Originally Posted by
Scooper
Schwinn changed the rear derailleur on the P15-9 from the Campy Gran Turismo to the Schwinn-Approved Le Tour GT-300 (rebranded Shimano Crane) in late 1972 because the Gran Turismo was a POS and Campy didn't have a decent long cage RD at the time. Schwinn used the GT-300 on the P15-9 until at least 1978.
The bar-end shifters on my 1972 P15-9 are Campagnolo, but the SunTour shifters work much better and may have been supplied on some units.
That's great and very interesting info!
It's odd that Schwinn literature stated that the Campagnolo bar-end shifters should not to be used with the NR Triple crankset. The simple Record front derailleur was the same as used for the standard Nuovo Record double set-up. I assumed because of the longer lever throw required to address all 3 chainrings, the bar-end unit would not work well. Schwinn offered their "Schwinn Twin-Stik" (stem mounted shifters) as an option in their catalogues. {I think this was basically a Suntour made stem-shifter set with a headset mounting bracket rather than a simple wrap-around stem clamp.}
BTW:
Scooper, How are your Campy barend controls working with the triple cranks? ... I've been tempted to try a set on my '71 P15-9
From Bob Huffords Schwinn Lightweight Data Book website:
"The P15 Deluxe Paramount is primarily intended for general touring. The very broad gear range makes the P15 especially suited for touring in hilly or mountainous terrain. In addition, the frame stays and bridges are designed to accomodate touring equipment such as clincher (wired-on) tires and fenders. The frame construction and the use of broad range derailleurs also make the use of Campagnolo fingertip controls and Campagnolo brakes impractical on the P15 Deluxe Paramount."
Suntour's Barcon shifters were THE top "upgrade" component for changing from Campagnolo or Simplex or any other bar-end controls. They never slipped! I believe they were first introduced in 1973, and they were a stand-out superior product for their time. They may have been added onto that Paramount by the original owner very early - and would have been an excellent choice!
The Schwinn LeTour (Crane GS) rear derailleur would have been a big improvement on a 1972 Campy product! The Campagnolo Gran Turismo was really a shiny steel boat anchor which Campagnolo sold as a derailleur. Nobody wanted it, and I'm sure the folks in the Paramount works at Schwinn all groaned whenever one was mounted on a P15-9. I suppose bike shops would have loved the aftermarket replacement business, were it not such an embarrassment to explain to rich buyers. It was just used because it was the ONLY available Campagnolo derailleur which could handle their Triple cranks and the 14-31 freewheel (although use of the word "handle" is really stretching the point). It had a bad geomery, inevitably jammed up a chain, and the only thing to recommend it was they were so strong and heavy that the dropout would sometimes bend yet the derailleur survived... to offend, once again - and soon!
Yeah, embarrassed to say, back in the 70s, I rode a shop-owned loaner bike with one (for around 3 weeks) thinking it was just my clumsy shifting
... in fact, everyone jammed it up too and sometimes crashed.
That sounds like a great deal on the Paramount!
Buy it right away!