# 1983 Fuji Mixte



## Duchess (Mar 21, 2015)

Thought maybe I'd post this in case people find it interesting. It's a 1983 Fuji Grand SE mixte I built up for my sister. Spent way more than I should have, but she loves it and rides it, so it doesn't matter. I moved the shifters from the stem using some cheap Chinese water bottle mounts that I modified. The brake levers have far more comfortable hoods than the old ones and the brake levers were made for small hands. I also upgraded to new wheels and 11-32 8-speed cassette so she could climb a mountain if she wanted. I also didn't like how the rear brake cable housing sat curved between the top tubes, so I ran it through a thin aluminum tube to keep it straight, because that's the kind of nerd I am.


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## Dale Alan (Mar 21, 2015)

Great job. That is very nice,I really like the modifications. I have a Fuji Mixte,although no where near as nice as yours.  I would like to make it into a riser bar rig for my wife . Good to know I am not the only one that would worry about the cable routing. I remember when I was tearing it down that I was not thrilled with that aspect. I will surely borrow your tubing idea. I rode it some when I got it,I was pleasantly surprised with the ride.I am 200 pounds and thought it would have a ton of flex,not so.


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## Duchess (Mar 21, 2015)

It's actually a really nice riding and snappy bike, just way too small for me. I'm a big fan of the mixte style in looks and ride/handling compromise, but they all seem to be small frames or expensive new bikes. I have plenty of bikes, anyway.

The tube is really thin wall to fit within the holes in the frame and for the Jagwire housing to get through the center. A thinner housing would allow a thicker wall tube which might be nice as it wouldn't take much to dent or bend the one I used, even though its position is fairly well protected.


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## bulldog1935 (Mar 21, 2015)

she's a stunner - you did a great job.  

My buddy bought a virtually unridden and well-preserved Univega Mixte for $125 and rebuilt it to this for his wife, with Nexus hub and dyno
(the fenders weren't final adjusted when he sent the photo)



here's a photo I took before he did the wheel swap and fenders




he's also just finishing up this Schwinn with a two-speed auto Sram hub and all VO Grand Cru components (he has yet to install a set of 36mm Honjo fenders I gave him - hey, I drank that much of his home-brewed Pliny)



the two speed auto hub is really neat - it automatically shifts either way at 10 mph, he picked the drive cog so the gearing is about 50 and 70 inches.


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## bulldog1935 (Mar 21, 2015)

Dutchess, also used those same Tektro "woman" levers on my daughter's Team Fuji-go fast.  
Along with Tektro interrupters and yellow twine wraps to space the interrupters (she picked the bar wrap, and that's great, it's visible)
Used Nitto noodles because they have the perfect slope for top hands and the cross brakes.


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## Duchess (Mar 21, 2015)

I have Noodles on my road bike and I like them a lot. Not just the nice curves, I'm a fan of Nitto quality as well (I also have Nitto Randos on my Miyata because the clamp sleeve on the original bar broke loose). The Fuji has Nitto-made Olympias or something like that stock. Small, but so's my sister. I thought of doing bar end shifters, but with all the money I already spent (I also converted from 27" to 700c for the better tire selection, lighter, better wet-weather-braking alloy wheels, and freehub for the wide-range, Hyperglide cassette, which also required new brakes even though the %^$@# originals seemed to have enough adjustment when I measured them!) and seeing as I thought she'd be using the top parts of the bar more often, I went with moving the shifters. A lot of money and work for a CL $150 bike, but I figure a decent new bike would've ended up costing almost as much with comparable components or would have inferior parts and wouldn't be a solid, lugged steel frame. I originally was going to go really crazy with a repaint in Alfa Romeo metallic emerald green (reminds me of the iridescent damselflies around here) with fancy graphics and pinstripe, but she thankfully didn't want to wait for me to get around to that!


Dale, here's a riser bar Nishiki I got for free and did a more basic tune up on for a friend (grips, tires, cables) and also relocated the shifters from the stem, as well (I have a serious hate for shifters in that spot) using parts I scavenged from old junk take-offs.


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## detroitbike (Mar 21, 2015)

Nice setup
   Pretty close on the year but it is an '81. 
http://www.classicfuji.com/1981_15_GrandSE&GrandSEMixte_Page.htm
   When assembling these we ran the cable down the center for the center pull brakes which , at the time was top of the line back then.

  Here's a complete listing of the early FUJI catalogs.

http://www.classicfuji.com/0_Cat_Cvr_Home.htm


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## Dale Alan (Mar 21, 2015)

I really like that Nishiki. I have been on the fence about shifters,looks like I need to move them to the bars. I have some old thumb shifters,maybe I will mod the stem shifters instead. How did you clamp them ? Seeing these nice mixtes gets me thinking . I have a '73 or '74 Road Racer frame hanging in the shed,maybe I will build a mutt with it. I have tons of parts that I could turn into a decent ride.It is too small for me but I bet I can stretch it out enough . Thanks for the great pics of your bikes guys. They are right up my alley. I just pulled a Vista and a Univega frame out of the barn I forgot about. Like I need more projects. Just finishing up a Nishiki and a Bridgestone Kabuki that I just had to have. Just not enough time in the day.


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## bulldog1935 (Mar 21, 2015)

Don't overlook Univega - the frame was made by Miyata.
Though it looks identical, lugs and all, to the Nishiki Mixte.  

On the other thread, I'm floored by my new thumbies - they work flawlessly - at least in index.


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## Duchess (Mar 21, 2015)

I can't remember exactly how I clamped them, but I think the clamps were from a set of old Shimano GS200 brake levers or shifters and the levers are bolted to the posts from the original stem clamp after I cut the posts off the clamp. The posts are held under the handlebar clamps, going up through a hole so the shifters can thread on. I also think I had to get longer bolts for them. As you can see, the handlebar clamps are also a little too large, so I shimmed them with stainless hose clamp banding and rubber.


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