These are terrific bikes. They were hand-brazed, sometimes by the same handful of people who brazed the Paramount models. Schwinn built them up with reliable, tough, durable components, so they were five pounds heavier than many of the imported bikes in a similar price range. But, BECAUSE of that, may of the Schwinns are still on the road...many of the imported bikes lasted only a summer or two before frustrated owners put them into a far corner of the basement.