Originally Posted by
bikingshearer
"OP" means "original poster," i.e. you, in this case.
Paramounts, for most and perhaps all of their existence, were made separately from the rest of Schwinn's bike production. Even when Paramounts were made in the same Chicago factory as most other Schwinns, they were made in a separate fenced-off enclosure, known as The Cage.
Except for the ones that were made in Wisconsin by Don Mainland (including many of the chrome jobs).
Originally Posted by
bikingshearer
Eventually (meaning the late 1980's or thereabouts), Paramount production moved to its own home in Waterford, Wisconsin.
Actually earlier than that - 1980.
Originally Posted by
bikingshearer
(There were also other Paramounts, called "Paramount PDG's," that were not built in Waterford but rather Taiwan, I think, which are fine frames but do not have the cache of a Waterford-built Paramount or the older, Chicago-built ones.)
Common misconception. The Waterford Paramounts are also "PDG" bikes/frames: PDG stands for "Paramount Design Group." Waterford Paramounts thus commonly bear "PDG" decals. The Asian-built Paramounts are more accurately referred to as "Series" Paramounts, as they were designated by numbered series. If you see a "Series X" decal on the top tube, it's in all likelihood (there are a couple of exceptions) an Asian Paramount.