Mixte Project

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As some of you know, Brandi does not go bicycling with me. She had some sort of horrible bicycling accident as a child and is afraid of bikes.

Until now.

She recently agreed to go riding with me, only on rail trails, provided I procure “a really cushy bike” for her to ride on. If I were a man of unlimited means, I’d pick her up a Rivendell Glorius, which is, well Glorious, but costs a small fortune.

The Rivendell Glorius
The Rivendell Glorius

I conducted a quick risk-benefit analysis. The risk is that I spend all sorts of money on building her a bike, and then she doesn’t like bicycling. In order to mitigate the effects of this risk, I intend to equip her bike with components I secretly lust after for myself. That way, if she decides cycling isn’t for her, I’m only out the cost of a frame.

So, today, I followed the Rivendell frame sizing guidelines, measured her saddle height, and set out on Ebay in search of mixte frames size (47-51cm).

I put in a bid on one such bike:

Purple Mixte
A mixte

It has 27″ wheels. I don’t think anyone makes a cushy, trail-worthy tire in that size, so I’m probably going to go with the much balleyhooed 650B wheel size. If Brandi decides against cycling, those wheels will end up on my Lemond, and maybe I’ll actually start riding that bike again.

I’m also planning to put Albatross bars on it, with bar-end shifters. The bars will go nicely on the Diamondback and the shifters on the Trek, in case I end up as the only cyclist in the house.

Calamity!

As I wrote this blog entry, I lost the auction for the purple bike, so I’m in the market for a Mixte frame with a seat tube between 47 and 51 cm long. If you have one for sale, let me know.

6 thoughts on “Mixte Project

  1. There are still plenty of tires available in 27″. I’d venture that I’m heavier than Brandi, and I ride my 27×1-1/4 Paselas at 60 psi w/o much trouble, even offroad. It’s pretty cushy, and way cheaper than a set of 650B wheels. Anyway, I’ll keep my eyes open.

  2. I’m running 27×1-1/4 schwalbe marathons on my Trek, and I take it on some trails, so I suppose that could work, depending on the trails in question.

    I considered Breezers for her. What colors do you have in stock? I’ll show her a pic and see what she thinks.

  3. Is there a bicycle blog out there that Jim hasn’t commented on…you’re everywhere Jim. Hi Jim! As for the Blasphemous Bicycler this is the first time I’ve stopped by. Somebody linked to you. Nice blog. I especially enjoyed your AT pictures. My wife and I passed through that area when we thru-hiked in 2001. If you ever decide to thru-hike let me know, I could throw some advice your way.

  4. Doug, thanks for reading.
    I’ve always had a vague idea in the back of my head about doing some massive adventure, like thru-hiking the AT. At the moment, I’ve got job, school, bills etc. keeping me tethered to the civilized world.

    Someday, I hope!

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