Tom Adams wrote:
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> To add a datum, I have a '72 with the fastback stays and full sloping crown, and it rides sweetly for me. I haven't raced it so I can't comment on the high speed 'dice it up' ability, but it's nicely stable without being a slug. Of course it's also a 25" frame, so there's lots of room for trail, angles and rake. Are the poor handling bikes generally smaller frame sizes?
The first bike I bought as an adult was a 22.5" 1974 Raleigh Professional Mark IV with the Blue Mink/Silver paint. I was perfectly happy with the handling and thought all bikes shimmied at high speeds. Happy that is until my friends said I needed to experience the handling of an Italian frame.
My Pro had what looked to be fully 3 inches of fork rake and even more telling, the bottom bracket was 11 inches off the ground with the original Imperforable Seta tires!
This 11 inch bottom bracket height of the Pro always puzzled me as that is the classic height for a track bike bottom bracket and it would have been more typically 10 1/2" or 10 5/8" for a road bike.
I did love the look of the Pro Mark IV however...
Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California
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