Any chance you could modify the paramount to take 650b's? Then you'd just need new wheels and new wheels are not the same as a new bike (your wife might not even notice) and then you could get wider tires.
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Bikes: 1996 Eddy Merckx Titanium EX, 1989/90 Colnago Super(issimo?) Piu(?), 1990 Concorde Aquila(hit by car while riding), others in build queue "when I get the time"