Henry III

So what's your plans with the LE your getting from me? Good to see it going to fellow Cimarron fan.

T Stew

I was debating expanding out from road/touring bikes to maybe a mountain bike outfitted with slicks or mild tread for the road... thinking maybe for rougher roads or perhaps a load hauler / touring bike. Add panniers, and fenders, if they will accept them.

The Cimarron appears to be Schwinns most expensive mountain bike, but I am not familiar enough with the parts to tell why. The High Seirra looks just as good too me, and is much more common on ebay. What separates the Cimarron and High Sierra?

Reddbiker

Keeping that one stock, I love the look of those as is. Looking at other LEs looks like they have the same bar and grips as my 87 so I'm gonna move them over to the LE. Bought a set of the Tange grips off eBay last night to replace the ones the previous owner cut into to accommodate the bar ends. It'll be my coffee shop\cruise around downtown bike.

The Golden Boy 

The Cimarron is fillet brazed in the front and lugged in the back. The High Sierra is fillet brazed in the front and TIG welded in the back.

The Cimarron came with XT stuff, the High Sierra came with Deore (basically what became LX, the next level down).

While the Cimarron was Schwinn's most expensive full ATB build- the Paramountain frameset was above that- but only available as a frameset in 87- which is why, when you do see a Paramountain, it's often built up differently than other Paramountains.


The Schwinn ATBs from this time are a nifty cross between touring bikes and mountain bikes. They have outrageously long chainstays, a long wheelbase, 2 braze ons per dropout/fork end, and some have mid fork braze ons. While the later Cimarrons had more bottle cages than you would ever have thought humanly possible- the 86/87 only have two mounts, but IMO are stylistically "classic-er."

I got my High Sierra in 1991- I associated the stuff I liked about the bike to "mountain bikes." When I got into biking- I thought "mountain bikes" were what I liked/wanted. After a while I realized what these bikes are and why that stuff appealed to me.

The Golden Boy 

I've got a set of trekking (butterfly) bars that are in the queue for my High Sierra. I'm still trying to work out how else I want it to go... Right now it's set up with drops and bar ends, but I'm not totally thrilled with it.

Reddbiker

Dang that sucks, the drops with bar ends was what I was thinking. The Casey crazy bar from Velo Orange looks interesting to me.

The Golden Boy 

Don't get bummed because it didn't work for me... it could very easily be that I don't have it set totally right, or I'm just used to feeling like I'm sitting lower than a high BB bike will feel like.

I've wanted to try the trekking bars for a while- if just for the novelty if for nothing else. Possibly a bit higher stem would work- I could probably use the original riser stem but I went for a 90 degree angle "road" stem.

neo_pop_71

Hey Reddbiker-

Go for it! Media blast the frame and get it powder coated, I did and I couldn't be more pleased with the results. This isn't my listing and I have no interest in the sale but there is a set of NOS Cimarron water slide decals on Ebay for 20 bucks. When I redid my 1988 LE I bought the same water slide decals. I had my frame and fork powder coated, I applied the decals and waited a week for the glue to set, and I had everything clear coated with automotive clear at my buddy's shop. The finish is fabulous, much more durable than paint. I've done a number of bikes with this method and had great results each time. Here is the link to the NOS water slide decals.

https://m.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Schwinn-Bicycle-Cimarron-Water-Slide-Decals-New-Old-Stock-mountain-/141872415363?nav=SEARCH

If any of you are Schwinn fans you likely know who Stan Cooper aka scooper, he is responsible for all the Schwinn catalog scans and is the guru of all things Schwinn. When Stan redid his gorgeous red Schwinn road bike I pressed him to please share the method he chose to refinish his frame and fork. He used the exact method I described above, it's beautiful and tough as nails.

Reddbiker- here is your chance to have a one off custom Cimarron, a cool opportunity to make yours different than any other green, red, or black Cimarron out there. Here is a link to my '88 LE so you can reference those NOS water slide decals.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/958730-1988-schwinn-cimarron-le-ultimate-final-build-photo-heavy.html

Keep us posted whatever you decide, thanks!

Peace,

-D-

fender1

Here is my 86'. It was pretty rough paint-wise when I got it, so I repainted it with green Rustoleum and a brush.

[IMG][/IMG]

wrk101

What attributes does the Cimarron have that the High Sierra doesn't:

1. XT components.
2. Made in USA.
3. Way cool frame, filet brazed/lug mix.
4. Relatively rare.

I've seen a total of three for sale in my general area in the last ten years. Bought all three.

Pluses for High Sierra:

1. Some years had black chrome frame.
2. Some years had roller cam brakes.

I would have no problem picking up a High Sierra at the right price, if it had these features. They are more common, so easier to find.

In some markets, both the High Sierra and Cimarron don't get a lot of interest, so you can sometimes find them at attractive prices. I saw some incredible deals on High Sierras during my recent trip to Florida.

T Stew

Thanks @The Golden Boy and @wrk101 for the info. The Cimarron is very intersting!

Those were two things I homed in on right away when I was looking, I really liked the black chrome and the roller cam brakes looked very interesting and seem to have a bit of a following. Plus there were a few of them on ebay. Just none in my size. Though I'm not really sure how the sizes line up with road bikes since that is really all that I have experience with. I was figuring going on the smaller end of my frame range or even one step down. Does that sound about right? There is a Cimarron on ebay right now, but it's pretty faded and rusty. I assume that price is a bit high, especially considering the paint job is shot.

VictorKnox

I would say that price on the ebay one is definitely too high for the condition it's in. There was a mint, all original green 85 or 86 listed for 250 a little way from me here in Wisconsin last summer that I missed out on, but then a couple months ago I scored a black 1988 that had been listed in Michigan for a month with no interest. Paid $100 for it. I'm building it up with moustache bars and big apples, and I'll be posting it here soon.

I did a search and this was posted a day ago, but it's in Phoenix:
Schwinn Cimarron Classic Mountain Bike

The Golden Boy 

I love the Black Chrome on my High Sierra. Only problem with it is that it appears to get pretty beat- as the "chrome" portion of it shows through every little nick.

I'm not so much of a fan of the roller cam brakes. I think they look really tough and unique... but they're honestly so much more of a bear to set up than ordinary cantilever brakes.

My High Sierra is *my* High Sierra- however, if I were to want to replace it- I would definitely look for a Cimarron.

As @VictorKnox noted- there was that Cimarron in Lake Geneva that I deliberately passed on. ****. Why the hell did I do that?

With the way I like swapping stuff around, another thing I do like is the "Schwinn High Sierra" headbadge.





I don't know why the Cimarron didn't get a customized badge... other high end Schwinn bikes had customized badges- the Paramount, the Voyageur, Voyageur SP and even the Mirada... but the top of the line Cimarron didn't....

T Stew

My Prologue feels left out on your list. I did try and use it's headbadge as my avatar but the limit is so small on this forum it's difficult to see.

I did come across a nice (best I can tell) HS but it's a 4 hr drive (one way) too far for me and my truck (with a gas hungry V10). Well at least gas is cheap right now but still...

The Golden Boy 

Oops! Sorry!

They had a bunch of personalized badges for the higher end models- of which the Prologue was one... and then the Mirada...

BigSung

bconneraz, your Cimarrons are absolutely beautiful. I have been monitoring CL, but they seem to be very rare, and when some pops up, the asking price is way too high in my area.

BigSung

@wrk101
What is the frame size and Effective Top Tube on that one? It would be good to know for future reference.

neo_pop_71

Hey all-

I was going through my big boxes of spares and came across some early Cimarron wheels. I have a single front and a complete wheelset. The single front has a Shimano "Deerhead" XT MN-72 "Sealed Mechanism" decal on the hub laced to 26"x1.5" Araya hoop. The complete wheelset is very similar with the same "Deerhead" XT hubs laced to 26"x1.75" hoops. All axles are nutted, the rim brake surface shows some signs of use but not too much because both 1986 Cimarrons that these were pulled from were garage queens. I'll get some photos tomorrow in the sunlight and post them. Anyone trying to restore their early Cimarron back to original or need a replacement here is your chance. I'm sure I could offload the wheels easy enough on Craigslist but I'll give you guys first crack.

Peace,

-D-

BigSung

Love to pick one up of this in the future. Not too many seem to show up in SF area For 5'8" with 30" inseam, I would probably need the smaller frame one though.

T Stew

I was thinking the Cimarron was probably the top model mountain bike, but the recent ebay/craigslist thread brought up a Project KOM which I had entirely forgot about. I dug up the pricelist from '88 and wow the Project KOM was one pricey mountain bike... their most expensive full bike from '88

Not to take away from the Cim, but just thought I'd bring it up. Seems to be Tange Prestige tubing... isn't that like one of the lightest tube sets available back in the 80's, for like the best road race bikes? Seems odd to be on a mountain bike?

Metacortex

The Cimarron was the top Schwinn ATB from '85 through *'87. The KOM came out in '88.

*Some would argue the Paramountain was at the top for '87, but that was only offered as a frameset and not a complete bike.

badger_biker 

Very cool to see that price list. Thanks for posting T Stew.

Henry III

What was a Avion? Was there no Paramount offered in 88?

wrk101

Several brands top of the line MTB in the late 1980s/early 1990s, came with Prestige frames. Very desirable, as the top models tended to have very low sales. I have a 1991 Fuji Professional MTB with a Prestige frame.

Avion was a Klein design, precursor to the 4xx, 5xx, etc series bikes that Schwinn came out with. IMHO, it was the nicest of the Klein design Schwinns. Also hard to find, although sellers and buyers alike usually do not recognize the value, so you can sometimes find a deal on them.

Price list also does not list the Prologue, second in line that year (although didn't make the catalog printing).

1988 was the 50th anniversary Paramount, so you bet, they were making them that year.

4funbikes

[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD="width: 8%, bgcolor: #c0c0c0"]1988
[/TD]
[TD="width: 8%, bgcolor: #c0c0c0"]Project KOM[/TD]
[TD="width: 8%, bgcolor: #c0c0c0"]Tange Prestige DB/ Tange
[/TD]
[TD="width: 8%, bgcolor: #c0c0c0"]Shimano Deore XT SIS[/TD]
[TD="width: 8%, bgcolor: #c0c0c0"]Shimano Deore XT [/TD]
[TD="width: 8%, bgcolor: #c0c0c0"]Shimano Deore XT QR.[/TD]
[TD="width: 8%, bgcolor: #c0c0c0"]Araya RM 20 anno[/TD]
[TD="width: 8%, bgcolor: #c0c0c0"]Schwinn Project KOM[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%, bgcolor: #c0c0c0"]Shimano Deore XT rear-U[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%, bgcolor: #c0c0c0"]Shimano Deore XT[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%, bgcolor: #c0c0c0"]Shimano Deore XT Biopace II 26/36/46[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%, bgcolor: #c0c0c0"]Shimano Deore XT[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%, bgcolor: #c0c0c0"]Shimano Deore XT SIS[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%, bgcolor: #c0c0c0"]Tange Prestige Cro-Mo flat[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%, bgcolor: #c0c0c0"]Shimano Deore XT cassette 6[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%, bgcolor: #c0c0c0"]Schwinn internal guide[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%, bgcolor: #c0c0c0"]Team RWB[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 8%"]1988[/TD]
[TD="width: 8%"]Cimarron[/TD]
[TD="width: 8%"]Full Cro-Mo DB/Tange[/TD]
[TD="width: 8%"]Shimano Deore SIS[/TD]
[TD="width: 8%"]Shimano Deore [/TD]
[TD="width: 8%"]Shimano Deore QR.[/TD]
[TD="width: 8%"]Araya RM20 anno[/TD]
[TD="width: 8%"]Schwinn Project KOM[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%"]Dia-Compe 982 (F) 990U(R)[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%"]Dia-Compe 290[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%"]Shimano Deore Biopace 28/38/48[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%"]Sakae MP122[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%"]Shimano Deore SIS[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%"]Nitto alloy flat[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%"]Shimano 6 cassette 13/30[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%"]Schwinn internal guide[/TD]
[TD="width: 9%"]Sunrise Red, Jet Black[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]