hokiefyd 

Ooh, we're on mixtes now! This is my 1969(ish) Peugeot UO-18. I'll second DorkDisk's comment. It's hard to find a smoother-riding bike than a classic mixte. The low trail design makes this bike SUPER stable at slower speeds. I can ride no-handed nearly to a stop -- it's almost impossible to fall off. There's a very surreal stability to these bikes, and they're legitimately fun to ride because of that. My 13 year old daughter rode it some last summer and couldn't wipe the grin off her face -- and I couldn't get the bike back from her. In some ways, geometry of modern bikes is a mess compared to some of these classic bikes.

wedgeSG

My wife’s bikes are mostly flat bar road bikes. When we got back into cycling in the fall of 2013, she saw a magazine review for the not yet released 2014 Giant Thrive. We had a deposit on one before the first shipment ever arrived at the port. From there, I built her the ‘94 Bianchi Advantage for a birthday gift. Ground up, total renovation, and did the ‘06 Bianchi Boardwalk as a stablemate his to her’s. Most recently finished a commuter, flat-bar conversion for her in the 1994 Specialized Allez. Her Bianchi got all new everything, my Boardwalk was nothing but an bare, ugly gray frame. The Allez got all new parts and updates throughout on its neglected, but now amazingly perfect original finished frameset.
wedgeSG

wedgeSG

2014 Giant Thrive


2014 Giant Thrive


1994 Bianchi Advantage


1994 Bianchi Advantage


1994 Bianchi Advantage


2006 Bianchi Boardwalk


2006 Bianchi Boardwalk


2006 Bianchi Boardwalk


1994 Specialized Allez


1994 Specialized Allez

hokiefyd 

Gotta love all that Bianchi Celeste!

finch204

Damn those are some great looking bikes wedge!

starvinmarvin

like that bianchi

DorkDisk

Spent yesterday unsuccessfully trying to sell this 83 Pinarello Treviso with Super Record at the bike jumble.

Downtube shifters converted to top mount

melblogs

Hi Wedge,

First, this is the only picture/info I've been able to find about the bike I just bought for $50 on the street. It looks like I have your wife's bike, the 1994 Bianchi Advantage. It's in very bad shape and I'd like to attempt to fix it up. Any info on parts or expertise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Mel

wedgeSG

Mel...if you included a photo I’m not seeing it. As far as tips specific to this bike, hmmm. I’ve learned a bit since I did this one, but in general for stuff of this type and era here’s my best takeaways. If the shifter/lever combos don’t respond to basic techniques of degunking to work, move on to something obtainable and new. Don’t be afraid of cold setting rear triangle to move to a newer type drive system if necessary. Some biopace cranks can be stripped, polished, rings changed to standard type and reused. If changing from Cantilever to V type brakes, Avid Speed Dial levers can be very helpful in making stuff play nice together. As far as color, my local Automotive paint store had a formula for Pantone 333 but not 332 (332 probably more “correct” but 333 more corporate/more impact). I like 333 better. Much of the original parts were swapped for lighter, newer, components. Fork, stem, Handlebars, tires, crank, seatpost, saddle, etc. There isn’t really anything too specific to any brand of bike I’ve done, just basic steps applied to achieve what you have in mind for the final look. Hope this is helpful, if I can respond to something specific for you let me know.
wedgeSG

hokiefyd 

@DorkDisk, I'm late to your post, but are those DT shifter conversions using the Velo Orange DT/flat bar adapters, shown here (or similar)? Those look real nice on that bike.

DorkDisk

Thanks. Yes, they are VO with Campa Super Record

GeezyRider 

Here's some of my flat bar family from oldest to youngest:

1973 Fuji Special Road Racer



1987 Panasonic DX3000



1989 Trek 420



2015 Mercier Galaxy SC-1

hokiefyd 

I love that Fuji! Are those 35mm tires on it?

GeezyRider 

Thank you! The tires are Vittoria Zaffiro 700x32c.

badger1

Old Sirrus ('10 frameset; the rest custom [by me]):

badger1

New Sirrus: '19 Sirrus X Comp w/Future Shock 2.0 (not stock; warranty replacement for defective 1.0 cartridge). Other than that and Roubaix Pro 32 tires, Spec. Avatar saddle, XT pedals and Ergons, bike is stock for the moment. Wheelset, brakes, and drivetrain to be replaced in due course.

Before FS replacement:

badger1

New FS (2.0)

Doctor Morbius

Every time I see a thread like this it makes me want to go on Craig's List and buy and old retro styled road bike and customize the crap out of it. And I already have FIVE bikes!! I don't need any more! Where does it end?

And cycling isn't my only hobby. I play guitar too, so naturally I want to fill every room in my house with guitars and amps. And I'm also into audio equipment! It just doesn't stop.

hokiefyd 

Old bikes are a ton of fun, and they're supremely comfortable (at least some of them). I've added an '81 Peugeot PBN10 to my collection. I paid 40 bucks for it and I've cleaned it up, re-cabled it, and replaced the stem and drop bars with some upright bars for now. French bikes have their peculiarities to them, and the fork and stem are some of them -- the ISO dimension for a 1" stem is 22.2mm, but the French used 22.0mm. You can sometimes find standard ISO stems that are small enough that they'll fit into a French fork, and you sometimes have to shave one down to fit. I found an old janky ISO stem in my parts bin that happens to fit for now. My long term goal is to find a nice silver anodized stem and moustache bar or north roads bar for this bike. For now, I'm enjoying getting to know it.



It goes nicely with my '70 Peugeot UO 18 mixte model which is technically also a "flat bar" road bike (these were sold with either flat bars or drop bars, depending on your preference). The way I have it configured now, this UO 18 is very much like a 50-year old Specialized Roll or Cannondale Treadwell...just with 35mm tires instead of 2.3" tires.