Classic & Vintage - Show Us Your Series Paramounts!!

OK, they certainly are not Waterford or Chicago built, but Schwinn imported some nice bikes and put the Paramount name on them. They only show up in the catalogs for two years (1991 and 1992). By 1993, Schwinn changed the numbering system. I consider my 1987 Prologue to be a precursor to the Paramount series line, it was made by National/Panasonic.


It is my understanding that the higher end ones were built by National/Panasonic, the lower series were built by other suppliers (I think my 1991 Series 3 was made in Taiwan). One place where Schwinn really scrimped on these bikes were the components. My Series 3 came with RX100 components (WTF?) and my Series V came with Shimano 105. IMHO, the Series 5 was certainly worthy of Shimano 600 components.

I just sort of finished my 1992 Series 5. I believe it was built by Panasonic. I love the paint, got some purple bottle cages on order. They call this color scheme: "White with Purple Slime". I think I would have used a different term than Slime if I was in the marketing department. Regardless, I like the combo.

I changed out the bars, stem and seat post, didn't care for the black cromoly stem, and I had some nice Cinelli stuff laying in the parts bin. The bike is mostly Ultegra, with 8 speed Shimano 600 STI, and Shimano 105 wheels (I have an Ultegra wheelset to mount later). I could also do better on tires, but these were already mounted, so I will used them for a while.

I know Robbie has a Series 7. Anyone have a Series 9C??


http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5276/5859811129_3a613ebc51_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3192/5859811303_c66bb02789_b.jpg

Mods, can you move this to the C & V section?

Looks like I might have your little brother:lol:


http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/turbocar/Paramount%20PDG%205/CIMG0232JPGa.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/turbocar/Paramount%20PDG%205/CIMG0246JPGa.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/turbocar/Paramount%20PDG%205/CIMG0245.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/turbocar/Paramount%20PDG%205/CIMG0243JPGa.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/turbocar/Paramount%20PDG%205/CIMG0241.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/turbocar/Paramount%20PDG%205/CIMG0236.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/turbocar/Paramount%20PDG%205/CIMG0235JPGa.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/turbocar/Paramount%20PDG%205/CIMG0249.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/turbocar/Paramount%20PDG%205/CIMG0255.jpg

Boy, yours is in outstanding shape! My one complaint is the cheesy way Schwinn had the decals put on this bike. They are stuck right over the paint, interrupting the purple color, and looking like a real afterthought at best.

I just purchased a Series 7. I'm impressed with the apparent quality of the frame. The lugs are nice and there are cool star reinforcements for the bottle cage mounts and brake bridge. The paint has held up well and is a nice blue/violet color. It appears it originally came with Shimano 600 components, sort of gray, perhaps known as "tricolor" for the flag-like emblem. Also has the ugly black cro-mo stem. Does anyone know the original rear spacing ? Mine seems to be about 128, wider than 126 but a squeeze for 130. It's apart now for cleaning and frame saver, so I'll post pix later.

Should be 126. A 130 should fit fine. I have a 130 on my Series 5 above, and also on my 1987 Prologue.

I just recently sold my series PDG with the red/white/blue color scheme. I really liked the frame but I liked the Colnago Mix I picked instead. I believe these were only sold as just a frameset and don't even list them in any brochure. I've seen just a few of them with that color let alone just a "Series PDG" with no numeral designation indication it was an early PDG Paramount.

No doubt about it on the decals being an afterthought Bill.

In the catalog, all the frame descriptions are identical, but the Series 2 and 3 were Taiwan-made. The Series 5 and 7 were made in Japan. Schwinn did send a man there to supervise frame production. The Paramount Design Group spent a lot of time and money developing their balance of OS tubing size vs. wall thickness. Maybe too much, and they moved production to Japan basically when it was too late to really save much money by doing so. The peak of that curve was late '89, in hindsight.

It's my guess that the money spent on R&D and frames caused the well to be a little empty when it came time to toss groups on the bikes. The Series 2 actually came with Shimano 500EX. I think the 3 came with the RX100, the 5 with 105, and the 7 came with 600 tricolor. The 7 was one of the first OEM bikes to come with STI.

The Series 7 came in both 700c models with 53/39 cranks and 650c models with 56/42 cranks. I've never seen a Shimano 56t chain ring, but the catalog shows one. The catalog has a nice explanation by some guy as to why the 650c models were good. Not a lot of people seemed to buy into it, but if you're a masher, that's a great bike for you.

The 9C was a rebadged Kestrel 200. Follow-up Kestrels had a wider/flatter BB shell, I think, and it must have made a difference, as people who buy the older Kestrels seem to want the flat-sided BB shell. I doubt Schwinn sold a lot of 9C's. I've never seen one, though I've seen a number of the Kestrel 200's.

The frames are pretty nice, even the 2 and 3. The Tange rep at NAHBS last year told me that a lot of the later Tange forks were made of Prestige tubing because it was easier for Tange at the time. The black chro-mo stem was also Tange Prestige. A close look at the forks shows a more aero shape than people realize, I think; definitely not the oval found on many other Tange forks.

I don't quite understand the thoughts behind the decals. The late '80s decals were so elegant and fairly understated, and then the 91-92 decals were huge and cumbersome by comparison. Perhaps it was cost.

There doesn't seem to be a heck of a lot of difference in the frames, but my 7 does seem better finished off than the 3, though it may just be the type of paint. Red back then seemed to be thicker. The 650c Series 7 had some of the most interesting intentional splotches of paint I've seen on a bike, almost like the pattern that a drop of oil makes in water. They're only on the fork and front of the frame.
http://velospace.org/files/P1190199.JPG

I consider the frames to be nice successors to the Ironman frames, good Tange tubing and excellent all-around geometry.
I like both of mine, and would really only trade my red one for an Ironman frame of the same size and color.

The Series 3 was from a trade with rat fink, and the Series 7 courtesy of a deal with junkfoodjunkie at NAHBS.
I'm still grateful to both of them for the fun they've provided.
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii80/RobbieTunes/Recent%20pics/P1190278.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii80/RobbieTunes/Recent%20pics/P1190274.jpg

I know where there's a Series 5 in my size....just don't have the cajones to pull the trigger. Frameset only.
Same guy has an identical Series 2 to mine, also in 56cm...

I like what you did on that series 3. Maybe I'll keep mine. I still have one more set of 105 bits and 105 8 speed STI.

Good thread. Keep it coming, people, I know there's more of these out there.

I definitely love the freaky paint jobs on these things but agree the decals suck. I hope to find one of these someday, but figure the Paramount name won't exactly help them be undervalued (at least in these parts, I remember some of you saying you got great deals on these bikes).

I hate these threads...

These are really nice. The second one is clean--does it get ridden? Campy rims laced to 105 hubs=great.

Boy, yours is in outstanding shape! My one complaint is the cheesy way Schwinn had the decals put on this bike. They are stuck right over the paint, interrupting the purple color, and looking like a real afterthought at best.

yea, definitely don't want to interrupt that purple SLIME!!

Should be 126. A 130 should fit fine. I have a 130 on my Series 5 above, and also on my 1987 Prologue.
I think the Series 7 would be a 130, since it came with 8-sp STI.

Mine is going through some changes. ' will post a current pic later.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa87/DVC45/IMG00023-20100823-1205.jpg

These are really nice. The second one is clean--does it get ridden? Campy rims laced to 105 hubs=great.

Unfortunately she doesn't get ridden, too small. When I purchased her off Craigslist, it appeared to my untrained eyes she had very few miles on her. There might be a tiny scratch somewhere on her, if there is, its not very visible.

Do you guys know what wheels the series 5 came with, I picked one up this winter that I'm going to build up for myself when time permits, it appears all original except a set of mismatched wheels. I bought from a flipper who I think bought it for the wheelset maybe. Thanks for any info you may be able to pass on to me.

Do you guys know what wheels the series 5 came with, I picked one up this winter that I'm going to build up for myself when time permits, it appears all original except a set of mismatched wheels. I bought from a flipper who I think bought it for the wheelset maybe. Thanks for any info you may be able to pass on to me.

Mine came with Campagnolo Ofmega rims laced to Shimano 105.

Mine came with Campagnolo Ofmega rims laced to Shimano 105.


+1.

Thanks for the info!

Man, some truly sweet looking bikes!!! As Southpaw implied, I can just imagine what those bikes would cost here!

Mine is going through some changes. ' will post a current pic later.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa87/DVC45/IMG00023-20100823-1205.jpg

What sort of saddle is that, if you don't mine me asking.

Series 5 PDG - A flip because she was too small.

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/415/dscn1370a.jpg

I hate these threads...
? Not a late-era Schwinn fan? Dislike any but the "true" Paramounts? Can't find one like me?

Man, some truly sweet looking bikes!!! As Southpaw implied, I can just imagine what those bikes would cost here!
Everytime I see "Paramount" on CL I get excited before realizing chances are it'll be a Paramountain, Paramount Mountain Bike, or a fixie'd PDG aluminum "754aramount".

? Not a late-era Schwinn fan? Dislike any but the "true" Paramounts? Can't find one like me?

No, no, sorta...

They just whip up lust for another bike... and in this case I have enough Schwinn's, though non with oversized tubing :p

What sort of saddle is that, if you don't mine me asking.

Its a Bontrager of some sort. I'll check when I get home later.

Do you guys know what wheels the series 5 came with, I picked one up this winter that I'm going to build up for myself when time permits, it appears all original except a set of mismatched wheels. I bought from a flipper who I think bought it for the wheelset maybe. Thanks for any info you may be able to pass on to me.

I believe mine to be all original tritones.

105 hubs laced to Campagnolo rims.

Please correct me if I am mistaken.

No, no, sorta...

They just whip up lust for another bike... and in this case I have enough Schwinn's, though non with oversized tubing :p

Enough Schwinns already? Then consider this one to be a Panasonic. How many Panasonics do you have? You probably have room for one more Panasonic.

I have four Panasonics myself right now, all labeled as "Schwinns", a 1973 World Voyageur, two 1987 Prologues, and the 1992 Paramount Series 5. The only real Schwinn I have in the keeper fleet is a Waterford Paramount. I've only owned one Panasonic that had a Panasonic brand label on it... Kind of odd.

Enough Schwinns already? Then consider this one to be a Panasonic. How many Panasonics do you have? You probably have room for one more Panasonic.

My red Peloton has a serial number on the lower head lug...


I have four Panasonics myself right now, all labeled as "Schwinns", a 1973 World Voyageur, two 1987 Prologues, and the 1992 Paramount Series 5. The only real Schwinn I have in the keeper fleet is a Waterford Paramount. I've only owned one Panasonic that had a Panasonic brand label on it... Kind of odd.

Waterford? pfft. My 1988 Tempo might have been made in Greenville :)

Does my 1987 Traveler count for anything?:cry: :o

Or do I have to have another 23 Schwinns sitting in the garage? :eek:

Does my 1987 Traveler count for anything?:cry: :o

Does it have a Made in USA sticker (my 1989 did)? Probably a Greenville "real" Schwinn then :p

Just don't pull the fork, Tange Made in Japan stamped on there :lol:

Yea, it's got a Made in USA on the 4130 chromoly frame sticker. :D

Here was my Series PDG. It was a hodge podge of stuff...Campy Record brifters, hubs, derailleurs, Shimano 105 cranks, calipers. I just have the Campy stuff left and now on my Colnago Mix.
http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb439/MotherMoonPads/DSCF0703.jpg
I still have my 92' Paramount Series 30 MTB as my trail a bike hauler.

Enough Schwinns already? Then consider this one to be a Panasonic. How many Panasonics do you have? You probably have room for one more Panasonic.

I have four Panasonics myself right now, all labeled as "Schwinns", a 1973 World Voyageur, two 1987 Prologues, and the 1992 Paramount Series 5. The only real Schwinn I have in the keeper fleet is a Waterford Paramount. I've only owned one Panasonic that had a Panasonic brand label on it... Kind of odd.

It sounds like your Schwinn/Panasonic fleet is a lot like mine Bill. I have a 73 World Voyageur, 2 80's Supersports, a 1990 Waterford, and a Series 7.
I have sold about 10 other nice Schwinns in the last year or so.

The quality build of these frames ( Series bikes ) are as about as nice as I've seen -including Miyatas.


Johnnybee.

I really thought there'd be more PDG Series Paramounts showing up. Are they just not out there?

Yeah, lets see some more of those Series Paramounts members have in their garages.

Well, here's my latest rehab. A 1991 Paramount Series 3. Originally came with RX100, those parts ended up on another project long ago. So I rebuilt it with Shimano 105 parts. I must say, the paint and decal work is much more professional on the Series 3 than on my 1992 Series 5.




http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6010/6008628268_7778f63610_b.jpg

Wow, anyone have a 50-51ish 650c wheel Paramount they wanna sell/trade? I wanna see what the hype is all about.

Geometry charts always show that small frame bikes with 700c wheels have little 'tweaks' to make them fit. Seems like anything below 54 has slacker headtube and steeper seattube angles. 650c wheels seem like they make more sense.

As I recall, the 650C bike was the Series 7, which is pretty scarce. Robbie has one, I think his frame size is larger than that.

The Series bikes only showed up two years in the Schwinn catalogs, and the Series 7 only showed up one year. I think they are undervalued by the market (they are not Waterford), and this is already changing (took a quick look at ebay and C/L nationally).

Real sharp bike wrk101.

My only quibble is the brake levers don't appear to be symmetrically placed.

Real sharp bike wrk101.

My only quibble is the brake levers don't appear to be symmetrically placed.

I'll have to check that. It goes to a new home tomorrow.

Real sharp bike wrk101.

My only quibble is the brake levers don't appear to be symmetrically placed.
That's OK, Bill's a little off, too.....

Nice build, Bill. Makes me want to re-stalk that 56cm Series 5 in Raleigh.


Wow, anyone have a 50-51ish 650c wheel Paramount they wanna sell/trade? I wanna see what the hype is all about.

Geometry charts always show that small frame bikes with 700c wheels have little 'tweaks' to make them fit. Seems like anything below 54 has slacker headtube and steeper seattube angles. 650c wheels seem like they make more sense.I with I had one for you, they are pretty amazing in their handling. I can't imagine how huge that 56t crank would look on a 51cm frame.


As I recall, the 650C bike was the Series 7, which is pretty scarce. Robbie has one, I think his frame size is larger than that.

The Series bikes only showed up two years in the Schwinn catalogs, and the Series 7 only showed up one year. I think they are undervalued by the market (they are not Waterford), and this is already changing (took a quick look at ebay and C/L nationally). I'd never seen one until junkfoodjunkie dropped his on me, and yep, the 650c was the Series 7, one year (1992). 650c wheels and 56/42 cranks. I'm going to try mine this winter with 53/39 and see what spinning is all about. The tt/tri folks on 650c's all seem to be doing fine with 53/39. My guess is my sweet spot will be around 54-55t, just not sure I want to buy two more big rings just for playing around.

223996

Here is my new-to-me 1991 (I think - no red speckles) Series 3 PDG. Rides really nicely; wheels and components are not original (Matrix Titan wheelset, added an Ultegra RD and 600 Tricolor FD, along with a Sachs crankset.

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j333/bdatki/IMG_1124.jpg

Very underrated frames, IMO.

Hopefully they'll stay like that; I'd love to pick up a Series 5 or 7 someday with a badass 90's paint job (my '91 has the relatively staid candy blue paint without spatters or the like).

Hey, I actually lost track of this thread. Here's my take on the '92 Series 2 frameset:

http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/cc509/Beas5963/ParamountSeries2005.jpg

I love this bike.

Hopefully they'll stay like that; I'd love to pick up a Series 5 or 7 someday with a badass 90's paint job (my '91 has the relatively staid candy blue paint without spatters or the like).

+

Also this one needs a bigger view. I'm loving this livery.
http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=223996&d=1319257517

Hopefully they'll stay like that; I'd love to pick up a Series 5 or 7 someday with a badass 90's paint job (my '91 has the relatively staid candy blue paint without spatters or the like).

Finding a 7 in the right size is pretty challenging. You will need to cast a wide net (ebay and more) to score one unless you get really lucky.