07 April, 2010

VO Mixte Frames Now Available




The VO Mixte is a fully lugged step-through frame. It is brass brazed from double butted chrome-molly tubing. It makes for a comfortable a city bike, but this is a light and stiff frame that will also be a pleasure on weekend tours or even club rides.



While mixte frames are traditionally though of as woman's frames in the US, in Europe they are often ridden as city bikes by men who values quick mounting and dismounting.

The Mixte has full braze-ons for fenders and racks, including douple drop-out eyelets. There is one bottle cage mount.

It is brass brazed from 4130 double-butted chrome-moly tubing. The wheels are 700c and maximum tire size is 38mm. It uses extra-long reach caliper brakes. Note that the rear caliper is elegantly mounted on the mid-stay, so there is no awkward cable routing as with many mixte frames. The rear dropouts are horizontal so either internally-geared or derailleur drive trains work perfectly. Frame geometry can be found here.


The headset is 1" threaded (ISO), brakes are extra long reach (55-73mm), BB is standard ISO (or British) with a spindle length to match your choice of crank, 27.2mm seat post, we suggest 45-55mm fenders, 132.5mm rear spacing so both road and MTB hubs fit.

We had a fairly small run of these made, so they may not last long. The price is $525, which I think is pretty remarkable for a double butted, fully lugged, mixte.

25 comments:

Mark Muller said...

Do you have a listing of the geometry specifications anywhere?

j.schwartz said...

It that 38mm max with fenders or without?
Is it possible to ship with headset and bb installed?
They look great, congratulations.

SecretSqurile said...

Congrats, looks like a beauty

Velo Orange said...

We'll have a geometry table in the Tech section in a few days.

38mm tires fit with fenders.

Sorry, but we don't want get into installing BB, headsets, etc.

Charlie said...

That's great--very hard to get a good quality mixte these days.

Any possibility of having a few smaller sizes available, with 650 or 26 wheels?

One other small-size question--is there toe-front wheel overlap in the smallest size, or is it designed to avoid that?

Velouria said...

OMG Is the seat cluster the way it's shown in the first photo (i.e. a change from the original prototype)? This looks sooo much better!

bubba said...

I can wait to see the geometry chart, but until then, what's the rear wheel spacing?

bubba said...

Is the mixte 130mm rear spacing like the Rando or 132.5mm like the Polyvalent?

mr said...

Any consideration for offering a mini build kit for the mixte like the Polyvalent?

Velo Orange said...

Spacing is 132.5mm

Have not thought about a build kit yet, maybe in a few months.

robatsu said...

VERY nice.

BTW, You forgot to mention the inner long points on the fork crown, which is a nice feature that is sometimes omitted even on high-end frame/forks.

The price is unbeatable for this.

Gunnar Berg said...

I hate attaboys, but this is a nice rig. Good job.

Justin said...

Can you tell us how many of each size were made? Is this a permanent offering (another run will be produced when these sell out)?

Anonymous said...

Are there any instructions or guidelines as as far as what the shortest mini-skirt is safe to be worn with these frames ?

Tom said...

Velouria- check out how the seat stays are connected to the seat tube- it's not just TIG welded in the back. This gives more room for fender clearance.

Unknown said...

Damnit, stop finding ways to make my girlfriend spend all her money at your store. ;)

Tom said...

The Mixte makes a fine city bike for other genders too.

doc said...

Oh dear... I just realized that I probably have all the parts to build one of these up. Must...navigate...elsewhere....

Velo Orange said...

Justine, No VO product will be made forever. If something sells well we'll make more. If it doesn't we'll try to find a way to make it better or we'll just drop it. My current plan for the mixte is to have this be the 2010 production run and maybe do another run next year, but that plan may change.

I. Birch said...

Would love to see some details, fork crown, braze ons, seat lug, front and rear dropouts and BB/chainstay bridge.

web said...

Offer this in 60cm and you have my purchase!
It's pretty tough to find a large, well made mixte w/o going custom.
Really nice looking frameset!

Anonymous said...

If you make it in a 60cm size can you name it "The Amazon" model ?

reverend dick said...

Yes, Bros. Make it in a 60cm. Stop kidding yourselves.

Anonymous said...

I'm ready for another production run. Please bring this beauty back!

Julia said...

I want another production run, too!!! PLEASE!?