Originally Posted by
Pompiere
I got this Performance Parabola locally at a garage sale. In the dark corner where I first saw it, I thought the color was light gray, but when I got it out in the light it is actually light purple with a pearlescent metal flake. When it was built, I'm not sure what the intended market was...
The 1992 catalogue calls it, "the ultimate expression of a cross bike". I believe in this case "cross" is a reference to the function (i.e. cross purpose or hybrid) as opposed to cyclo-cross. However, it lacks the typical cantilever brakes of a hybrid, while the drop bars, lo-rider rack mounts and third set of bottle bosses under the down tube are more typical of a grand touring model. I think it just illustrates how hybrids were still evolving at his early stage. FYI, the colour was called "Ghost Silver" and the MSRP was $569 US.
In 1992, Performance also had a more traditional hybrid, the Transit, at $389 US, which they also categorized as "cross". It used a flat bar and cantilever brakes.