On Thu, 2011-10-20 at 11:42 -0700, Jim Cloud wrote: > Steve, > > Your experience with your 1972 Paramount is curious. I have a 1977 > Paramount P-15 (26" seat tube size), which probably has identical > geometry to your 1972 bike. With a 2" fork rake and 73 degree head > angle (the standard dimensions for a Schwinn Paramount touring model > at the time) the trail is 52 mm, which is not particularly high > trail. I've descended hills at 50+ mpg with complete security and > nary a hint of wobble. I wonder if your Paramount had some other > problems...?
The speed wobble went away after I made some position changes, but on fast descents it always felt like sliding down the razor blade of life. It was a bit small for me -- was meant to be a 23", which itself is a bit small for one who now takes 59-60cm frames, but they checked the wrong box: 22" instead of 23" by accident, and then told me about how it was always best to ride the smallest size frame you could possibly fit on, that's what the racers did, blah blah blah all of which really meant in 1971-1972 demand was far higher than production capacity and I'd waited 6 months for this bike and there was no way they could possibly get me the correct size that year. It's funny, when I ordered the Spectrum Ti which in about 7 weeks will be 20 years old I got it without fender clearance because I said I had the Paramount which readily fit them, I'd use that whenever I needed fenders. I rode the Spectrum twice and realized, there was no way I could possibly ever ride the Paramount again, the fit was so very bad for me. I'm still mad as hell it was stolen, though. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
