SoCaled 

Anyone have anymore info on Paragon bikes? or idea of value for this one? google is not helping today, one CR mention, not much more. - Paragon, Lars Zebroski

obrentharris 

Paging @verktyg
Brent

SoCaled 

Mine now, more pics to come.

zukahn1 

Full matching campy in nice shape so I'm not surprised it sold to a member pretty quick. Very nice bike great cosmetics.

wrk101

This one fits into my category of "grab now, research later". I see enough valuable stuff there to make the grab. Then I can research at my leisure. Good decision to get it!

I find the more obscure the brand, the lower the competition. Brands may be recognizable here, but to the general bike buying public, not so much. My most recent less recognizable brands: Mountain Goat, Mikkelsen, Recherche, and Crescent. When you see them (at a reasonable price), its best to just buy, buy, buy!

zukahn1 

It is interesting that has Zeus dropouts frames parts and canti front brakes with a caliber rear I have never seen this before on a bike.

TugaDude

Me neither. Would be interesting to know if it was that way from the factory or perhaps was modified afterwards for some reason and if so, why?

SoCaled 

^ ^ ^
I thought the same thing before I bought it, but clearly in the picture no rear canti bosses? Fork looked original, no center caliper mount? Go to get the bike, had some issue with the address so I was a little off when I arrived. I had posted this thread and gotten no response before I went (and had failed with Google) so I was going in pretty blind and often ads are full of "untruths". Nice, older man greets me and I ask, "do you know anything about the bike, because I don't?" he replies "Yes, my father bought it for me when I was 11 years old and I have been riding it ever since, but don't ride anymore now" There was something about the way he said it, that told me he did not have to many more details to add, but as been said here many times over, I am kicking myself now for not asking another question or three. He said what I wanted to hear, 1 owner, known origin. I took a quick look at the bike, but I knew I was happy with what I had.

I am not a tire kicker - to a fault. Once I decide I am going to buy something (usually put some thought into this part) I almost always make a full price offer and don't haggle, or do over the top inspections when I arrive to buy. I don't usually make big dollar purchases so if something goes wrong, lesson learned, I can live with it. This has resulted in driving too far, for bikes that turned out to be rougher than I thought, but still buying them because I was "pot committed" by the time and gas invested. One, classic mistake, of not checking for a stuck seatpost on bike I paid $40 for, but I would have still bought it if I knew (I will share that one, one day, if I get the post unstuck). So this long story leads me back to the question - canti front - caliper back - Why?

So at this point, the answer might be obvious - When I went to pick up the bike I was mostly looking to see if anything was off from what I saw in the ad - nice Campagnolo parts were all there, I was fully disarmed by the genuine seller, and despite the need for some love the bike was a functioning smooth rider, oh yeah and canti front/caliper rear - no rear canti boss - just like the pictures - no surprises. I get home and I am showing my friend the bike and pointing out the strange (illogical?) brake configuration and just as my (usually logical brain) gets stuck on me just saying these brakes make no sense? - I see the rear canti boss still intact on the nds!!! Whoops, that would explain it! Drive side boss is sheared off, now obvious. No sign of additional damage, but I have not given this bike any time yet. So, lesson learned, but much like the $40 bike with the stuck seatpost, I am still quite happy I got it and had I done a better inspection, I still would have brought it home . I knew close to nothing about the frame going in and was rolling the dice, hoping it turned out to be something interesting, but not counting on it - more on that soon.

If it was not clear above, I think the seller was honest.
There was clear for me to see:
an obviously odd brake configuration
visibly sheared off boss
visible existing boss next to the caliper
and there was a logical solution to the problem executed - added a caliper brake
I am sure if I had even asked about the brakes, he would have told me the story of how that canti boss got ripped off, probably a good one!

SoCaled 

I have found some more tidbits of info on the frame and builder, of course from a bf member:

"Lars Zebroski was a member of the US Olympic Cycling Team in the 1960 Rome Olympics. He was also a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Pedalli Alpini racing team. After the Olympics he stayed on in Italy and raced with Italian amateur teams. When Lars returned to the US in the early 60s, he started building frames in the SF Bay Area under the Paragon marque. He continued do so through the mid 1960s. During that time he and another local cyclist built somewhere between 150 and 300 frames."
https://www.velobase.com/Velos/ViewE...0da69&Enum=226 - Verktyg

TugaDude

Very interesting the way it turned out. The brake situation wouldn't bother me as a rider, it doesn't compromise performance at all. In the end, all that matters is that you are happy and it is clear that you are still more than content with your purchase. Now enjoy it. Bikes are meant to be ridden, so give it what it deserves.

zukahn1 

I suspect because of the bikes fairly tight racing geometry the brakes were done this way to prevent leg strike rub which you would likely get if it had canti rear brakes while a bit different it actually seems to be a pretty nice setup which should give a bit more braking power.

juvela

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IIRC Lars was located in a somewhat rural area on the San Francisco peninsula such as La Honda, mentioned only as an example

once knew place name but can no longer recall it

another reader is sure to have it in their data bank


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coolkat

There was also Hugh Enochs (of La Honda, CA) who, according to this article (https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ebuilders.html) built frames under the Paragon name as well as the name Jevelot.