Always enjoyed riding my series 5 Panasonic Paramount, fastest bike in my humble fleet. However, always thought the bike was a bit small for me, but got a great deal so, bought it anyway. Figured I could make it fit. At 62cm it was the largest they made, so for the past couple of years, have been looking for a similar Waterford OS Paramount in a larger size. One popped up on eBay a month or so ago, looked a bit rough, but price and size were right, so went for it. Seller did a great job of packaging, frame arrived as listed. Was planning on having the frame redone, paint rough, lots of chips and scraps, and initially not a fan of the red. Thought I would build it up and ride it a bit though before sticking that kind of money into it
Frame cleaned up quite well, and was able to source a pretty close color match from my local Autozone. Comparing the two frames, pretty identical as to tubing and lugs, as far as outer dimensions, and style, however, the quality of the paint job on the Panasonic frame seemed far superior to that of the Waterford. Blasphemy I Know, but the Panasonic paint seems more like the Imron on my Treks, whilst the red paint on the Waterford is very thin, and seems to chip, and flake off, if you look at it funny.
On to the build, I simply took all the components off of the Panasonic, and transferred them to the Waterford, only change was cables and tape, for obvious reasons. Did not even touch the adjustment of the derailleurs, and the initial test ride, which is usually short, cause something is amiss, just turned into a 30 mile ride, guess I’ll bring some water next time. Most of the components, ( cont. below)
Before: 1992 Series 5 PDG OS Paramount 62cm
After: 1991 PDG OS Paramount 68cm
were Shimano 1055, that I sourced new for the original Series 5 build, they work great, but I think I’ll start gathering all the Dura-Ace 7400 bits, after all it is a Waterford, and I may still have to get the frame redone, paint chips easily and is still flaking off. Think I’ll stick with red though, it’s starting to grow on me. Purple splatter on the Panasonic never did.
Tim