** BILLET BULLET ** RRBBO#4

[herr_rudolf]

^ 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... ;-)

[Galtbacken]

You've got parts for maaaaany builds in that shed!!

Good luck with the build!

[Skipton]

Cool frame!

[Graylock]

You've got parts for maaaaany builds in that shed!!

You can never have enough parts, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
You are doing a bold build here bro. You have the source of parts and a wild eye for the other bikes.
I was thinking of doing this build but couldn't come up with a frame that I could agree with. This
build would be harder for me than cutcutcutting frames .
I'm keeping an eye on you, maybe I'll toss my hat in too!

GL

[bikeriderx]

Cool bike! I dig that rear fender-side pannel thing...

[FOUND OBJECTS]

Cool bike! I dig that rear fender-side pannel thing...

Skirt gaurd...Cool! Should be nice!

[bikeriderx]

Right! Ladies bike and all...

[herr_rudolf]

Like I said: I cleaned up my soon-to-be Billet Bullit and it came out pretty okay. The first thing I did was fitting a fatter tire in the back and hoping for a quick build. That did not happen... The racey 28inch frame is not wide enough to house a smaller 26inch wheel with a fat tire like this Schwalbe Returner:




As you can see, the whitewall is rubbing the fork... Therefor the Schwalbe is going back to the ATB and I have to search for some other rubber candidates for the BB. After stripping the bike and removing all of the parts I REALLY did not want on the bike it looked like this:





And I must say, the racey-look of this bike is really starting to grow on me. I love the 1 inch wide backtire but will install it in the front. I'm going use a regular 28 inch tire from an ordinary bike in the back. I'm hoping for a subtle hotrod big'n'little effect on the tires. I fitted the cheap alu pedals I bought new for my ATB. Did not use them after concluding the ATB had different size crancks... Ah well, they do fit the BB much better anyway :-)

Today I made some new fenders. Pics will follow soon...

---

You've got parts for maaaaany builds in that shed!!

Yep. A big pile of parts and/or potential builds. At first glance. At second glance however... I like to do a build on the mountainbike, but it has a bent front fork... I'm looking forward to get started on the silver sportsbike. Would look good in a old timey racer-guise.

You have the source of parts and a wild eye for the other bikes.
I was thinking of doing this build but couldn't come up with a frame that I could agree with. This
build would be harder for me than cutcutcutting frames.
I'm keeping an eye on you, maybe I'll toss my hat in too!

Just do it. Any frame is possible in my opinion. As long as it has good lines, straight or bent, it can be build into something beautiful with the right parts and attention to detail. It is not so much 'a wild eye' for the other bikes, it's just extremely hard to find cheap original american iron over here in the Netherlands. On the biggest Dutch internetmarketplace I found a build Schwinn (from a fellow ratrodder, if I'm not mistaken) but don't remember if it was really old. I did find two or three of the newer Schwinns which ironically looked more like Electra's to me... It's almost impossible to find a classic(looking) cruiserframe for under 100 bucks.

Cool bike! I dig that rear fender-side pannel thing...

I remember: Those skirts were the first thing you got rid off when you got your new bike... But nowadays, I do see some potential in those things. I've made a painting of a typical Dutch 'Grannybike'. Chopped 'n' channeld into a nice custom using scalloped 'skirtguards' front and back. However, the skirts you see in the pic ended up on the city-scrappile. The plastic was damaged beyond repair.

[JOScatRATrod]

you've never heard of avanti? we've got oodles of them in New Zealand

[herr_rudolf]

you've never heard of avanti? we've got oodles of them in New Zealand

Ah thanks! I've been doing a little research and I guess Avanti is an Ozzi-bike I got some info about the name 'Mix' and 'Mixte'. It's derived from French and pronounced 'meext', although the 'English 'mix-tee' is more commonly used by the companies building them.

This build is getting more fun by the minute!

[Singlespeed92]

The bike is fitted with the usual decent shimano parts and some japanese stuff...

Shimano is Japanese stuff! LOL-

Kool looking bike,man,this is gunna be interesting to see!

[herr_rudolf]

Shimano is Japanese stuff! LOL- :P
Kool looking bike,man,this is gunna be interesting to see!

Muhaha, you've got me there! 8-D
Never thought of Shimano being Japanese. I know of the brandname since my childhood, but Japan didn't exist way back then, did it? It couldn't be... Next thing you tell me Suzuki and Toyota are Japanese also...
;-)

But seriously, besides Shimano, there are some other Japanese names on my bike like SAKEA, STARAL, SR. (Wheels, parts of the cranck, handlebar adapter)

[Ace]

I think those bikes are called Mixte because they are genderless. Might be a term of french origin ?

[herr_rudolf]

Sunday's progression.

Riding a bike in the Netherlands means getting wet half of the time and I don't want to end up with the infamous biker-skunk-stripe allover my body anymore. I want to be able to use my bike whenever I want to. Rain or shine... So, plans for some fenders were a-brewin'. I made some in the past from plastic and from aluminium strips (right from the hardwarestore). I once saw a tv-show where a carpenter was using it to simulate a 1950's diner. The ribbed material reminded me of custom car enthousiasts' favorite 'Briz-bumpers'! Very ArtDeco when used right. I've put them on my cruiser and a few months ago on my ATB, and it looks mighty fine! (will post pics of them later)

For my Billet Bullit I couldn't find the right width. All ribbed strips were much too wide for the skinny wheels I'm running... So I bought some plain and smooth alluminium strips in different sizes to experiment:





^ The struts are easy to make. Bending around a heavy tube will do the trick. The only problem is getting them to fit just right.
The fender itself is a different story:



^ Bending a bit too enthousiastically will result in many kinks instead of a steady flow... The best way probably is to clamp and bend it around a slightly smaller wheel. I used my knee, and had to work out many kinks... And then comes the endless road of, measuring/eyeballing, testfitting, drilling, assamble, disassemble, letting air out of the tire, and pumping it up again, and again, and...

Till it fits right.




^ Then it's detailing-time. This is the first time I made an effort to make the struts look beautiful on purpose. Rounding of the sharp corners and such...





Current state of my bike:





The frontfender came out perfect! with a gap of not larger then 2-3mm. The backfender was much more dificult , being longer, and requiring an extra hole for mounting it to the frame. The gap is a bit larger but than-again, It has some room for a slightly bigger tire...


Next stop: Sanding, brushing, and polishing the damaged aluminium seatpost ^

[herr_rudolf]

I think those bikes are called Mixte because they are genderless. Might be a term of french origin ?

You're right Ace. As I posted just before you did: It's derived from French, and means 'unisex' more or less. It's pronounced as 'meext', although the 'English 'mix-tee' is more commonly used by the companies building them."