A Change Of Plan...

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Comments

  • jonginge
    jonginge Posts: 5,945
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    My favourite so far....

    http://www.ahearnecycles.com/pages/maggiemixte.html

    @Rolf I'm more just looking at the design and handlebars! The handlebars on the one I've bought are awful, just awful - they aren't original and look like BMX riser bars or something.

    I have really liked having a basket on the fuji, I have to say, so it will definitely have a basket and a pannier rack.
    Almost want one of those sunburst baskets :D
    FCN 2-4 "Shut up legs", Jens Voigt
    Planet-x Scott
    Rides
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,407
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    My favourite so far....

    http://www.ahearnecycles.com/pages/maggiemixte.html

    @Rolf I'm more just looking at the design and handlebars! The handlebars on the one I've bought are awful, just awful - they aren't original and look like BMX riser bars or something.

    I have really liked having a basket on the fuji, I have to say, so it will definitely have a basket and a pannier rack.

    Oh, now that is proper lush! Twin tubes, lugs, tarty head tube badge, the lot. The D-lock slot in the basket is a nice touch, but surely the head tube badge should have been riveted on rather than using the first two Phillips-head screws they could find. I am in a picky mood today.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    rjsterry wrote:
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    My favourite so far....

    http://www.ahearnecycles.com/pages/maggiemixte.html

    @Rolf I'm more just looking at the design and handlebars! The handlebars on the one I've bought are awful, just awful - they aren't original and look like BMX riser bars or something.

    I have really liked having a basket on the fuji, I have to say, so it will definitely have a basket and a pannier rack.

    Oh, now that is proper lush! Twin tubes, lugs, tarty head tube badge, the lot. The D-lock slot in the basket is a nice touch, but surely the head tube badge should have been riveted on rather than using the first two Phillips-head screws they could find. I am in a picky mood today.

    Yeah, agreed, love the chainstay details though, and the basket!
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • wgwarburton
    wgwarburton Posts: 1,863
    Hi,
    Interesting set of bikes- the bars on the yellow-thing look to me like reversed bullhorns. Probably effective enough but they do look at bit odd.

    The other Mixtes mostly seem to have "moustache bars", or something pretty similar (I can't see the picture of the Ms Michaels one). These are a compromise (or balance, if you associate "compromise" with badness) between flat bars and drops which give you a range of hand/body positions without the head-down full-drop position that a few people don't ever seem to get the hang of.
    They are typically used with drop bar levers, following the curve of the bar, as in the picture of the black Centurion on FGG.
    You can mount them either way up according to how much forward-lean you want. Most of the photos I've seen have them curving down (opposite to the centurion setup).

    Sorry to hear that the Fuji doesn't fit, LiT... Your description of the way it rides sounds like what I was expecting (and quite fun!) but that's clearly no use if it's uncomfortable.
    I guess you could muck about with stems and bars to change the reach, but from the sound of it the issue's more fundamental than that.
    The Mixte-Fixte sounds like a good project... Like you suggest, the key is probably to check you can get on with it first and then adapt/update to suit... I bet it would work well as a fixed with a pair of Open-Pros.. something like this, but with brakes...

    Cheers,
    W.
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    Ooof, £400 for the frame and £1k for the bike? Anyone who's into that should go over to Lunar, theirs is a lot prettier and £650!

    But that aside, yeah, it's a possibility. For the handlebars, the moustaches sound good - and I would imagine the old-school levers that I think are on the raleigh will clamp pretty well onto them, or I'll buy some little brakes. I do think they look better with grips than they do with tape... but I mustn't get carried away! It hasn't even arrived yet!

    But it hopefully will this week......... :D
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,407
    Just as an aside, can anyone think of any other instances of this where two words work either way round to mean two different, but related things: moustache handlebars - handlebar moustache?
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • wgwarburton
    wgwarburton Posts: 1,863
    rjsterry wrote:
    Just as an aside, can anyone think of any other instances of this where two words work either way round to mean two different, but related things: moustache handlebars - handlebar moustache?

    Pretty awful vs awful pretty

    Cheers,
    W.
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    WGWarburton wrote:
    rjsterry wrote:
    Just as an aside, can anyone think of any other instances of this where two words work either way round to mean two different, but related things: moustache handlebars - handlebar moustache?

    Pretty awful vs awful pretty

    Cheers,
    W.

    But Buns, which is which? You imply that the moustaches are pretty - I can't agree!

    My Mixte is with a courier winging its way to my office. :D
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • Clarion
    Clarion Posts: 223
    I saw a cool white fixte at Borough High St. today.
    Riding on 531
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    Clarion wrote:
    I saw a cool white fixte at Borough High St. today.

    Oooooh groovy :D

    Still waiting for the courier to arrive :(
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • Clarion
    Clarion Posts: 223
    Yeah, couldn't tell what it was, but it had been done nicely.

    Hell, I'm excited about your new bike now!
    Riding on 531
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    Clarion wrote:
    Yeah, couldn't tell what it was, but it had been done nicely.

    Hell, I'm excited about your new bike now!

    It's HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE!

    I have just excitedly removed the packaging. :D

    It looks good, I'm really pleased to note that the ugly raleigh decals are stickers on the top tube and down tube, so I've already started peeling them off.

    The handlebars are beyond awful, and it needs new tyres, possibly new wheels, and a new saddle.

    All purely aesthetic concerns, mind. :D

    Looks like there's a re-weld on the chainstay where the rear guard is attached, no biggie I suspect. As long as it doesn't turn out to be a patch of rust, which I don't think it is.

    And the saddle bolt requires a spanner rather than an allen key. Damn it.

    So I'm off to the bike shop to buy more freakin' lights 'cause I'm incapable of bringing my ones with me.

    Damn it self.

    But yay!
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • jonginge
    jonginge Posts: 5,945
    Huzzah! New bike day :D
    FCN 2-4 "Shut up legs", Jens Voigt
    Planet-x Scott
    Rides
  • wgwarburton
    wgwarburton Posts: 1,863
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    ...
    It's HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE!
    ...
    Yay! Congratulations.... So, can you tell what kind of steel it is? Are we talking Reynolds or Hi-ten? Seam welded or butted?
    Cheers,
    W.
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Pictures....... Now, dammit!
    Faster than a tent.......

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