I got my '74 Paramount back together at the beginning of last week. A new (used) headset and a bit of a 'parts bin' build build. I had picked up 35mm Paselas for a great deal (just had to clean them) a few weeks back and now mounted them to wheels where their satin finish matched the Paramount's. I waxed the Paramount as well to bring it out of Matte Finish Land, to decent success. Generally a satin or semi-gloss now. Continuing the rebel theme of this Paramount--as it has been since I took possession of the frame--I went with a modern look on some of the pieces (aka black painted) that I knew would be simultaneously traditionally-out-of-character
and yet in character or complementary with regard to this particular frame. Much like stage lighting, certain areas of the bike were 'darkened' or made to stand out less, letting other elements come more into the foreground. Odd pivot geometry dashed my plans to employ semi-gloss no-name brake calipers, so some (very nice) silver RX100 units had to do. All-black crankset in an all-black area. High polish rear derailleur in the high polish (or chrome) section. Black saddle and seat post, black bar, stem, and bar tape. All the polished silver pieces now really pop, with the tan tire side walls adding good color and visual interest. I reused the chain from my Peloton (a 410mm chain stay frame) on this, which worked great with the planned-on-using-it FSA compact crankset (50-34T). A 12-27T 9-speed cassette is mounted out back and with a low gear of 34-27, it gives me a good improvement in hill climbing over my normal road double low ratio of 39-28.
The bike looks killer to me. And those touring (or sport touring) length 43.5cm chain stays do not flop around. I mean, I'd still love to build and ride a P13 with shorter stays, but this P15 is no slouch when out of the saddle. I rode the tires at 60 psi front and rear and it felt great. I do notice a touch of wheel flop now due to the increased trail provided by the taller tires, something that I like and that calms the front end down (it is normally quite alert in eagerness to steer). Such a comfortable ride, though some adjustments will need to be made. I'll bump up the pressure to 62-63 in front and 67-68 in the rear and redo the crankset spindle/bearing pre-load as it drags--just feeling a touch of drag in the system and want to remedy it. So close as it is now, though.
