jamesdak 

You know Stan, it's hard to believe that Schwinn couldn't survive with the quality of bikes they were putting out in the mid 80's early 90s era. Easily on par with anything else I have. The "lesser" Circuit of mine keeps outperforming everything else I have on my chase after local Strava sprint segments. I feel some of the other bikes should be faster but the Circuit just carries the speed so well. I'm curious to see if the deeper wheels on this Paramount will allow it to better the times of the Circuit in those longer mile sections where I'm trying to hold in the high 20s. They are all uphill grades so I'm not sure if the heavier wheels will penalize or help.

Henry III

I used to have one exactly like this about six or seven years ago. I just disliked the amount toe overlap it as being a 49cm didn't help out. Just never felt comfortable on it. So were these the very first PDG's before they were numerically categorized? I bought mine from the original owner and can't really recall what it was equipped with. It was mid upper level components though.

DMC707

@jamesdak i just purchased a very similar bicycle from ebay. This thread is what made me look again -- its built with Suntour components, but i have plenty of early-mid 90's tri color parts if it doesnt work out

I also probably paid too much but i recall wanting one of these back then-- bikes of childhood/young adulthood carry a stiff premium sometimes -- LOL

Just curious - i ride 53-54 machines, but this bike per your measurements has a longer top tube, similar to an ironman centurion or any number of lemond bikes--- i hope i can get it adjusted close enough to have a few good rides

Anyway- pics to come if/when it arrives and if i get comfortable with a new pic hosting software

But in the meantime - stars and bars forever!



edit to include link to ebay auction

--- what the heck kind of headset top nut is that? Guess i'll find out soon enough ---- as well, for a bike that was advertised as mostly Superbe Pro, - it has Sprint hubs and Royal Compe brakes --- (and a tri color FDR) --- but its my size and those parts can be scavenged up easy enough

jamesdak 

Nice find, I saw that on Ebay and was wondering is someone would be smart enough to snatch it up. Not sure what that headset is. My Bianchi has a funky looking headset too but on that one you actually just pry and slid up the center section to access the nut with a wrench.



I'll bet you can sort the fit out. I'm used to a longer top tube since I own 4 Lemonds. I've actually got bikes that range from 53cm to 56cm. Actually the Fuji is a 57 but a 650B conversion negated the tall top tube problem. Maybe a shorter stem will help. This bike is a bit twitchy compared to many I have so a really short stem may take some getting use to.

Superbe Pro is awesome stuff. I have it on my Opus III which I took out Sunday. It's a joy to use and works really , really well. I see that as a plus in my book.

Anyway, make sure to share with us once you get it in and sorted out. The frame looks to be in better shape than mine.

jamesdak 

Well, I took this out today. It was pretty windy with gusts hitting close to 20 mph. I was only pushed sideways once and that was as a big truck went by. I felt like I was taking it easy today but still managed to hold a respectible 18.9 mph avg over my 25 mile route. I have had an unusual 2 days in a row off so the legs were fresh. When I got on it the bike seemed to respond well and I spent a fair amount of time in the 21-22 mph range. Seemed easy to hold that speed even with a slight upgrade. The front clearance is pretty close so I may be changing that tire out to a smaller one to be safe.

I'm hoping for calm tomorrow morning when I ride. That's when I'll push it to see if the wheels make any noticeable difference at speed. Even if it's just in my mind, LOL!

I was surprised out how easily I was dealing with the headwinds today. Don't know if that was the bike or just my fresh leg.

Did have an idiot late in the ride pull out right in front of me. We made eye contact so I was sure he saw me coming. Then he pulled out anyway and I had to do an emergency maneuver in gravel to avoid him. Lucky I didn't wreck.

Oh and a really weird noise from the front wheel. It sounds almost like a rub on the fork at one spot as you spin the wheel but it's not touching any where. The noise seems to be at/in the rim. Hubs feel great with no detectable drag. The noise is the same with the wheel clamped or unclamped. Going to try it on another bike to see what happens and then if need be take off the tires and see is something is going on. I guess something could be off with the hub and the noise is radiating to the rim but don't know. First time I've encountered this. I'll start troubleshooting this after I wrap this up.

Edit: Front tire is rubbing on the bottom of the steerer tube. Gonna swap on a smaller 700 x 23 tire. Threw it on my Circuit and it's perfectly silent then looking at the steerer tube on the PDG you can see where it was rubbing even though I didn't see it as I looked earlier.

Camilo

You mean Stars and Stripes forever?


(stars and bars)

DMC707

OMG ---- good catch

That's a goof in todays politically charged atmosphere to be sure !

STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER ! (although with lineage from Georgia and SC, I still consider myself a proud southern gentleman, although I am sequestered in the Midwest)

DMC707

Looks like an early - mid 90's Mavic headset --- tiny little needle bearings in a plastic or phenolic carrier inside as I recall

jamesdak 

Mine's a Miche Team headset.

jamesdak 

Ok, just wanted to share this too for anyone researching these. Took the bike out today for an easy Sunday ride but wound up throwing in one of the bigger climbs around here. Maybe not the smartest thing since this is running a 42T small chain ring and only a 26T as the largest cog on the cassette. Here's the profile showing the climb.



But surprisingly the climb went ok. I normally do this with a compact double with at least a 29T cog on the back end. On top of the gearing this also has these heavier Campagnolo Scirocco wheelsets on it. Today didn't seem any harder and I actually posted my second fastest time on one of the steepest segments of the climb. It think the stiff frame and stiff wheelset helped negate the gearing shortages. I bet this thing woule climb like a scalded mountain goat with the proper gearing and a rider 40 lbs lighter than my 190 lbs.

I only hit 46 mph on the descent. Some gusting winds up top made me cautious and then a headwind on the descent kept the speed down. The bike felt a little more nervous on the way down at speed. I need more fast runs with it before I can say that it's the bike itself vs wind conditions, etc.

Once I got off the mountain I had about an 8 mile run back home. Once again the bike showed that it likes to go fast. I was carrying a fast pace despite the tired legs.

So anyway, just wanted to share that I'd judge these frames to be good climbers when properly equipped for such work.

Wright Bros

James, glad you were able to pick up a PDG Paramount and it's a Beauty! Congats

Lazyass

I've had my PDG 5 frameset in storage for the last year and a half. Just built it up with a DA/Ultegra 9 speed setup and a Tektro brakeset. I have a black 3T quill stem with a little bit of rise on the way and will be buying a CK headset and new Turbo saddle. Horrible pic, it looks sweet in person.

jamesdak 

Nice, now get it finished up and out on the road!

I'm throwing out the challenge one old soldier to another, 25 miles at a 20.2 mph avg, solo. Now get to it Airborne!

Lazyass

I can cruise at 20.2 solo. In April I finished first in a 100K on a 33 year old bike and I'm 49 years old. The guy right behind me was even older on a beat up Bikes Direct Motobecane. We dropped all the youn uns on their carbon bikes by mile 15. I retired seven years ago, stopped working four years ago and ride everyday as long as I want.

jamesdak 

Just a little update on this one. The by-product of selling off 20 bikes from the collection is that I know have too many bike wheelsets laying around. So I'm going to "optimize" the bikes I'm keeping with the best wheels for each bike's use.

This morning I kicked my beautiful PDG Paramount up a notch (I hope) with some more aero wheels. These Mavics are deeper than the Sirocco's I had on it with a C.F fairing that comes to a narrower edge and bladed spokes. All with only a negligible 1 oz increase in weight.

I'll see this weekend if I'm in good enough shape right now to take advantage of this new setup.

How she looks with the new wheels.


Hope I can still make it go as fast as it looks.

And... since the Prologue TT just is not selling locally I'm seriously considering tearing it down and transfering the Dura Ace/Ultregra 10 speed setup over to this one and then just hanging the TT frame on the wall in the bike cave.


To niche of a bike for anyone to buy locally it appears. But with all the new parts on it I may break my own rule and scavenge it for parts.