My wife has a Bianchi hybrid in a step through ("ladies") style frame. This past Sunday she finally had a chance to try the Furry Blue mixte.
I was curious to see what her reaction would be. She enjoys riding her bike, but she's not really "in" to bikes. Well, this past Sunday she went for her first ride, and she was all smiles.
She liked the Furry Blue mixte better than her Bianchi hybrid step through, no question. Even though the hybrid is made from a lighter aluminum frame, and the parts on the Furry Blue aren't especially light, she said the Furry Blue felt sportier - lighter and quicker. She also noticed that the Furry Blue felt lower to the ground, and she felt less "on top of the bike" and that it felt safer and more stable and she liked that feeling.
Her reaction is what I hoped for. The Furry Blue mixte is somewhat like a hybrid bike in the use of canti or v-brakes and ability to take wider tires. However it differs from most hybrids since it has a steeper head tube angle which means quicker steering and shorter distance from the cranks to the front wheel. Also, as she easily noticed, the bike as a whole is built lower to the ground because the place where the cranks attach to the frame is set lower.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Why a mixte?
I haven't blogged for a while. I've been thinking about the next steps for Furry Blue. The mixte bikes are a success in my mind as far as how they look and ride. The one issue has been the rear brakes: I planned on canti brakes and found my leg was brushing against the brake arms so we switched to "v-brakes."
I had the smaller mixte at Menlo Velo for over a month, and the larger size for a couple of weeks, and I think less than 5 people took a test ride. I'm not getting a sense of a strong local demand for a handmade mixte; another possible conclusion is that Menlo Velo's customers aren't the right bunch to be interested in such a bike.
I didn't conceive of Furry Blue as strictly a maker of mixte bikes, so let me review how/why our first bike was a mixte. I have problems from time to time with wrist pain, so the mixte story starts with my search for the perfect handlebars.
I put the Albatross bars on my road bike and overall liked them, but the position was a bit too upright for me without switching stems and so I started thinking about a custom frame that might have a slightly longer top tube so I wouldn't need a really long stem.
Also somewhat relatedly, because of the position I like (semi-upright), and my proportions/height, I am kind of on the border for a properly designed 700C frame for drop bars. I like to be positioned a bit behind the pedals and with my desired reach to the bars a "normal" road bike will have more toe overlap than I like. Having a custom frame with a slightly longer top tube for the swept bars yet enough standover clearance for me seemed like the way to go.
Another idea I had was to explore commissioning a small run of hand made "versatile road bikes" (not a hybrid, not a touring bike, but able to take on medium width tires say 25 - 35 mm) because I felt the bike makers weren't making what I wanted. When I met with my favorite local bikeshop, the owner said he would like to see someone make a nice road mixte.
So, the idea of a bike designed for swept back bars and with a little extra standover clearance got merged with the local bikeshop's idea for a mixte.
Essentially the same bike could also be made as a non-mixte - perhaps a compact style frame, they are simpler to manufacture and might appeal to more people.
I had the smaller mixte at Menlo Velo for over a month, and the larger size for a couple of weeks, and I think less than 5 people took a test ride. I'm not getting a sense of a strong local demand for a handmade mixte; another possible conclusion is that Menlo Velo's customers aren't the right bunch to be interested in such a bike.
I didn't conceive of Furry Blue as strictly a maker of mixte bikes, so let me review how/why our first bike was a mixte. I have problems from time to time with wrist pain, so the mixte story starts with my search for the perfect handlebars.
I put the Albatross bars on my road bike and overall liked them, but the position was a bit too upright for me without switching stems and so I started thinking about a custom frame that might have a slightly longer top tube so I wouldn't need a really long stem.
Also somewhat relatedly, because of the position I like (semi-upright), and my proportions/height, I am kind of on the border for a properly designed 700C frame for drop bars. I like to be positioned a bit behind the pedals and with my desired reach to the bars a "normal" road bike will have more toe overlap than I like. Having a custom frame with a slightly longer top tube for the swept bars yet enough standover clearance for me seemed like the way to go.
Another idea I had was to explore commissioning a small run of hand made "versatile road bikes" (not a hybrid, not a touring bike, but able to take on medium width tires say 25 - 35 mm) because I felt the bike makers weren't making what I wanted. When I met with my favorite local bikeshop, the owner said he would like to see someone make a nice road mixte.
So, the idea of a bike designed for swept back bars and with a little extra standover clearance got merged with the local bikeshop's idea for a mixte.
Essentially the same bike could also be made as a non-mixte - perhaps a compact style frame, they are simpler to manufacture and might appeal to more people.
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