What a whirlwind. But both my pop and I are really happy with the paramount. This is a thread telling the story of the sprucing up process of a 1972 Schwinn Paramount P13 I gave my pop for Christmas. I know it’s a little late, but writing this takes time and life is very busy as of late. Some was written during and some after for the post. So forgive me if the tenses change.

So,Time flew by this year. School, work and family makes certain that time will fly. So it was little more than a week before Christmas and the paramount was NOT ready to present “under the Christmas tree”. As it always seems to happen, nothing went as smooth as I was anticipating. The pedals laughed at everything I threw at them, I ended up using a very period inappropriate stem, I had to switch to the wheelset from my international, the bottom bracket was a pill, AND I only remembered to take pictures half the time. But my pop was still really, really happy.

I’ve only done a couple full builds. The process that I’ve gotten the most success with is going about the project as a multiple “act” event.

Act 1 - Clean the parts.
One by one, clean the parts as I take them off the bike. I put all the clean parts in a cardboard box and plastic baggies. The dirty stuff can stay on the frame. When clean, I may or may not lube and grease them. I will lube pivot bolts and grease bearing surfaces. But save some things for assembly. I usually go in this order:

1. Rear Derailleur
   
2. Front derailleur
   
   
   
3. Brake calipers
   
   
4. Pedals (clean, repack and assemble)
5. Cranks/chainrings -look at those chainrings! They basically weren’t dirty at all!
   
6. Headset
7. Wheels (clean, repack and assemble hubs)
8. Bottom bracket (clean, repack and assemble)
   
   

The trouble

Act one is where I ran into trouble. First, thw pedals were stuck. Every form of persuasion was futile, chemical and physical. Finally I took the pedal apart from the dust cap back. I wanted to get these pedals repacked so my pop could have fresh pedals. If they were stuck.. whatever.


I sunk to what has been called “bruit force and ignorance”. I used a large pedal wrench and repeatedly banged it on my anvil section on my vice. The wrench is untouched, my vice is a little banged up but I got the pedals off! So not that hard, just a little time consuming.

The cockpit was not a breeze. Nothing other than the cables/housing was original. Which is ok. But left for some decisions. Even though it was too long, the ambrosio stem was cool enough to make the cut. The modern nitto bars and super record levers were just not right for this bike. I am happy to use the levers for a cool super record build someday, and after buying a Nuovo record parts bundle here, and picking up orphan levers at meets, I have enough to make a good set! Which fit the bike much better than super record. All is good there, and I was also able to find an older cinelli bar at my co-op! It was pretty hammered and has a bad Harry Potter scar but it’s his size, the right vintage and was dirt cheap. So all is set there too.. but the trouble came when the ambrosio stem started to show its true colors.



I went along with breaking down the cockpit. But when I got to the bar clamp bolt, it was bent to all hell. Of course the clamp was bent and the bars were very stuck. This was my sign. “Just use a stem that you have that will fit him.. this stem is not worth it fitting badly and looking off(too long)”.

The stem I had isn’t the correct stem, but fits my pop great. And we’ll hunt for the correct “old logo” stem at the next swap.



The bump in the road was the freewheel! According to fleetvelo: the 26-14 Regina was what came from the factory on this bike. I came to the conclusion that is was better to install a SunTour perfect 28-14 and have him ride it more than keeping the Regina and not being able to get up the hills here without a lot of strain. I’ve been hoarding freewheels like a dragon when I realized I could outlive my ability to get more cogs. Story for another time. Needless to say I picked my best one and prepped for a good “wheel day”.

I got ready to remove the Regina freewheel: I removed the skewer spring on the nut side, set the freewheel tool in the slot, tightened the nut so there was only enough room to break the freewheel loose, not for the tool to move, I set the tool in my vise, pushed downwards as I turned the bus left…




I think I have enough material for one more try. But that will be for after Christmas. For now, I’m happy to let my pop use the wheels from my International and mothball her until I can get this Regina off. They are campy high flange (recently repacked) and mavic MA2 so plenty of good and periodish correct. So problem solved for now!

Act Two- Washing, waxing and polishing the frame.
I hate trying to repack a headset while the frame is waxed and shined. I just end up re cleaning the bike. This turned out really nicely. It highlighted a lot of scratches and bruises that I didnt see while it was dirty, but that is to be expected. I check with Schwinn, black is the original color so this is likely the original paint! That being the case, I’m happy with its condition. If it was too nice my pop wouldn’t want to ride it. It’s just right for him to be proud of and for him to ride! With it all clean it was time to assemble.

Cleaned and waxed!

Act Three- Piece together the bike.
Other than the bottom bracket, everything slid into place smoothly. I usually pop the bottom bracket on first. Then the cranks and pedals. That way the front derailleur had a reference. I oiled and greased derailleurs and brake calipers, they bolted right up.


(also, I had no idea weinmann was Swiss!! I thought it was English)

I like to throw the wheels on and set the bike down, sin chain. Then it’s cockpit time. Install the naked bar and stem, position the levers and tape the bars. I usually like to go top down because it starts and ends in a really clean way. I don’t mind the downside of having the tape peel down by the hoods while riding. (I don’t know what that section is called but I think we all know what I’m talking about.) Because I know the “right” way to do it is to go bottom up and finish at the top to insure the tape lays nicely as you ride, I chose to do it that way for the ol’ man. I’m sorry for not having pictures. It was December 23rd and I was frantic trying to make sure it was ready.

Next is the cabling step. All the derailleurs, shift levers, brakes and their levers are installed. So it’s just a matter of clamping the clamps and routing the housing and the cables. This was pretty straightforward and easy. The extra housing I had left over from my international was perfect! This is high end pre greased housing and I think the white looks great. It was a risk, my pop doesn’t like flashy, but I’m glad he liked it this time.

This leaves the final assembly step to be the chain. I like it this way because you tune the derailleurs as a part of sizing the chain. Then, you’re ready to hop on and take it for a spin! With a modern chain, it was a breeze. And off I went around the block.

My Pop was very happy. His back has been really
bad the last couple weeks so we haven’t gone for a ride yet but I can tell, he is really excited! I’m really happy I got it together to give to him. It’s special to me and it seems like it is just as special to him. Here it is! as found on Christmas morning and a clear shot in the sun.

Super awesome! Thanks for sharing the progress and the results. I'm sure your father must be really happy and also proud of your technical skills and considerate nature!

-Gregory

Very nice! It stirs some nostalgia. The only thing I can criticize is that the brake cables are way too long. There's no good reason to have them hoop up so high.

The shop where I worked in the late 1970's was not a Schwinn dealer, but somehow we had a slightly used Paramount for sale on the showroom. I don't remember how it got there. I think the price tag was something like $900. There was a huge, very overweight man with a big pot belly who always wore sloppy overalls, who kept coming in for parts to service his grandson's bike. He saw that Paramount, and he thought it was absolutely stupid that anyone would spend that kind of money for a bicycle. Not long later, he had a heart attack, and surgery. His doctor told him he was going to have to get into some kind or regular exercise program if he didn't want to die soon. He bought that Paramount, and slimmed down, got into riding centuries, and formed a cycling club of older men, a club that regularly did organized centuries. He also bought the shop! He said the heart attack was the best thing that ever happened to him (although it could have been the worst, if he had had a different response to it).

That is an O'Malley Christmas to remember! You did good. I'm curious to know what your pop's daily riders were before this paramount.

And, when you get to that Regina FW, don't be afraid to tighten the skewer a little more. When you break it free, you will only be turning the wheel or wrench the smallest itty bit.

Two lessons from the vintage car guys whose YouTube channels I watch ... that I've taken to heart:

1. You don't ever have to make it cosmetically perfect to do a wonderful job of cleaning it up and bringing it back to life, and
2. Sometimes, it's the associated stories as much as the product itself

Thanks for reminding me/us of the wisdom in those two philosophies. Merry Christmas to you and yours. I hope your dad's back improves enough to let him throw his leg over it very soon. You did a great job with this one!

That may be a candidate for destructive removal. Remove as many sprockets as you can (the largest ones are threaded on, and can only be removed after the freewheel is removed from the hub), grab the body with a large pipe wrench or clamp it in a vise (don't be afraid to crush the body, if necessary; those freewheels aren't worth saving, IMO), and get it off that way.

Well done! Great choice on switching to the Perfect freewheel. It is so much better than the Regina. If the Regina's notches continue to bugger, the best bet is to disassemble the freewheel on the hub, leaving only the inner body threaded to the hub. Penetrating oil on the threads, heat on the inner body, and a large pipe wrench should remove the offensive part. A tire on the rim is helpful during such a procedure.

I hope your Pop's back is better soon and he can get out and ride his Paramount. I've found that the more I ride the less I have lower back issues. All that is needed now is a picture of Pop with his Paramount!

Papamount :-)

Did it have any remnants of the "Paramount" DownTube Decal? the bike looked really original wondering if some one peeled it off or it looks like it not there. my 74 P10 in Silver Mist never had the "Paramount " Down tube decal

Beautiful story, beautiful bike. Wishing him many happy miles.

Is there another tool with bigger notches that could be used after enlarging the ones on the Regina?

I would try one more to try and get it off, use the stoutest skewer I have and crank it down as its obvious the tool can "camout" anyway.

I don't like to put stubborn ones in the vise, using the wheel as the lever gets skewed and helps it camout IME, its very hard to keep it plumb/square when you have to really lean in, IMO.

This is one of the things that can have a very steep learning curve.

As far as a removal tool with larger notches, there might be, but I can't recommend one.

The Dura Ace two-notch removal tool is the best since it has the collar which fits snuggly around the soft metal Regina flange. But if the notches are already buggered, the entire flange is compromised, and I personally wouldn't want to install such a freewheel on a bike I'm out riding.

Yep, agreed, not advocating using a compromised one but more of an exercise and preamble to more destructive methods for practice.

I always get a bit leery when folks start talking about pipe wrenches, hammers, vise grips, etc.

These things are last resorts that I almost never have to use and encourage others to exhaust all other possibilities before going there even when the damage is already done as has happened here.

Needs to be said: Thomas you are a good son

That Paramount came out beautiful! I like it in black. A classic color for that era, in my opinion and that black in Schwinn paint is more durable than their flamboyant colors.

I'm torn each time I tape my bars with cloth tape. Back then, when this bike was current, bar tape was always wrapped top down with the end stuffed into the bar end. So, your dad's bike is period correct. Back then the tape was inexpensive enough that when the tape starts rolling over at the corners or near the brake lever, that is the indication that it is time to replace the tape. Changing bar tape was considered by cyclists as easy enough, you just needed enough to cover the cost of two rolls of Tressostar tape.

Anyway, I'm off on a tangent. I'm hoping you and your dad get out for a ride soon and your dad loves it. I think we all appreciate the thought that went into this build. I got to say that even if this were a LeTour, it would still be an awesome gift, but it is a Paramount, as in peak, and that is neat.

I think I can claim to speak of all C&V Dads:

Man, what a good kid!

--Shannon

Thank you for all the kind words. This was a Christmas to remember, for sure.

Im glad the bike came out as good as it did. I will likely have to use the technique JohnDThompson and pastorbobnlnh suggested to get that freewheel off. Those notches folded like butter. A couple of other little things too. It was said here: it doesn’t need to be perfect to be good. And I’d call it good fleslider no decal unfortunately. I asked him and he said he wanted to wait before putting a new one on. And hey.. it’s his bike now!

Classtime I wish I could find more pictures but I do know the list of his “riders”. Like seemingly so may other here, he was given and then found homes for many, many bikes over the years. But my pop only rode one at a time.

1st- a department store BMX ish bike he rode til about 8.

2nd- Was the first bike he longed for. A chrome redline with Ashtabula cranks. 8yo-high school. Mid 70s. Nothing kept him off that bike. Tore up the Sierra Nevada foothills and his love for bikes was cemented. There are pictures but I will have to look for them at my grandmas.

3rd was a Windsor he got from his buddy in high school. He was the photographer in the cycling club so no pictures of him with the bike. It was repainted, so no way of identifying. And way too big for him. But he still had a blast.

4th was a grandpa’s 50s schwinn. His dad, my grandpa gave it to him during college. This was mid 80s so he wasn’t the first to do it but he made a clunker. Stumpjumber fork, laced a SA three speed into some uncommon mtg wheels. He still has it. That’s one bike that won’t ever leave the family.

5th was a mid 70s Raleigh comp gs. This one I do have a picture of. He finally got a bike that bit him that he could ride. Of course by then, work and school was such that he didn’t have much time to ride.


6th was an 80s Nishiki sport. One exactly like this. But not for Shaq. It was covered in white and pink over spray from something. He bought it sometime in the 90s. Thats the bike I remember beside me first day off training wheels. He saved the cockpit when it was disassembled and donated before a big move. I’ll find something to do with it someday.


After that he effectively stopped riding. Work got very demanding and his back got bad. There was a small stint with a late 90s stumpjumper but the Nishiki was the last bike he rode like he wanted to. There are always bikes coming in and out of the garage. And always has been. People know my pop as the guy to come to for help with your bike. And so the ratio of riding to wrenching fell all the way to wrenching. Now, he has the nicest and most prestigious bike to change that!

Thank you for sharing this terrific story. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. If your dad is willing, I'd love to see some pics of him on the bike or posed like he is with the Comp GS above.

A labor of love is the best gift IMO!

Outstanding job on this project and the documentation to also please all of us.
Not many of the younger gen would spend this time and effort with such a gift.

I did the reverse and got my sons old Mtn Bike rolling again which was a much smaller effort.
I also did not do any documentation of my effort except for the consumable replacement gifts, like tubes, with note on holiday card promising to tuneup and fix. It was a nice gift since I got to spend the time with my son and his young boy involving them is the fix and shakedown ride after completed.