Originally Posted by
SoCaled
I know this is a Zombie, but stumbled upon this after reading a current Superior thread and loved the @
madpogue "Superimount?" quote. Then when looking at the '83 catalog it seems to confirm "Superimount?" to be exactly what it is, notice the first line of the description. Different than the '81-'82, 1st mention in catalogs of Paramount Design Group.
It's been years since I've dug into this so the information is not committed to memory, but as I recall, there are more than a few "old pattern" Superiors wearing the '83 decal and paint scheme concurrently with the '82 geometry, Nervex lugs, and straight-from-Tange front fork (complete with the death crown).
The catalog wording suggests that the production moved location, but not necessarily that the bike would be built identical to a PDG Paramount. We (obviously) know from the OP's bike that they did paint and sell at least one '83 Paramount-pattern frame as a Superior, but we still don't know for sure if the catalog was worded foreseeing that they'd run out of old-pattern frames mid-run or if they had PDG build the remaining old-pattern frames.
It's been a slog getting the Excel files from ALL the existing Paramount databases conformed to something that the PHP-based Headbadge replacement site can work from, but there will be a completely new, stand-alone Superior registry eventually. Perhaps once we have all the serials and photos in a row, some observable conclusions will come to light.
-Kurt