, a lighthouse beacon that gets us back from Brookline without a map.

Bike Makeover #5: Spring Green Mixte (Updated)

This is the second in the series of artistic mixte makeovers by "Baldman". I think it is just so exciting to see what is possible with old bikes.


This bike was a $30 garage sale find. Here is the obligatory "before" photo, note the dreaded drop handlebars:


On this bike he spent a great deal of time cleaning up the drive train, and the frame now features three shades of paint, two on the tubes and a darker green for the lugs:


As before it was about $25 in materials and four days of time, though he acknowledges that the bike would be better served by more time to cure between coats of paint. I think the bike still looks great!

He's even able to make his own decals.


I hope I was part of the inspiration for the wine crate. He was smarter than me and cut his down to a more reasonable size before attaching it to the bike.


And just because I have it, here's a photo of his darling dog - too cute!

Bike Makeover #4: Western Mixte

I'd like to share with you two bike makeovers completed by a friend of mine who calls himself "Baldman" on the internet. He's made a new hobby of converting unloved ten speed mixtes into artistic statement pieces. Our first example, this bike was purchased at a garage sale for $12:


For this makeover he had to buy new wheels and tires. The rest of the new parts he had lying around and a few were donations from a buddy. The handlebars are painted aluminum, to match the bike.

This makeover cost about $25 in spray paint, sandpaper etc. and took about 4 days to finish.


The leather handgrips, accents on the frame, and fender mudguards are DIY by Baldman. I'm hoping he'll share his process/pattern for the mudguards here, so we can all make some! They're sure pretty...

As if his bikes aren't cute enough, here's his dog:

Blue Helmet and Big Shades

On to happier thoughts: What a cute little mixte!

Late Spring

I love the iced coffee in her basket...

A Dream Bike

I purposefully do not write here much about new bikes. There are so many beautiful vintage bikes which serve perfectly and fulfill all three tenets of this blog, they look good, they feel good, and by riding a vintage bike you're doing good.

But a girl's got a right to dream, and an ANT bike, bespoke crafted here in Massachusetts, is the pinnacle of bicycle dreams, the handmade wedding dress of bicycles. But you definitely need background and for that I lift the story (with attribution!) from Cris:

Perhaps you've heard the cliché that only 1000 people bought the first Velvet Underground, but all of them decided to form bands. In that spirit, the bike builder's equivalent to the Velvet Underground is Chris Chance and Fat City Cycles.

Fat City was founded in the 1980s (in Somerville, MA), in the early age of the mountain bike, and developed bikes that had an early reputation for legendary construction and handling. However, Fat City wasn't big enough to compete with the like of Specialized or Trek and so, in 1994 the company was sold to Serotta, a high-end bike builder in upstate New York. The Boston factory was shut down and most of its employees laid off. There were never a lot of folks who worked at Fat City, but all of them went on to create new bike companies. The list of companies started by ex-Fat City employees reads like a who's who of elite builders: Merlin, Seven, Independent Fabrication. Each of them builds bikes that are universally hailed as the finest rides produced in America.

Theirs are not bikes that you'll find in a shop, prebuilt, fresh from an assembly and pret-a-porter. They're custom built, created after a dialogue between you and a company, parsing out your dreams, desires and limitations. They will build a bike that is one of a kind, and they will build it only for you.

Independent Fabrication and Seven are sort of the BMW and Mercedes of the American bike world, with IF being the hipper, more aggressive BMW and Seven being the more studied and luxurious Benz. Randonneurs, who want a bike that will perform well under any circumstances and with several hundreds of miles, go to IF for their Club Racer, a bike built to carry fenders and support wider tires.

The Club Racer was designed by Mike Flanigan, one of IF's co-founders. Mike left IF some time ago, when the company was shifting its product focus to cater to the racer and performance market, and he was more interested in building bikes for commuters and everyday users. When that gap got to be too large, Mike left Independent Fabrication and started ANT.

For the very best in the everyday Dutch/French/Euro city-bike tradition, custom tailored just for you - this is it - and it's right here in Boston. There's even the more affordable and aptly named Boston Roadster. My husband has promised me, someday... I didn't buy a new wedding dress, so I'll get an ANT instead.

Glorious Rivendells

Beautiful bikes, if you have the means! I try to recycle old bikes but Rivendell bikes are truly lovely. I love the blue ano brake levers on these bikes, like sapphire earrings paired with a more sedate outfit.

Original photos at Cyclofiend

Maggie's Perfect Mixte

Best way to get the story and photos of the details is to read the story, but the gist is that a bike builder (with my great-grandmother's maiden name) created the prettiest and most personalized bike I've ever seen.
I'm swooning!
I'm particularly enamored of this headbadge made from one of Maggie's old pendants. What a lucky lady!

Why I want a Mixte someday:

It just seems easier to get on and off a mama chariot if it has a dropped top bar. This is NOT a mixte, but you get the idea...

Photo by bilobicles

Girlie Dream Bike

Just about every woman I've shown these photos to has swooned. Something about the color, the grips, the basket. It's perfect. Kristi is a lucky girl to get that bike for Christmas! More photos and description at CycloFiend.

Mixte Inspiration from eBay.fr

What I noticed on eBay France:

• The racks are just large enough to hang something on, no larger
• The handlebars often are slanted to mimic the slant of the split tubes, and rarely are they drop (road) handlebars
  
• Mixtes are plentiful and inexpensive relative to the US, there wasn't even one singlespeed
  

Gitane Mixte - fun looking commuter

• Fenders? Check
• Rear Rack? Check
• Bell and Lights? Check
  
• Vintage Style? Check
• CUP HOLDER? Hell yeah! You can ride to work with your morning coffee on this one. That's foresight!

More photos at Velospace