From: kristian@dwayne (Kristian Simsarian)
Subject: Brief review: Performance Parabola Hybrid/touring bike
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Chicago
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 02:50:36 GMT


	In August I bought a Performance Parabola by mail order.  It
seemed to be the best deal for a quality bike with the standard
touring fittings. 

In short its features are:
- 500cx
- bar-end shifters
- Sakai anatomic drop bars
- ATB   Tange tubing (light grade?)
- 700x35 Avocet cross tires
- triple chain
- braze ons: 3 bottle, pump, rack(unusable), front low-riders
- Dia-Compe dual pivot brakes.

	That stuff you can read in the catalogue. Although not a real
experienced tourer. I had grown out of my entry level ATB about the
time I realized that there were no mountains in Chicago and lots of
good touring routes in Northern Illinois and Wisconsin. It was also
then that this Trek ATB was stolen.  I took the insurance money
(fortunate me) and applied it to the Performance bike.

Summary of opinions:

Nice things about it:
	-tough frame
	-just enough spongieness in frame to make long rides comfy
	-high gearing 
	-full set of touring braze ons.
	-great bars (the drops flare out)
	-bar-end shifters are nice

Bad things:
	- no cantilevers
	- color
	- a touch heavy (28 lbs)
	- rack braze on interferes with brakes if used.
	- problem with flats at beginning.
	- sizing difficulty
	- shipping time (3 weeks)

Details:
(good things)
	The frame seems to be the same tubing they use on their
low-level ATBs.  This is a plus if you plan to use it as a Hybrid on
smooth off-road.  The frame is comfortable. A good comparison between
this bike and my friend's Trek 1100 is had by comparing my Triumph
with his Buick.  The Triumph is nimble and corners well, like the
trek, but the ride is very stiff and allows you to feel every road
ripple. The buick has a slow-paced feel, doesn't corner very well, and
plogs along, but the ride is smooth and is probably just as quick over
a large distances.  Given a choice, I would rather make large road
trips in the Buick.  In the Triumph you need to stop and stretch every
few hours.

	I really like the Sakai drop bars with the cork wrap.  The
brakes are very responsive and they have the aero levers with 
a hand rest on top.  They seemed to be adequate for a heavy load,
I would have like a little more on the steepest hills with full packs.

(bad things)
	I wish it had cantelevers ( prefer their raw power to the dual
pivots) .  The color choice is pretty dismal (off-white-pale-purple
and a 70's fade 2-tone thing - I got off-white). It seems a bit heavy,
but what is a few pounds when you load 40 or 50? They made a mistake
with the rear brake and rear rack braze on. You cannot use the left
braze-on.  I mounted my rack to the brake cross-point - it seems to be
very stable.  Performance admitted this was "a mistake".
	In the beginning I had 2 flats in the first week.  There were
some rough parts inside the rear rim spoke holes, which I filed down and
then wiped out the rim and put thicker rubber rim strips in - that
stopped the flats.  Performance said I could send the rim back to be
re-trued if I wanted (damage from the flat) - I never bothered though.
I may still ask for a tube, if I feel like bothering.

	Ordering a bike mail order is a bit of a gamble. I read a
lot of different opinions on sizing a bike and measured by all methods
the first day I got the bike.  The bike fits reasonable well and I
think the 23" is the closest to my size, but after a while I will
probably put a shorter reach neck on.

	I found half the Performance staff very friendly and the other
half kinda rude. Especially the tech people, it seemed to be random
whether I got a nice guy or a bike-tech-dweeb.  But that is true in
bike stores as well. Shipping took longer than they promised. Kinda
ticked me off, especially once when I had an unsympathetic operator on
the phone.  

	Overall my satisfaction is about 8/10.  I am happy with the
bike and am planning many more tours for the next season.  I bought
the bike when the price dropped from $569 to $469.  It has now dropped
to $399, which I would say is a great deal.  Any other tourer with
similar features is  $550+.  I wish I had gotten the $400 deal - but then
I would have missed out on September/Oct riding.


	Hope this helps somebody.  

Kristian (no connection with Performance... etc..)









-- 
Kristian T. Simsarian			University of Chicago AI Laboratory
email: kristian@cs.uchicago.edu		CS Dept. Chicago, IL 60637
From: khe@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Keith Erskine)
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 18:02:59 GMT
Subject: Re: ATB's in $1500-$2700 range < ACTUAL opinion
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA