Off to the powdercoater!

Size medium prototype arrived yesterday. The frame looks fantastic, the workmanship is just beautiful. Because the seat tube is thin-walled where the top tube and mixte stays join, I asked for a reinforcing sleeve to be brazed over the seat tube and then the top tube and mixte stays attached to the sleeve - it looks really classy.

This frame has a more masculine look than the smaller frame - the tubes are slightly larger in diameter (but thinner wall) so it's both slightly lighter as well as beefier in appearance. Since this is a Furry Blue bike, I was planning to have it powdercoated a dark blue, something like RAL 5002 - ultramarine blue. It's hard to judge color, and there are limited stock color choices (of course, if I custom order, then there are lots and lots of powders). Anyway, I chickened out on the blue - the 5002 sample just didn't look right, and they had a "Satin Titanium" (Prismatic Powder 1860) that caught my eye, it's got just a hit of champagne gold so it's not quite silver.

I hope it will look nice.

First Ride

Friday afternoon Menlo Velo called me and said something like, "One mixte, ready to ride." The owner told me he had taken it for a short test ride and concluded, "it feels like a fast bike" and "it rides nicely" and "when you ping the tubes, it has a nice sound."

I'm really pleased with the overall appearance of the mixte - it is well proportioned, the powder coat has a nice gloss to it, looks better in person than in the photographs. By the way, if you click on the picture a larger version is displayed.

I showed the mixte to my neighbor who said something like, "looks like my old Trek, but nicer." The top and down tubes are "new old" tubes - they're the old standard diameter tubes which are small by modern standards, they give the bike a more graceful look I think. The tires are fairly "fat" 28C and there is plenty of clearance for larger tires, please check the Google group (http://groups.google.com/group/furrybluecycles) for additional photos. Before I commission a production run I'll try fatter tires and fenders to make sure all the clearances are as promised.

Anyway, Saturday I put a Brooks B17 on it and fiddled around a bit with the position of the bar ends, and went for a nice ride into Los Altos Hills. I'll want to experiment more with the handlebars and so on (I usually ride wider Albatross), but it's a great riding bike.

I also wanted my wife (she's about 5' 4") to test ride the bike, but she sprained her foot Saturday afternoon and so I'll have to wait a bit to get a woman's perspective.

Who wants a mixte?

So far, the interest I'm getting in the mixte is from men who want one for their wives or girlfriends, and further several inquiries are asking me about small sizes to fit someone < 5' in height.

I didn't conceive of the mixte as strictly a "woman's bike," and I have some male friends who like the idea of riding a mixte, maybe we're a minority.

If you would consider buying a USA handmade production mixte, please leave comments or send me an email at furrybluecycles@gmail.com to let me know:

1) Your height
2) Your sex
3) Approximate weight
4) Preferred tire size (diameter, width)
5) Handlebar preference: swept back or drop or other
6) Anything else you want to add

Thanks!

Michael

Painted and ready for parts

The size medium-small prototype is now painted (well, powder coated actually). Please see the discussion group (http://groups.google.com/group/furrybluecycles) for more photos.

So, the next step is to have it built up and then I'll arrange to have more photos taken and I'll start the test rides. Because I imagine the medium-small might fit more women, the prototype is painted a perhaps more feminine shade of blue.

The size medium prototype is being completed now, and it is about a month behind the size medium-small. The size medium prototype will be a little different than the size medium-small prototype. Whereas the medium-small uses standard diameter tubing and a threaded headset, the size medium prototype uses slightly oversize diameter, thin-walled tubing, a threadless headset, and a custom fork.

Tentatively, I'm considering offering a production run like the medium-small, and then perhaps semi-custom like size medium.