Gotta love an old Mixte: Part 5

Well it has happened again……..I turned around and was surprised by another Mixte! Someone donated a few bikes today at the Chain Reaction and one was this Mixte. It hasn’t been ridden for many years. It is so dirty that I couldn’t tell what color it was for sure. Lots of rust again, (bike cancer). I can make it rideable but it will never be the beautiful bike it once was. It is a Batavus (Holland) Mixte Racer. They made a Mixte racer and mixte Touring. The difference was the drop bar vs an upright bar. They also made two levels of Mixtes. The easiest way to tell the difference is that the higher end bike had chrome tipped forks amongst other thing. How do I know this? I sold Batavus bikes in the 70’s at my shop! Batavus is one of the few bike companies that still make there bike in their home country and import to the USA. Batavus has always been a trusted bike for commuting and touring. Years ago they sponsored their own world class racing team. They are sold around the world but are mostly unappreciated. I have to evaluate this find and maybe swap the CR shop this for one of my others

 I did get it washed when I got home.

My first derailleur type of bike was a white Batavus like the one in the last picture.