Interestingly, "mixte" seems to have a clear definition more in the U.S. than in France. Of the great constructeurs, I've only seen the term "mixte" used in the Goéland catalogue. Most speak of "vélo dame" or similar terms.
Regarding the frame design, the twin-diagonal-tubed mixte was invented by A. Sixt in the 1930s, as a more triangulated design that was intended to make the frame stiffer than the traditional women's frames with a deeply dropped or even curved diagonal tube. He also used twin diagonal tubes to stiffen tandem frames. Around 1938, the great constructeur Reyhand developed a more sophisticated frame design, with a dropped single top tube and two extra seatstays. In profile, it looks similar to the twin-diagonal-tubed frame. To stiffen the connection at the center of the frame, the extra stays extend beyond the seat tube and attach to the diagonal tube as well. André Reiss, the maker of Reynand, patented this design, as well as a tandem frame with two sets of diagonal reinforcement stays (one set from the head tube to the rear BB, the other from the front seat lug to the rear dropouts). After Reiss died in World War II, the designs were widely copied. You can see examples of these designs in the Bicycle Quarterly "Image Archive" at http://www.bikequarterly.com/color_photo_supplement.html The twin-diagonal-tubed mixte was much easier to make, and thus remained popular among mass producers. I don't think Sheldon Brown was even aware of the second "Reyhand" type when he coined his definition of mixte, but he was thinking of women's frames with either a dropped top tube with no extra rear stays (which puts bending loads on the seat tube and thus offends engineers) or the twin-diagonal-tubed "mixte." More recently, Rivendell inspired its mixtes on the "Reyhand" type, but without extending the extra stays beyond the seat tube. Jan Heine Editor Bicycle Quarterly www.bikequarterly.com Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
