If you ever saw the automated frame brazing carousel at the Colnago factory in the '70s ('80s?) you'd wonder how they kept their mojo. Give me the ladies in the Paramount cage (or Don Mainland in Wisconsin) anytime. In the '70s the Paramounts didn't have to overcome any quality issues (they were Schwinns of course). It was getting past that image that a Schwinn was a 40 or 50 pound kid's bike that was hard to do for a generation that had grown up on Schwinn marketing. The lure of exotic French and Italian marques was hard to resist. Especially then with my friends "experimenting" with them. What was a boy to do -- I gave in and bought a Peugeot PX-10.

With the price freeze of the early '70s, Paramounts were incredible bargains. I should have listened to my heart. I'm older and wiser and now ride a Paramount.

Bob Hufford
Springfield, MO