Vntgeparamount

I threw on two 700 x 32c Hutchinson Piranha 2CX tires because there are too many goat head sticker seeds in my neck of the woods - Got sick of fixing flat tires every week. On my other 2 Schwinn Capital Hybrids I threw on Tannus Armor Inserts and tubes which seemed to take care of the problem - I haven't done that yet for the Paramount.

Vntgeparamount

Regarding your comment concerning the decal - I believe it was a throw on - which the Paramount group threw on after the frame was stripped and repainted ( from what I understand the frame was from the (I am guessing the 68 Olympics used by the US National team) - once it was brought back- it was stripped repainted and then retrofitted years later with mid 80s campy parts - which you typically would see on a Schwinn Super LeTour - this bike was not sold from a store it was straight from the factory - a retrofit to make it rideable. I beleive the fork is a Tange fork -(but I may wrong).

cudak888 

A full photo of the bike will settle the question of whether this is a '68 refinished by Waterford in '80 - or, at the very least, a picture of the brake bridge relative to the rear wheel.

The '68s were designed to accept 700C tubulars or 27" clinchers and had massive brake clearance in the back. The late P10's and P15's may exhibit the same, but - IIRC - the clearances on those were a bit tighter than the late-1960's frames.

-Kurt

machinist42

I don't think so, see below. Where did you hear this story?

One other thing: the Serial Number. In the '60s, Paramounts were stamped with a letter followed by a three digit number. There are no exceptions in this database compiled by some kind soul. My '64 Super Sport has a letter followed by four numbers, but my '64 Paramount has a letter and three numbers. (You wouldn't want the same numbering format for both the SS and the Paramount in The Cage, lest a Huret forged dropout find itself paired with a Paramount.) All the registered Paramounts in the later '70s have a letter followed by four numbers. They were not making that many Paramounts in the '60s each month to need three digits for a build number, but they were in the 70s.

I do not think this is a '68, Because numbers don't lie. Could there have been an outlier in February of 1968, sure, but it is very improbable. What's more likely is that this is from 1980.

I don't think the stamped star means what you think it means. Please read the posts preceding yours in this very thread.

(This entire discussion feels so deja vu.)

Please post photos of the entire bike?

cudak888 

Agreed from the standpoint of the serial - though that database is VERY out of date (as have been my efforts to roll out an update to it), the five-digit serials don't really pop up until 1971.

But I'm also concerned about the ramifications of the alternative: That would mean this is the very first Paramount - or Superior, until proven otherwise, built in 1980. It also means the original Paramount serial stamping dies were transferred to Waterford until replaced with the smaller, more precise dies used on the Superiors.

However, I do remember hearing at least one story fly through BF long ago of a warrantied Paramount frame that was built to the original Paramount specs in '80 or '81, and I wouldn't be surprised if this might be one of them. In fact, it might be that same bike that was discussed, just with a completely new, uncorroborated story stuck to it.

-Kurt

P.S.: If I'm not mistaken - wasn't Schwinn's Olympic involvement relegated entirely to track racing, thus a road bike would be inherently unrelated? The anecdote being quoted here sounds as if it was about Schwinn's general involvement in the Olympics with the Paramount Track models, and not about this specific frame.

For the record, the Olympic track Paramounts of this era are easily distinguished by the absence of Nervex Pro headlugs, as they were equipped with oversized 1-1/8" top tubes. Both are visible here in a pic from @Scooper who got it off an eBay listing:

Bogester 

I have nothing to add to the conversation except that I grew up in Coon Rapids in the 70s and a trip to Jerry’s was like a trip to DisneyLand. I can’t remember why we went there…my parents bought me a Huffy…but I remember getting the Schwinn catalog there and ogling over the all the bikes (I really liked the red Letour). I didn’t get the Schwinn I wanted as a kid but I did ride my 71 Paramount today!

pastorbobnlnh 

Vntgeparamount early '80s Super LeTours (or any other Schwinn with the exception of Superiors or Paramounts) came from the factory built with Campagnolo components.

The serial number, IMO, is clearly original and points to February 1980. It is consistent with the serial numbers on other examples of early Waterford Paramounts. Below is a closeup of mine with polish left in for clarity. As you can see it is the 37th frameset in May 1983.


The decal for the Paramount Design Group is different from the one on mine.


Here is an ebay example from a mid '80s aluminum road bike. It is different from your PDG decal, which, IIRC, is similar or the same as the 1981-82 Paramounts built in Waterford.

Pcampeau

Another Coon Rapids kid here, CRHS graduate 1993. Wow! We’ve got some things in common. In 1980 my parents bought me my first bike from the used bike section at Jerry’s, a tiny red something or other with a removable top tube, I was five years old. I never got a Schwinn as a kid either but still walked into Jerry’s from time to time. It was a fun place. I finally obtained a 72 chrome Paramount a few years back but I can’t ride it today due to winter in Minneapolis. Here’s a pic from back in October before the snow came. Nice to see there’s another forum member from my hometown.

Bogester 

Awesome! We moved right before high school but I have fond memories of riding trails all over town. Most the empty fields and forests are now subdivisions but it was a fun time.

The Golden Boy 

There's a nice young man here from my hometown- he doesn't post much lately- but it's funny- we hung out some in high school- nothing to do with bikes; I think I saw him once after I graduated in 1987 and then ran into him here some 25 years later.

machinist42

cudak888 

That is a 1980 Schwinn Paramount.

The brake bridge clearance and the top tube cable clips (Paramounts did not use them until the second-gen P13-9 came out in 1971; they had brazed-on cable stops) negate any possibility of it being earlier than '71.

For reference: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...html?styleid=8

Odd that they didn't go for bottle cage braze-ons, for the '79s had them. That's the only real variation from a standard 1979 production P13-9; that and the PDG decal instead of "SCHWINN CHICAGO" - which stands to reason, given that production would have moved by then.

-Kurt

Vntgeparamount

Thanks for the information - Greatly appreciated - There is not much out there on the internet regarding 1980 Paramounts other that 1980-1983 are considered Elite Paramounts and that Eric Heiden and the 7-11 team rode 1981 Paramounts. At least we cleared up that it was not a Superior.

cudak888 

Pretty sure this isn't an Elite Paramount either. It's not a cataloged model. I'll assume the working theory that this was a warranty replacement frame.

There's also at least one 1983 Superior that was built from a 1984 Paramount frame, so oddities are possible.

-Kurt

trainman999

Here is the other thread we discussed the 1980 Paramount
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...nt-68-a-2.html

cudak888 

Has so much happened in two years that I completely forgot that I already addressed this bike before? Geez.

-Kurt

pastorbobnlnh 

COVID-19 happened. Covid and out! This is why I retired. I had no memory of my post on the original thread either!

merziac

Sounds like a movie to be made, "COVID, Paramounts and Ground hog day".

Just try and keep up.

merziac

Me too and if I hadn't they would have shown me the door.

Way too many folks working the hospitals that are and will be done well before the mess is.

cudak888 

No, it's wasn't COVID. It's work. Seems as if half a year of crap gets shoved into a single day. By the time 5pm rolls around, you might as well dress backwards and it won't matter at all.

Funny, I saw Groundhog Day for the first time last year, finally. Made me appreciate how satisfying it is to come across a screenplay that isn't a rehash and is executed exceptionally well.

-Kurt

pastorbobnlnh 

Look how this thread is taking a severe divergent path away from the original topic!

Now back to our original programing: Where is Vntgeparamount who needs to up his/her posts in order to post pictures? Only 2 more needed. Almost at the start line!