terraskye

Hi again,

So I finally have photos of the Raleigh Supercourse that I may buy but please correct me if I'm wrong but is the SC more of a bike built for speed as opposed to distance and leisure?

If so can someone point out some Mixte to look for that are more made for more of a touring bike ...

Hopefully this makes sense and I thank you for your assistance

Veloria

Japanese mixtes

noglider 

The men's Super Course is a wonderful all around design. I assume the mixte has the same design goals. I don't consider it a speed bike. I could spend all day on it.

Do you have pictures of the bike you might buy? It's one of the best mixtes you can get, since very few were made of 531. My Super Course might be my favorite bike, and it's not the "finest" one. The balance of nimbleness and comfort and predictable handling is astonishing. I can be comfortable riding it slowly, and if I ride it hard, it responds. I can take tight turns, but it's not twitchy.

Can you tell I love mine?

wrk101

Univega made a beautiful Gran Turismo mixte (actually, Univega didn't make a single bike, but that is another topic). Good luck finding one, I have seen one in three years. Miyata made a 210 based mixte as well. If the price is decent on the Raleigh, I would pick it up regardless and enjoy it while looking for an elusive touring mixte. Super Course mixtes are pretty hard to find as well. And as Tom pointed out, its hard to find a 531 mixte.

Early 210s were pretty so so. Later ones are pretty nice. Here's a link to the 1985 Miyata 210M. Cromoly triple butted tubing, canti brakes, it would be on my short list of possible keeper mixtes. They continued to make it in later years, and it got better and better. The 1987 Miyata 215M is particularly nice (I have the standard bike version of this year). I would pay pretty serious money for the 1987 version, if I ever found one.

The 1985 Miyata

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_whtVpXkKwl...0-h/img086.jpg


And the 1987 215M

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_whtVpXkKwl...0-h/img134.jpg


Mixtes are hot in the market right now, RED HOT!

that_guy_zach

I had a Super Course MKII Mixte for a while and it was a joy to ride. I see no reason why you could not spend some serious time on one.

terraskye

Here is a picture of the Raleigh



If I do buy it I'll be swapping out the drop bars for Nitto Dove Bars which means I'll have to replace the brake levers and also the shifters are stem shifters so I'll have to see how I can change that to something easier and more familiar for me to use.

noglider 

I can't tell, but that looks like the Merida-built Raleigh, made in Taiwan. That was a good line of bikes but different from the English made Raleighs. The one you show looks like another all-purpose bike, definitely not build for high speed.

I'm sure the Dove bars are nice, but they seem highly overpriced to me. You can get these bars much more cheaply. The picture is terrible, making them look lousy, but they're not. I had them on my Super Course until recently.

I think you'll find stem shifters to be fine, especially those long shifters.

terraskye

When I go and look at the bike how do I tell if its English or made in Taiwan?? Also is 200$ if its made in Taiwan overpriced or not.

Thanks

noglider 

This is from the era when Taiwan started making good bikes, so it's not a strike against the bike at all. In fact, they were better than the English made bikes that Raleigh made immediately before Huffy bought the Raleigh name for use in the US. I don't know what the story in Canada was.

I don't know about your local market. $200 is exactly the price I asked for the Raleigh Olympian (Taiwan made Merida) I sold about a year ago. It's probably similar to the Super Course. So it sounds about right to me. Also, mixtes command much higher prices, so again, it sounds good. I get $225 for Plain Jane mixtes here, and they sell quickly. I should ask for more.

E_merlin

Hi - I am certainly the farthest thing from a Raliegh mixte or vintage bike expert, but I agree with noglider that does not look like an English SC. I believe they had down tube shifters as opposed to stem shifters. They also would have came from the factory with a Brooks saddle although it could have been replaced. You should see a made in "Nottingham England" on the head badge if it were from England.

Speculation here: It seems like this is a common feature the separates high end mixtes from low end ones. Probably a better way to say it is.... many of the 531 mixtes I have seen pictures of all have down tube shifters. Someone chime in if I am way of base on my down tube shifters = higher end.

noglider 

Still, the one terraskye is looking at is a very worthy bike. And good mixtes are hard to come by, so I think she should snatch it up now. If something better comes along, she could upgrade.

How many bikes pass through Edmonton, after all? You look so isolated on the map!

E_merlin

Sounds like good advice to me!

Chris Pringle

No Glider is so right about both points. The Nitto handle bar is way overpriced. I purchased one of the Sunlite Northroad handlebars and it looks almost like a copy of the Nitto Dove bar. I also felt the alloy use for the Sunlite was of good quality (very light also) with a nice finish. I concur the picture they use doesn't make justice (see the one below.)

In regard to the stem shifters, I have them on my own Nishiki mixte and they work just great. Stem shifters are so easy to reach when you have an upright position on the saddle compared to downtube shifters. If the derailleur is a Suntour and has been kept in good shape, you should be quite pleased with the overall shifting performance of this bike.

Chicago Al 

E_merlin is on the right path I think. DT shifters = a higher end bike, and from what I have seen in a year of looking hard at mixtes that turn up for sale on eBay, CL, or elsewhere, a very small percentage of mixtes are at that level. That is, for a given maker, the mixte frame was offered on the entry level bikes, which were the most popular, and also maybe on a mid level model, but in much smaller numbers.

But even a 'garden variety' mixte can be a perfectly good bike, depending on your use. My daughter's Miyata One Hundred from 1987 is a great little bike, and there are lots of other examples in the mixtie sticky here. In this market we see good quality mixtes from Shogun, Nishiki, Miyata, Fuji, Panasonic pretty regularly, priced from $100-200. Peugeots, Gitanes, and Motobecanes turn up pretty regularly as well, though that can get more complicated as far as parts and maintenance.

To Terraskye's question: a mixte is by definition going to be a bike for leisure riding rather than speed, and with the better ones, distance riding. Take a look at the Miyata catalogs (www.miyatacatalogs.com) from the 80s to see what that company offered: mixtes came in the entry level 100 and 110 model, also in the 210/215, an entry-level touring rig with cantilever brakes, a 40-spoke rear wheel, fender and rack eyelets, etc. There were two higher touring models in the Miyata lineup but the 210/215 is nothing to sneeze at, especially as they are very rare. It seems to have disappeared from the Miyata lineup in 1988 or 89, along with all the entry level road bikes. As wrk101 notes, it was an awfully nice bike, probably as good as a production mixte gets.

(edit to remove even more redundancy/agreement with Thrifty Bill)

Which reminds me to send an email about the 215 that was for sale in the Chicago suburbs recently! I have reason to believe it didn't sell as the seller got greedy and now may be more flexible. But if I buy that one (for the wife), another bike will have to go, and worse yet I'll have to come up with a convincing argument for why this one is 'better.'

FWIW $200 sounds a bit high for a basic model like that Raleigh. If it's early Taiwan production it may be heavier and cruder than the 80s Japanese bikes, with knockoff components. But it sounds like there may not be that many options in Edmonton.

A bike in your own garage is worth two or three on CL in some distant city...or that people are yapping about on C&V!

wrk101

Personally, $200 for that Taiwan Raleigh is high. The wheels appear to be steel (chrome), turkey levers, stem shifters. I would like to see the spec on the frame construction. And then you want it configured differently anyway (different handlebars means different brake levers as well, along with the shifters you want changed. If you pay someone to do all of this work, you will have quite a bit into this mixte.

michael k

wrk101,
Like this?

https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/bik/1872716060.html

Vintage Univega Gran Turismo Mixte road bike $200
10 speed
--> 20" seat post height <--
this thing is near mint
looks like it was road once or twice, then put in storage
(in a barn or shop, covered in sawdust)

guess you'd call the color a dark champaign
made in japan



Already have 3 1/2 mixte's otherwise....

E_merlin

That would be it :-)

I imagine it will be sold soon. @ mike what are your other 3.5s......?

michael k

2 Moto's,a Puggle and a junk Columbia

Post #707

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-place)/page24

noglider 

Bill, you may not have noticed, but Sixty Fiver is her bike mechanic. She couldn't be in better hands!

Here is a wonderful page about this model. It was made by Bridgestone in Japan. This was one of the best years for Japanese made bikes. So while it would have been fine if I had been right about it being made in Taiwan, this is even better news.

If the wheels are original, it has Araya aluminum rims.

terraskye, I think you better hurry up and buy the bike today. It would be a shame if you miss the opportunity. And don't dicker on the price.

terraskye

Thank you to everyone for your comments

Upon further reflection I think I'm going to pass on the Raleigh...In the end its really just didn't grab my attention since my dream Mixte is really a Motobecane in blue. Sooo if anyone is interested the Raleigh and doesn't mind paying the shipping I can pass along your info to the seller

Thanks again

Fiona

elcraft

[QUOTE=noglider;11206538]Still, the one terraskye is looking at is a very worthy bike. And good mixtes are hard to come by, so I think she should snatch it up now. If something better comes along, she could upgrade.

I rescued a "Built In Japan" Raleigh Mixte from the dump. Very nicely made and it came with the Raleigh branded SR/SunTour/ Dia Compe components. I have only felt the need to upgrade the wheels to a set with alloy rims. The Sun Tour derailleurs are better made and more reliable than the ubiquitous Simplex crap or kludgy Huret Alvit that turned up on most entry or mid level Raleighs, back in the day. If you are looking at a similar bike, I'd snap it up instantly! These bikes may not have the cache of a Carlton- made Super Course, but I 'd bet the manufacturing was way more consistent! Also, it won't have any of the Raleigh Proprietary threading issues- everything is standard JIS. It will be alot easier to keep well maintained.

ndbiker

I own a '83 Super Course mixte. I am experimenting with various forms. Currently it is set up as my commuting errand bike with a B-67 saddle (I just replaced the seatpost with a newer Kalloy post with more set back) and Albatross bars. Mine has 700c aluminum wheels and I replaced the 25mm tires with 32s. I also own a Bianchi Eros and replaced the veloce triple with a compact double the triple went on the mixte. I really like the bike. I originally got it for my wife to use. While she thinks it's comfortable she is just not that interested in riding. Not wanting a bike to go to waste I set it up for me as a commuter and really like it. It is not a light bike but is a nice road bike. It is faster than cruisers, mountain bikes or hybrids but is not for racing (obviously). As it's set up, it has a nice upright ride, yet blows by the cruisers/mtn. bikes. I am considering the possibility of converting it to 650B wheels and noodle bars and using my B-17 saddle to convert it to a country bike as well. I'd go for it if it's in good shape. It's a nice frame and good bones to work with.

By the way I rather like the stem shifters. It means if I decide to switch out the handle bars all I need to switch is the brake levers. Your other choice would be bar end shifters.

ndbiker

It's neat to find out more about my bike. That is mine to a tee. Same frame color, wheels etc. I hope she gets it.

Grand Bois

This is the one I want:

https://classicrendezvous.com/Austria/AD_V_Noir.htm

BigPolishJimmy

I just got done switching the bars and saddle on my mixte:



Not high-end, but still a pretty bike, much more so with these bars and saddle that go with the color of the frame. Terraskye, if you were closer I'd try to sell it to you, but I bet you can do equally well close to home. Keep looking for that Motobecane in blue, once you find it, it will make you happy.