1973_schwinn_professional_road_racing_paramount.jpg

Was this you?



If so then I think you missed out on Pink Floyd “Dark Side of the Moon”, “The God Father” and trying for a mutton chop or even a beard.



Like Campagnollo missing out on index shifting or no one understanding mountain bikes, Schwinn in 1973 was marketing to who…?


And no, never thought of meeting girls at a swimming pool having ridden over dressed in what looks like yachting outfit?


Marketing, you can see it all going down.



Oh the year, website says from a 1973 Schwinn Catalog.

Both showing their assets.
They both could do a lot worse.
Class of ‘72.
We always looked good!
More than one good job, great car(s).
Schwinn Varsity.
Girl friend(s).
Oh, Yeah...We had our own places.

I wish!

I was that skinny then but I was only seven so no way I was going to have a ladyfriend like that!

PS Even better if I could get Green Stamps with those.

You may be younger than 40?

That was Style!

(Note to the uninitiated: Do not try to operate the Paramount as a water bike. The seat is not a flotation device. May void warranty).

Hey, I was ten, but I had four older sisters... The oldest was 25 in 1972.

Nah, we never missed a Floyd concert and 10 speeds weren't cool. But a mercury Marquis was far out. I'm in there, back middle. My girlfriend in the foreground. We were all a little distracted back in high school. Good times.



And check out the Capri 2800 in the next row. Bright orange, fast and tight, made for Mercury by Opel I believe. Great car until the timing chain snapped.

Would











the bike that is...I'd ride the bike

I wish too, was about 13 and would have dressed however they wanted me to if it would have had me rocking a Paramount which I drooled profusely over at Gateway Schwinn that was near my house. It was across the street from Yamaha East and Norwest Honda so you could see Paramount's, Yamaha's, Bultaco's, Maico's, Honda's, Triumph's, BSA's and John Player Special Norton's all in an afternoon, which I did on a regular basis. Fortunately I did not miss Dark Side of Moon or any other Classic rock of the era. For what it's worth I think the pool angle played out across the nation especially in warmer places as one of THE place's to hang out and meet girls (in bikini's no less) and biking was probably viewed as healthy, wholesome transport for such activities if you didn't drive. They may have missed the age target group a bit, but that group wasn't the one with the money for such things so they included the parent age group for that. Not bad marketing from the sales numbers of the time.

Definitely not me. If I was that close to a girl in a bikini back then, the pit stains would be the first thing you'd notice in the pic.

I wasn't yet in the double digits (aka, I was younger than 10) in 1972. I think the ad is actually pretty good, given the time. Sex sells, and a girl in a swimsuit... bank. Finding a way to link expensive bicycles to that, in a beach setting, might have been harder. The "hippy" crowd at the time was all about bicycles, so, no need to really hard sell to them... that dude is modernly dressed, moderned coiffed, and handsome enough. I think he's a bridge between hippy and middle income America.

I was riding my stingray knockoff to the municipal swimming pool almost everyday in 1972. I thought I was pretty cool, but I'm sure I wasn't turning any heads of the opposite sex. I would have wanted to be that guy.

Looks like you DO, only off by a couple of years.

I've got a 72 chrome frame that is a bit lackluster so it has not made it to the buildstand yet.

That is the worlds most beautiful bike. I think she is asking him if she could have the bike. He laughs.

I think he might let her ride it.

He is stalking at the pool on his new bike trying to pick up. But then he is looking in her eyes and she is looking at his chest. So unrealistic. Wasn't the mantra of the 70's.... Gas, grass or ass, no one rides for free!

I was two, so no..

I was turning just 13 then my voice wouldn't have broken yet (Think of "Peter" in the Brady bunch) and I was in an all boys school....a totally confused kid!.....except for my sister and mom, most women terrified the hell out of me........I most likely would have fainted if I got that close to a bikini clad woman.........So, that couldn't have been me, no way!......but I did have a ten speed!

Pants up to the nipples?

I wish.

Actually, the move toward wider tires combined with ever-lighter bicycles has the UCI examining a Calais-London race, possibly as soon as 2020. Right now the only point of contention appears to be whether weight restrictions should be removed entirely for this event to allow for maximum floatation and over-sea velocity. Stay tuned...

Nope, only had a new Sports Tourer in 73, also only 18 that year. Girlfriend was that models body double though, so close enough for me. Tim

I was only 8 but I would have hit on her..

I think I was the only person who actually road a bike at college from 70-74, an Orange Schwinn Varsity wearing my heavy blue Pendleton plaid coat, heavy 10 speed yes, but at least 20lbs lighter than the three speed Schwinn Corvette it replaced. Security was a wrap of chain run through a worn out bike tube and a Master lock of some kind. Kind of a hippie barbarian look when I wore it slung over one shoulder, didn't see to much interest from the bikini side of the track.

Yes, lusted for a Paramount, but was blown away by the Teledyne Titan in the LBS window and the price-$600.00! You could get a real car for $600.00! My Olds F-85 six with column shifter, does anyone remember "three on a tree"(?) even had an 8-Track with two rear speakers, Led Zepplin and The Who's -Who's Next never sounded as good on road trips to the coast or up into the mountains.

Funny their catalogs changed soon after the picture that started this post, lifestyle pictures went out the door and just bike pictures staged without people followed. But the lifestyle pictures are a hoot, wonder who was coming up with what they thought we were, marketing seemed to be torn between leather helmeted racers or no helmet at all racers or preppies, surprised none of them weren't smoking a pipe....uhmm....that's a tobacco pipe....of course....LOL.

1968-schwinn-1.jpg

Of course then there was the bike touring crowd, circa 1968 catalog, and the never to be forgotten age of the Mini Skirt!
I appreciate credit card touring, but this couple sets new records in packing, for her, nothing, for him/them a handlebar bag and a sleep roll?
And apparently Mountain Biking, before it was cool, as they appear to be bushwacking across a hillside, with Big Sur in the distance?

She's laughing because he's not a real Sansabelt man. No action zone.

See you and raise you... Jean-Claude Killy in a turtleneck.

And remember its "just 30 lbs" !!!

Ok, it doesn't really matter but I couldn't let this one go. It was just a European Ford, sold here through Mercury dealers. Opel is a GM company. There were a bunch of weird rebadges though around that time frame...like the Buick Opel by Isuzu!