Ron made frames to order, and to 'production' specs. So generalizations can be dangerous. Of these, two were common, 'racing', and 'touring'. Alas, all of mine are racing, so I cannot help with specs now. Maybe Bob can measure his, and we can compare?
I rode and measured a touring briefly. They are often, but not always, distinguished by eyelets for mudguards. I did not measure the angles, but on the touring model the wheelbase was slightly longer, and the clearances slightly larger - as one would expect. Otherwise, very similar, in ride and apparent geometry. I did not measure brake reach - they were apparently 'normal' reach Campy sidepulls. Which is what my racing models use as well. The touring I rode had fat tubulars - I forget now how big - but 28-32c seems right. I rode it on rough chipseal pavement, and it felt like a racing model that had been optimized for fatter tires. No mudguards were installed to compare fender line vs tire.
Ride of the 'touring' was _perhaps_ slightly less 'racey', but still very quick. Not twitchy. Signature Ron. No handed in corners like a dream. Sorry, I was lost in the ride, not trying to compare. I guess I need to get down to The Bay and visit some friends, and go for a ride with Bob for a proper side-by-side.
Racing uses a 74-ish head angle, and is outstanding. His are the favorite of my bikes, and of the many, many brands of on-topic bikes I have ridden / owned / own. Each being great in it's own way of course. YMMV.
Bill Roberts Jacksonville, OR
From: Bob Freitas <freitas1@pacbell.net> Subject: [CR] Long brakes,Short brakes and 700c...TIMELINE? To: CLASSIC RENDEZVOUS <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Message-ID: <4B350E31.8030701@pacbell.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; format=flowed
This is an interesting question as a recent Ron Cooper came to me with 27'' wheels even though I figure the bike to be 1980. I had figured 27''s were obsolete by then specially with custom builders. Are there general dates we can attach to the swing away from 27'' wheels to 700c ? I know it might be different between European and Japanese/Asian makers. With the base line and midrange bikes, when did they or did they ever switch? I left the business in 1980 and 27'' were still common but since I slumbered for the rest of the 1980s I missed the transition if there was one.
BOB FREITAS gloriously Sunny in MILL VALLEY, CA USA
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