9volt 

Has anyone run into a Schwinn Paramountain like this or have an ID on the fork?

The serial number seems to indicate it's an 87 even though the components are a few years older. The catalog 87 Paramountain is lugged Prestige with different decals.

3speedslow

I would love to run across one of those but at this time, yours is the only one

John E

Based on my Schwinn (see signature), which is the model that replaced the Paramountain and has a lugged Tange Prestige frame, I would have expected to see a lugged frame.

well biked

Maybe a re-badged/decaled lower model, perhaps a High Sierra? The frame reminds me of a late '80's High Sierra I once owned. But I don't know much about the Paramountains, so maybe it is genuine, I don't know. On the High Sierras I'm thinking of, I think at least some of the joints were welds that had been smoothed, not fillet brazed, although there was at least some fillet brazing on them I believe.

TugaDude

Don't know what you have there but it looks awesome. First, the fork is not original and it looks similar to some Tange forks I've seen. The bars probably aren't original either. The fact that they are color-matched to the frame leads me to believe someone took a bike and had it refinished, added the decals, etc.

According to what I've seen online on multiple forums, the Paramountain was made in 1987, possibly 86 also and sold as a frameset only. It was lugged and made in Greenville, MS. That according to Richard Schwinn. The other thing is Schwinn was sponsoring Ned Overend and had a model with Ned's signature on it. It featured the Schwinn family crest and your's obviously doesn't.

The bike made in MS had Tange Prestige tubing and a reinforced unicrown fork with braze-on's for roller cam or U-brakes.

So at the end of the day, hard to say what you have there. It sure it pretty though.

Try emailing Richard Schwinn at Waterford and send him pics. He'll be able to narrow it down. Maybe it was a one-off that they made?

9volt 

It's unlikely that the bike is a High Sierra. The dropouts are Shimano SF and the frame appears to be chrome under the paint.

I though maybe it was a Cimarron but those are lugged at the bottom bracket and seat cluster.

9volt 

The fork steer tube has 5 helical ridges and appears to be Columbus. I haven't pulled the fork yet to confirm a stamping on the tube.

Does the serial number in the pic on the first post look like a Schwinn serial?

The Golden Boy 

Yeah, that looks like no Paramountain I've seen.

For a long time that was a grail bike for me.

The Golden Boy 

Look at the work on there- nothing is "Schwinn" or "Giant" or even "Paramount" about that. The fillet brazed seat lug- that brake cable routing... that's Class A stuff, but not Schwinn style.

@frantik?

Salamandrine 

I know nothing about Schwinn MTB's, but those components and the general layout all say early production mountain bike. Certainly not an '87. It is in many ways a Ritchey copy. 1983 ish I suspect - give or take a year or two.

Looks handbuilt to me. Wouldn't surprise me if it came out of the paramount shop.

9volt 

I was thinking 83-85 based on the components. The serial number has '87' in it, which may or may not mean something. I don't think this style of Paramount graphics was available prior to 1985. Can anyone confirm that?

TugaDude

I still think that whatever it began life as it was repainted at some point.

Salamandrine 

Agree on the repaint. Decals are not consistent with the other design features. I'm also thinking it may have been a one off. Not a low end bike. That is fillet brazing not TIG welds, and small custom handmade features like that rear cable stop indicate a high end bike.


I'd like to know the history of this bike. Maybe someone at Waterford knows.

Wileyone 

Looks like welds to me. If it's Fillet Braized it's not very well done.

wesmamyke

It's not uncommon for offroad stuff, MTB and cross bikes to have unfinished fillets. Or mostly unfinished anyway, I think bikes like that tend to get a rough pass with a file and they call it a day. I had a very nice Bontrager cross bike that had very lumpy fillets. Can't recall the brand, but I've heard it as a selling point on at least one bike/brand.

John E

Your description is consistent w/ the Paramountain and with my next-year Project KOM-10, which has the factory red-white-and-blue paint job and "Team Issue" decals on the top tube. Also from the Ned Overend sponsorship era.

cyclotoine

What makes you say that? The only good shot of the fillets is the seat cluster and they look good to me. The stay fillets on the BB are in a difficult to work place and underneath, so they won't be perfect and finishing is generally less perfect in those areas. They're smaller fillets in general but they look good to me.

That is one cool bike and in a size I could ride. Love it. That fork crown is uber cool.

Wileyone 

Mostly this pic.

Attachment 608450

I agree the Fork Crown is pretty cool.

pastorbobnlnh 

Just my 2 cents from looking at Paramount MTBs over the years, but never owning one:

I've never bought one because I wanted one with a larger head tube. All the ones I've ever seen on ebay or CL had really short head tubes. The frame size varied primarily in the length of the top tube. I finally bought an '87 High Sierra, because it was my size and was kind of cool because the front end was fillet brazed (rear tig welded). There are similarities but the differences are obvious.



Personally, I wonder if this is a fully custom made Paramountain? @9volt please send these pictures and the serial number to Richard Schwinn. This looks to be a real lost treasure! Great score.

The Golden Boy 

It's a custom build built for someone with the initials of MF.

The number is in SSN format, and the 387 prefix is a WI state prefix for SSNs.

Don't forget, back in the 80s, identity theft wasn't a "thing." SSNs were used on all kinds of things, people were encouraged to engrave them on to your valuable stereo equipment and stuff- in the Army, people used their SSNs as part of their addresses, put them on their checks (on the address line) and you gave it to your family and friends to send you mail. So the idea of using it as a bike serial number isn't far off.

Bikerider007

Would be awesome if legit. Actually either way it's a pretty awesome build at the very least. Those matched bars and forks look great. Keep us posted.

The Golden Boy 

What looks off?

Wileyone 

Where the Downtube meets the Headtube.

Attachment 608466

The Golden Boy 

Again, what's off?

You have two round tubes of the same diameter, the outside edge is going to meet in one place. That means it's not going to meet in all the other places. You're seeing the bike from an oblique angle with the light reflecting from an odd angle where the outside diameters do not meet.

Keep in mind- as you see this pic, from this angle- where the join is- what appears to be the upper third is actually the center of the tube.

The Golden Boy 

Again, the Paramountain was a grail bike for me- I was obsessed with finding one.

There's only a pix of a few of them on the Internet; I've seen pix of a few yellow ones, a few red ones and a black one. It was available, as a frameset only, for one year- 1987- it's successor is the KOM 10. It sat above the Cimarron.

They don't say "Schwinn" anywhere on them- just the Schwinn family crest decal for the head badge.















FWIW- Ned rode a High Sierra.