#linus mixte

[razumichin2]

Cycle chic with classic looking Linus Mixte bike in teal

(via Pinterest )

[pigeon1959]

My bike got stolen tonight. I locked it in front of Starbucks on 60th Street and Broadway. It occurred around 8:30ish this evening. I went to the Time Warner building to use the restroom and to window shop a little. When I came back to get it, it was gone. The thief left my helmet and lock behind. I just spent money on the new cream Linus tires, bought flat stop liners, new Linus light to upgrade the Linus mixte 3 speed bike. A homeless man tried to stop the thief, but the thief got away. I really love this bike and I want it back.

[pigeon1959]

I like the image of the young lady and her Linus mixte

[lannguyen]

fenderized

I feel it might be proper or appropriate to say that I've single handedly fenderized my linus mixte with Velo Orange aluminum fluted 700c's.  It took me a lot longer (1 weekend night and 3 weekday evenings) than i thought it would, but that's basically because I had no idea what I was doing and I didn't have the right tools at the get go, so I had to wait before i could continue on.

For instance, I did not own a bolt cutter to trim the fender stays. Many thanks to John for letting me borrow his:

I felt this one was too mighty for the job, so I opted for the one that I was able grasp with only one hand:

I must have quadruple checked where I wanted to trim the fender stay because it's the thing that's helping the fender maintain a good fender line (even space between fender and tire are even) around the wheel.

I still need to do some sanding because it has some sharp edges from cutting the stay with bolt cutters.

Front fender was a snap, but the rear fender which involves the gear hub and chain, plus it had 3 points at which to secure the fender to the frame vs only 2 for the front. Mentally, I also didn't like taking off/messing with the chain, I felt my bike was very vulnerable in this condition:

Three points of mounting the rear fender were:

To the frame, near the kickstand - Velo Orange includes leather washers with their kit, so anywhere you can fasten those between the frame and fender, that will greatly help to diminish any noise.

L-Bracket bent around fender attached to rear brake -I bent the L-bracket halfway around the fender (separate from the bike), then securely attached the bracket.  Next I put the fender in and placed/centered it where I wanted to.  This part was not complete without a run to Home Depot to pick up pliers (another tool I didn't own) so that I could neatly crimp the bracket around the fender.

Fender stays - easy peasy at this point after having done the front fender.

ready to be fenderized?

[lannguyen]

Vintage Headlights

Looking at vintage french 1940's and 1950's french randonneurs has made me want to turn my newish Linus Mixte more vintage like these aluminum bicycles:

Couple of things i'm drawn to are the silver fenders, bullet headlights, and front & rear racks.  Recently, I won an auction on ebay that had some nice headlights, rear light, and soubitez dynamos.  I don't really have much experience with changing fenders or attaching a dynamo light system, but i guess i can slowly start to figure things out.

Vintage bicycle parts unboxing:

Of the 3 headlights: 2 were battery operated - no name brand but both say made in Japan. The third is a "Union" dynamo headlight, smallest of the three and hardest to open.  I believe all the bulbs are out so I'll have to get some replacements before i can test them out.

I haven't decided which one I'm going to put on my Linus, i suppose it depends on which ones are working :)

Overall, everything seems to be in good shape so I'm pleased with my ebay win.  One of the soubitez dynamos spins better than the other one, so I'll have to see how operational they are.