One thing we tend to take a little for granted these days was the comparative lack of appropriate tires, brake and such which we are currently enjoying. At the time, the common brakes were typically short reach, and though the Rambouillet was designed for significant clearance, there was just not a lot of hardware which supported that idea. I recall GP lamenting in his end-of-year wish lists in Readers from then that he was hoping for "standard reach brakes" from the major manufacturers.
When the Silver Brakes came out, this let GP start working on a truly large clearance, go-anywhere bike, which became the Hilsen. The Hilsen kind of slid the scale one way, and then the Roadeo was able to be notched a bit more toward the light and snappy (though, significantly, with no loss of clearances....) range. Here's an interesting image or two - The Rambouillet rear clearance - http://www.cyclofiend.com/Images/rbw/rr24_pg21md.jpg Shown with a Pasela 35 (which during that era probably ran more like a 32) and Dia Compe 505Q brake. The Hilsen rear clearance - http://cyclofiend.com/Images/rbw/AHH37PAS&sharpieRear.jpg Shown with a 37 Pasela and Silver brakes. As others mentioned, I do have a Rambouillet page here - http://www.cyclofiend.com/rbw/rambouillet - Jim -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/ScfPUZY0N6MJ. 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.
