^ The finished bicycle
...but this is how it all began:
Hey everybody!
I've decided to bite the bullit and participate in this Build off. I was planning to resurrect this bike in the near future, so why not enter it in the build-off and start right away. Lately my parents' shed had turned into a real dump with stuff everywhere. Real messy with mice-droppings and sawdust in every little crack and hole. I knew there had to be some bikes in there below a pile of cartboard, foampanels, and what not, so I started diggin'...
This is what I found:
Right there all the way in the back (ofcourse...) I saw a strange looking blue frame with probably some decent hardware...
I can't remember ever having seen such frame. That is, not before I discovered this forum. I now know this frametype is called 'Mixte' but don't know where that name came from. (anyone?) However it does read 'MIX' on the seattube. And the 'headbadge' is just a cheap sticker withe the name 'AVANTI' . Maybe I'll do some research. The bike is fitted with the usual decent shimano parts and some japanese stuff. I'm planning to keep most of the parts that are really essential on the bike (rear brake for instance) rather than trying to search for better parts. Alot of it is aluminium an I like it, so I guess the few parts I'll be making will be aluminium as well. Hence the name of this thread. I have some experience making aluminium fenders which came out pretty succesfull, so I'l try and make it work on this Mix.
In the meantime I was able to do a first clean-up, and the bike came out nice. Ofcourse a lot of parts are rusted but I'll try to do some magic with a wirebrush and some steel wool. I was hoping to keep the original paint but it's damaged too much, and has baremetal rustspots everywhere.
And I hate rust... ;-)
Good luck everyone, and have fun!
(..oh, and I hope me using the 'b-word' in the title won't disquallify me instantly... ;-)
