Steve A is a blogger who lives near me. He recently visited family in Seattle, and in one of the posts about his trip he posted a picture with a beautiful Nishiki mixte in it. I told him he needed to send me pictures for The Mixte Gallery and here is what he sent.
-Doohickie

Nishiki Olympic 12

“If I’d a known you were a comin, I’d a baked a cake!”

Steve As Daughter and His Moms Mixte

Steve A's Daughter and His Mom's Mixte



I found out about The Mixte Gallery after I’d left the beach or I would have taken more pictures. Anyway, I’ll try to get more later, but though I love your new blog, a special flight back up to Washington State for a photo session is not gonna happen. Maybe I can talk my mom into taking some more when they’re at the beach.

Steve As Mom

Steve A's Mom

The bike is a Nishiki Olympic 12, complete with flat bar setup, purchased new by my dad for my mom in 1982. I never realized they even HAD this bike until this year. You can see from the single photo that it’s very original and it’s in even better condition than it looks in the photo. It’s even got the front & rear reflectors. The bike is surprisingly light, an advantage of the mixte construction over some other ladies’ variations.

A few features of this bike include a very nice kickstand, good quality sidepull brakes, and friction stem shifters. The seat probably lets the bike down a bit, with its vinyl covering. Nothing a good quality leather seat wouldn’t fix, however.

My daughter really liked riding the bike. It’s her size, and, at the beach, gears are pretty simple. Just find one that works and leave it there.

-Steve A

I personally like this bike because I owned a diamond-frame Olympic 12 for many years, so seeing Steve A’s mom’s mixte version brought back some great memories. The other thing I like about Steve A’s submission is that it is such a contrast from the previous post: Where the Super Mirage looks like it’s a museum piece, profesionally photographed, the Olympic 12 in this post is shown in the middle of real life. Both posts capture part of the essence I’m trying to get across in this blog.
-Doohickie