This article originally appeared on BikeRadar
Modern professional road racers often have a fleet of bikes to choose from: a lightweight one for climbing, an aero one for flatter and faster stages, dedicated time trial rigs, classics machines, and so on. But back in the 1980s, racers typically used the same bike for every discipline, such as this cherry 1988 Schwinn Paramount that Irish pro Alan McCormack had custom made with some rather unusual geometry.
McCormack preferred exceptionally quick handling. That meant an ultra-short wheelbase measuring just 915mm – 55mm shorter than Specialized's smallest Tarmac – plus a 50cm top tube that's awfully compact even given his 1.63m (5ft 4in) height. In fact, the front end is so short that there isn't just toe overlap; the pedals themselves actually make contact with the front tire.
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The Paramount name really meant something back in the day
"I asked Schwinn to custom make me a bike that like the bike I had in England," McCormack told BikeRadar during a casual sit-down meeting near his home in Boulder, Colorado. "But when I gave the guys in Chicago my dimensions they thought I was nuts. But I just insisted and insisted and they built it for me."
"It's so tight and it has a high bottom brackets for criteriums," he continued. "It's super fast out of the corners which is why I had it made. The top tube is also short for my size."
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