Finally found my Mixte

[jerrykr]

I've been looking for a Mixte I could afford for awhile now. Well, one finally showed up for me this afternoon.

I followed a couple of garage sale signs down and found her/him?? for the RIGHT price!

Needs some TCL, but don't they all.....

So I loaded it up in the trunk of my Miata NA and headed home.
Great weather today, top down cruising for garage sales.
You'd be surprised what I've hauled home in that little roadster!

While I was there, I also had my eye on this Schwinn 10 Speed,
so, after I got the Mixte home and unloaded, I decided to go back.

It was still there and also priced right. Into the Miata it went and this one came home with me.

.

 

[Rat Rod]

Nice scores Jerry. :wink:

 

[jerrykr]

Seems that these Firenze bikes were given away with a music stereo purchase in Daly City CA.

I found this on Vintage Bicycle Discussion Area,

As the Director Of sales And Marketing at Matthews TV and Stereo from 1982 to 1990, I imported over 50,000 of these Bikes to be given as premiums with selected merchandise at the store. The first container of 300 I bought cost $67 per bike (landed) but by the late 80's we were paying over $110 per bike. Not the best bike in the world but it was comparable to $200 bikes then sold in stores.

Opinions seem to vary from pretty good to about like current walmart bikes, to junk.

But, hey, I like it, and it was CHEAP!

.

 

[slacker]

!!!Be exceedingly catious when riding a Firenze!!!

These bikes were not up to US safety standards, as such they were given away as premiums by several electronic and furniture stores in the early 80's. They were given away by the hundreds here in Madison, WI. I have seen dozens of them in a single local scrap yard. The were known to have several serious failure points, namely: aluminum stem broke without warning, catastrophic fork failure, rear stays would frequently pull off of the seat/chain stay. A friend's mother was seriously injured on one, back in the day. The fork failed, she broke her neck, and spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair. Many local shops refuse to work on them, or at least give the owner "The Speech". I would consider them on the same level as those reproduction Monark springers going around. Just not worth the risk. :|

 

[jaydub]

No that definitely presents a dilemma...May be you should start that search again for that Mixtie..
I personally wouldn't feel comfortable riding it or selling it..but I would have fun cutting it up.. A bike ride should be fun...All the time..don't chance it.. Just sayin....From the heart :wink: ..Jay..If your in Connecticut..I'll give ya one..!

 

[jerrykr]

Thanks for the warnings. I will take them to heart.

So not being from the mid-west, and not being familiar with this give-away... were all of the bikes the same model, the Mixte?,
or were other models part of the problem? I went back out to the shed and looked both bikes over again, and the lugged Mixte frame looks pretty stout. The forks look like a carbon copy of those on the Schwinn, which I guess does not say a lot for the Schwinn.

My plans for a Mixte find were for a pretty radical change anyway, so I don't mind the cheap components, as long as the frame stays together.

As always, I appreciate the good advice here on RRB forum.

 

[Craiggo]

I have a GL5000 too! but im jealous that mine isnt mixte

 

[jaydub]

Jerry ...Thats a tuff call ..In fact their probably isn't anything wrong with it....Hey I would still cut it up.. Here's one I did last summer.. I mad those bars

 

[jerrykr]

Thanx guys. I bet that diamond frame is OK, and WOW those bars are really great! How did you do that?

I don't ignore good advice, but I do make up my own mind.

As you may know by now, my favorite tool is my dad's old brass hammer. Once I get the frame stripped, I'll take a block of wood and the brass hammer and see if I can knock the lugged frame apart. If it survives, I won't worry anymore than any other bike frame that I have.

Someone in the RRBO#6 flipped a mixte frame and somehow created a pedal forward bike out of it. I don't have the link to it, but it struck a creative nerve in me to make my own. I'm thinking of starting out with a couple of cheap diamond ladies frames instead, and keeping the mixte in reserve until (hopefully) I know what I'm doing with flipped frames.

 

[PeterBuilt]

Here is my Mixte. :lol: