gaucho777 

I bought this bike several years ago, back before it fit my daughter. I started another thread about the bike (lots of speculation, plus early and in-process photos). It's been on the back burner for a while, but it's finally done, at least for now.

As received:

MysteryMixte_DriveSide by gaucho777, on Flickr

I still haven't been able to identify the builder. At first, I thought it might be French, based on the preponderance of French parts and fittings. However, it has English threading (possibly re-tapped?), so I'm not really sure. Tubing is double-butted 531 throughout. Campagnolo dropouts. When I acquired it, it had a darker blue respray over light blue (original?) paint, but no logos or other paint clues present. 27.2 post. Serial on NDS rear dropout 060951. My daughter picked out this color. It's got a bit of pearly sparkle to it that didn't really come out in the photos.

I was originally planning to rebuild it similar to how I received it, but plans evolved. After I robbed this bike of its nice triple Stronglight crankset for my Gitane Gran Tourisme build, I decided the only way to show a daughter true love is to build her bike with Campagnolo. The bike kept the nice tubular wheelset with high-flange Campagnolo hubs, Regina 5-speed 28t FW, and vintage Mavic hoops. The bar-end shifters, post, and drivetrain are Campagnolo Nuovo Record, rounded out by a Gran Sport FD from @hazetguy and pedals from @Stevensb It's a tight fit for the Univeral 61 brakes, but they work well with just enough clearance when adjusted properly. Thanks to @francophile for gifting the Campagnolo cable clip. I think I can get away with just the single one. I also made my own handlebar grips with some scrap white leather, wrapped around a bit of cork tape, and sewed together with matching thread in a baseball stitch--not perfect but a successful first effort I think. Sadly, the cable guide wasn't sufficiently cinched down, and I caused a little paint mishap below the guide which I'd like to go back and touch up a little better. My daughter could use a longer stem, and may want some tweaks to the cockpit and saddle. She did not want to even try the Ideale (which I was happy to take for myself) and has her doubts about the Rolls. As with many of my builds, still a work in progress. Hoping we can take it out together tomorrow for a test ride.

Untitled by gaucho777, on Flickr

Sir_Name 

Nice, that’s a great color. Looks like a fun build.

non-fixie 

Very stylish build!

Looking forward to seeing it in action.

romperrr 

Great build. Nice mixtes are hard to come by and this one is beautiful

Roger M

That is beautiful. I'll be curious to hear her thoughts on the bar end shifters.

I'm in the middle of a Bridgestone mixte build for my daughter. I've been thinking about bar end shifters(versus suntour thumbies), but I don't know if she'll like them.

Regardless, nice work.

ShannonM

That is one of the sweetest bikes ever.

--Shannon

cudak888 

Very nice build and exceptionally executed.

-Kurt

P.S.: Lots of luck with the bar ends, Nuovo Record rear mech, and straight-cut rear freewheel. That's a combination which I'd call an "acquired taste of the C&V inclined." I hope your daughter doesn't mind it.

geminiani

Very pretty bike. Nicely done. I am restoring a 1961 Geminiani, and looking for a Gran Sport groupset for mine.

gaucho777 

Thanks everyone for the nice comments.

Sadly, the first test ride didn't go off as smoothly as originally hoped. She had her reservations about the saddle. I knew that during the build, but like any self-righteous father would do, I ignored her concerns confident that she would see things my way. A couple of blocks later, we head back home to replace the saddle with the Avocet saddle she likes from her other bike. (I hold my tongue about the fact it's black and doesn't match the grips, and the whole aesthetic is wrong!.) Complaints Suggestions were made about getting rid of "these things" on the pedals. The pedals received some disparaging remarks, and Tulio rolled over in his grave. After a not-quite-super-quick pit stop at home to swap saddles (it's a 2-bolt Campagnolo seat post mind you) and remove the toe clips, we head back out on the road. A couple of blocks later, back where we turned around the first time.....pppssfffffff...pppssfffffff...pppssfffffff...tubular puncture. Ugh, not meant to be today. We've got a rain check on the ride and a promise of a fresh blended smoothie at a snack shack along a nearby bike path. Meanwhile, a new tubular is already mounted and I swung by the co-op just before closing and picked up a longer stem as well. Oh, and I bought a white saddle cover for that black Avocet saddle she likes. She agrees it's a pretty bike, which is important. I did say it's a work in progress...

@Roger M She didn't have any objections to the bar ends, albeit just over a short distance. I asked her to try out some gear changes, and she took to them fairly easily. Before the bar ends, she's used thumbies, grip shifts, underbar trigger shift, stem-mounted shifters. Her favorite to this point has been the indexed SIS thumb shifters.

cudak888 

Even with the tubular failure, it sounds as if it's still a win - and glad to hear that the bar ends and the Nuovo were received with favor.

Might I suggest a pair of MKS Sylvan Stream pedals as an alternative to the Campagnolo quills? They'll fit right in with the Nuovo crankset - they're basically a dual-sided Record Pista pedal with serrations for a bit of grippiness:



They're basically the perfect alternate-reality of a Campagnolo pedal designed for everyday walking shoes.

-Kurt

gaucho777 

@cudak888 ^Thanks, Kurt. That’s an excellent suggestion.

cudak888 

If you do go for them, shop around. They can be pricey. When you find a deal, they're usually drop shipped from Japan as well, so be prepared to wait a while.

-Kurt

gaucho777 

@cudak888 Thanks. That’s what I was seeing too, but I found a good deal. $31 and change, free shipping from US, expected delivery on Monday.

cudak888 

Bada-bing, bada-boom. Lucky you!

-Kurt

SurferRosa

Love those pics, too. That's a really nice wall.

Any chance you can add a couple more links of chain without the upper/jockey wheel hitting the largest cog?

gaucho777 

Thanks. The painted wall/fence is adjacent to a bike path a few blocks away from my house. Lots of other back fence sections facing the bike path have been painted creatively.

Re the chain, I broke one of the cardinal rules about taking pics with the chain in the big ring and small cog. This is about as stretched out as the RD gets. It actually shifts through all the gears as is. It's a little stubborn going from big ring to big cog (53x28), but that'll limit cross-chaining. It gets up to the 28t smoothly without having to pull the wheel all the way back in the dropout, so I'm happy to leave well enough alone.

Bad Lag

Awesome bike, even before but after,... wow!

With the upright bars, you may find a different seat is in order. Perhaps something like a Brooks B-67 - wide and sprung. When sitting upright racing profile saddles tend to be less than ideal.

juvela

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Congratulations on the lovely frame and build - most exquisite!

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non-fixie could certainly commiserate here

he did a Benotto mixte for mrs. non-fixie which had to be reworked about a half dozen times before she was at peace with the cycle

from her perspective she was training him

in the subsequent builds he has done for her fewer modificazione and editions were needed...


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non-fixie 

Don't worry. They never do. The first mixte I built for mrs non-fixie took four rebuilds before both of us were reasonably happy. And another four bikes before we were really happy.

EDIT: hah, I only saw juvela 's post after I'd typed mine. Indeed, it was that Benotto, and it probably was six, if I count all the bar re-wraps I had to do ...)

gaucho777 

@juvela and @non-fixie thanks for the encouragement. I installed a much longer stem which did a lot for the overall handling, for me at least, and should give a better fit for my daughter. This required another round of hand-stitching the custom grips. Not six re-wraps but time-consuming nonetheless. New pedals en route. @Bad Lag yes, the Rolls is out. She’s opposed to any leather sprung saddle on principle, but happy enough with an Avocet touring saddle. Maybe in time she’ll come around, but I’m picking my battles. I feel I’m close to getting it dialed in. May or may not get a chance for another test ride tomorrow before a planned road trip next week.

Fwiw, even though it’s way too small for me, I’m enjoying the test rides. Really smooth and nimble. Coming around to the bar ends, and the brakes work surprisingly well. I have to be careful not to lock up the rear. Bike tracks well, too.

non-fixie 

One thing that really helped mrs non-fixie to enjoy her vintage bikes was the right saddle. She'd ride whatever I put on her bikes without complaining too much, but it wasn't until a bought her a Brooks "S" that we started doing longer rides.

This was the saddle that changed the game, a used Professional S:



These days most of her bikes have a B17S Imperial. At $100 new, they're hard to beat:

squirtdad

super nice build.

my only question (once the other things are settled) (and having no idea if your daughter is riding solo or always with you) is when is the practice change a tubie going to happen?

PS: it is funny how kids are... mine did not want to have anything to do with gears.....fixie..... and only rides single speed because I flopped the hub when he went to Humboldt state and he can't be bothered to flip it back

juvela

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there is that fine Meral build again...

...the machine which came ex-works in the delightful designer colour of "hearing aid beige"



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francophile 

​​​​gaucho777 I'm a little late to the party here, forum wasn't sending me notifications. Just wanted to follow up and say omfg that turned out killeeeeeeeer! Glad the cable clip worked out, it deserved to be on that bike!

And besides, for anyone who might've missed this, they need to see it now! This is the kind of quality output I'd scroll past two or three times to enjoy over and over again. So many fun little details and great attention to detail!

The Thin Man 

What a stunner!

What bars are you using for this build, gaucho777?