Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - 1992 & 1993 Paramount mountain bike questions

I have 2 Paramount mountain bikes:

1st- 1992 Paramount series 90 PDG, serial 2D00085, blue velvet gas color, all Suntour XC pro components.

2nd- 1993 Paramount Team, serial N3F0010, white tt/dt, rest of frame is titanium, all Shimano XTR components.

Can someone tell me:
Were these Waterford manufactured, or Asian? Catalogs I found online say they were hand built in Waterford. I purchased them new, they were ridden less than 20 miles and have been stored for past 15 years, both are still in mint/pristine condition. Both completely original, never modified in any way. Would collectors be interested? What is approx value?

I also have a 1993 Paramount Team issue serial # N3F0191 and was wondering how to decode the serial # and if anyone knew the total production run.

Thank you,

Jim.

I have 2 Paramount mountain bikes:

1st- 1992 Paramount series 90 PDG, serial 2D00085, blue velvet gas color, all Suntour XC pro components.

2nd- 1993 Paramount Team, serial N3F0010, white tt/dt, rest of frame is titanium, all Shimano XTR components.

Can someone tell me:
Were these Waterford manufactured, or Asian? Catalogs I found online say they were hand built in Waterford. I purchased them new, they were ridden less than 20 miles and have been stored for past 15 years, both are still in mint/pristine condition. Both completely original, never modified in any way. Would collectors be interested? What is approx value?

The 1992 PDG Series 90 Paramount MTB was made by National/Panasonic (Japan) for Schwinn.

The PDG Team Paramounts were also built in asia, except for some 1994 R80s, which were built by Waterford.

See the PDG Series page on the Waterford website:

http://waterfordbikes.com/w/culture/paramount/pdg-series-bikes-1989-94

Waterford built Paramounts in the nineties used the "self-describing" serial number format explained on the Waterford website:

http://waterfordbikes.com/w/culture/paramount/paramount-dating

There are folks who would be interested, but I suspect you probably are expecting a lot more than what standard market value might be. Typically high end MTBs from this period sell for about 150-200...there is a premium here for condition, parts and the Paramount name...I'd GUESS maybe $400 each.

The 1992 PDG Series 90 Paramount MTB was made by National/Panasonic (Japan) for Schwinn.

The PDG Team Paramounts were also built in asia, except for some 1994 R80s, which were built by Waterford.

See the PDG Series page on the Waterford website:

http://waterfordbikes.com/w/culture/paramount/pdg-series-bikes-1989-94

Waterford built Paramounts in the nineties used the "self-describing" serial number format explained on the Waterford website:

http://waterfordbikes.com/w/culture/paramount/paramount-dating




Is the Team Paramount considered a "Series" bike?

I have not been able to decode the "self describing" format for N3F0191


Thank you both for the information.

Jim.

Is the Team Paramount considered a "Series" bike?

I have not been able to decode the "self describing" format for N3F0191


Thank you both for the information.

Jim.

Hi Jim,

Yes; the Team Paramounts were "Series" bikes. The Series Paramounts did not have the self-describing serial numbers, except for the 1994 R80s built by Waterford.

Here is the table from the Waterford website showing the Series Paramounts models and the years of production.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7/k4drd/Bicycles/Schwinn%20Publ%20Pages/PDGSeriesParamountModels.jpg

Here is the format for the self-describing serial numbers used for Waterford built Paramounts in the early nineties:


Self-Describing Serial Numbers

This system started in use during the mid-1980s to 1994. It consisted of six components:

■Size Code: The size code represented the center to top seatmast measurement, rounded to the nearest 5mm. For example, a 55cm frame had a serial number starting with 550. Mountain bikes required rounding since they were built in one or two inch size increments. Occasionally, custom frames might not have the same size as indicated by the serial number.

■Product Code: This was not applied consistently. Up to some point in the early 90′s, it designated the fork length with forks short bikes getting an “A” progressing to large forks getting an “E”. Later, it was used to designate the kind of frame: A=Road, B=Off-Road, C=650C Road, E=Track.

■Company Code: In the 80′s the code indicated the type of bike, where K=road bike. Later, especially after the formation of Waterford, this letter indicated the company. K was for Paramount and L was for Waterford.

■Factory Code: A W followed to indicate a bike coming from the Waterford factory.

■Month Code: This one letter code corresponds to the month with A=January, B=Febuary and so on. Because I is not used, September=J and December=M.

■Year Code: This two digit code is the last two digits of the year – 96 is 1996.

■Sequence Number: This three digit number represents the nth frame and/or fork scheduled during the month.

Example: 540AKWE91042 was a 54cm road racing Paramount built at the Waterford factory. It was the 42nd frame built in May of 1991.

Collectors would be interested, but as someone who owns several Panasonic built Schwinns and Paramounts, they do not bring Waterford pricing. And vintage MTBs get less respect.

Because I have so many Panasonic Schwinn road bikes, I always keep an eye out for their MTB cousins.

Stan, I love that chart!!

Collectors would be interested, but as someone who owns several Panasonic built Schwinns and Paramounts, they do not bring Waterford pricing. And vintage MTBs get less respect.

Because I have so many Panasonic Schwinn road bikes, I always keep an eye out for their MTB cousins.

Stan, I love that chart!!

Bill, the chart is right off the Waterford website so I can't take any credit for it. :D

The Panasonic bikes built for Schwinn are world class as far as I'm concerned. To quote Marc Muller, Schwinn's manager of the Waterford facility at the time, on the National/Panasonic built Series Paramounts:

"National/Panasonic were willing and eager partners in this project. I spent a lot of time in their plant, and they at our corporate headquarters, overseeing the smallest details to assure the bikes were worthy of the name. While some of us had reservations about the use of the name, after spending the 80's building up the Schwinn/Paramount/PDG brand, once the decision was made to use the name everyone was on board to make the finest possible bikes at their price point. Are they Waterford Paramounts? No. Are they excellent bicycles? You bet! Don't listen to the bashers, you'll drive yourself crazy!"

Good info but be careful, this is a zombie thread. OP is from two years ago.

Good info but be careful, this is a zombie thread. OP is from two years ago.

Oops; I missed that. It looks like that was his only post and nobody ever responded.

Should I have started with a new thread?

I was searching google for info on my bike and found this post from someone that had the same year and model.

I too am a newbie and hope I didn't screw this up.

Thank you,

Jim.

Should I have started with a new thread?

I was searching google for info on my bike and found this post from someone that had the same year and model.

I too am a newbie and hope I didn't screw this up.

Thank you,

Jim.

Hi Jim,

No, you didn't screw up. ;)

Generally, it is a good idea to let threads where the last post was dated more than a year before just rest in peace and start a new thread, but there are no rules. Old threads that haven't seen recent activity and then come back to life are called zombies. :D

In this case, I'm just sorry the original poster never got a reply.

Welcome to BikeForums, and specifically the Classic & Vintages forum. We are usually pretty well behaved here (not as snarky as some other forums).