Mixte prototype, Size Medium-Small

News:

The first mixte prototype should be on its way to me soon. The mixte prototype is a 700C bicycle intended for riders about 5' 2" -
5' 5" - I think of it as size "medium small." I would classify this mixte bicycle as in-between a modern "hybrid" bicycle and a "racy" road bicycle.

The combination of road bike tubing, a lightweight fork, and details in the frame geometry of the mixte should make it a better handling, more responsive bicycle for road riding than most hybrids. Unlike most road bicycles, though, it has cantilever brakes and is designed to accommodate 700C tires in the range from about 25 mm - 35 mm width. The mixte frame is also designed to be used with swept back handlebars, and so the distance from the seat to the handlebars is slightly longer than on a road bicycle intended for drop handlebars.

After I have had a chance to test ride the bike, it will be on available at a local bicycle shop near Stanford campus for viewing and test rides.

Origins

Furry Blue Cycles is a little company (at this point, it's just me) that brings to market high quality steel bicycles for recreation and fitness. By bicycle I really mean a bicycle frame and fork. And by "bring to market" I mean that I don't actually fabricate the bikes myself.

A little history...For my 11th birthday, my aunt and uncle bought me Eugene Sloane's "The Complete Book of Cycling." I probably memorized portions of it since I read it so many times. Convinced then of the importance of "10 speed handlebars" I modified my Schwinn 3 speed Speedster with drop bars. A few years later I had saved up enough money to buy my dream bicycle - a lugged British Falcon (10 speed) made with Reynolds 531 steel tubing from Proteus Designs in College Park, MD.

When many years later (20 or so) my beloved Falcon got damaged in a crash, I found the newer mass market bikes didn't appeal to me. Around that time, I discovered Richard Schwinn's Waterford Bicycles and Richard replied to my letter about "all rounder" bicycles with a note about the bicycles he was making for Rivendell Bicycle Works.

Since that letter to Richard Schwinn some years ago, I have followed the evolution of various small bicycle companies. And as I have thought about the kind of bicycle I like to ride and might like to buy, I have sometimes wondered, "why don't they make this, and why don't they make that," and so on.

I realized that a bicycle company can't be all things to all people, and that if I really wanted to see certain bikes made, and if it seemed these bikes would have enough general appeal, I could make it happen.

About the name - my son is an aspiring puppeteer, and in thinking about a name for this company, I suggested "Puppet Bicycles," since it is the rider that controls the bicycle. My son didn't like that name, and we came up with "Furry Blue" since his favorite puppet is a blue furry thing with more than a little resemblance to the cookie monster. The name Furry Blue is also something of a play on words - a company that makes steel bicycles painted blue could be "ferrous blue cycles."

A question that I asked myself as I thought about starting this company is, how will Furry Blue's bicycles be different? If they are not different, why bother? So, I don't intend Furry Blue to be a "me-too" company and try and make bicycles that you can already get elsewhere.

A little philosophy - in most things in life I tend to take a "middle ground" view of things, and at Furry Blue that means we will strike a somewhat different balance among the variables that make one bicycle company and model a little different from another. To my nephews and kids who grew up in the age of high tech mountain bikes, our bicycles may seem old fashioned: no suspension, no carbon fiber, and details that require hand craftsmanship and an appearance that may evoke the image of bicycles from the 1980s and earlier. Connoisseurs of classic hand-made bicycles may view our bicycles as too modern - our bicycles use modern standards and dimensions, are designed to work with modern parts, and are fabricated with modern steels and techniques.

Cheers and welcome,

Michael