Would someone explain the differences in the schwinn paramounts. I have seen some made from reynolds 531 maybe the older ones, newer ones made of reynolds 853 and maybe a 80's made of OS Tange.
I have been looking for an 18" schwinn cimarron for a touring bike. I read somewhere that the high sierra was about the same frame with the exception of rear welds. What are the pro's and cons of a 700c touring bike and a 26" touring bike. I saved all my questions for one posting. Thanks

...and I owned what I thought was a low level aluminum model in the late 80's.

That is a lot of questions that deserve detailed, lengthy answers. Frankly, it might be better for you to focus on the ONE question that is your main interest at the moment, and try to narrow it down as specically as possible.

The history of Paramount bikes deserves an entire book. I've never seen a book that gives Paramount history more than a chapter. But, from the 1930's to around 1980, Paramounts were the best bikes built in the USA. The Paramount line included not only "racing" bikes, but high quality three-speeds and tandems as well.

In the 1980's, Schwinn had new "leadership" that began using the Paramount name for some imported bikes, as well as some lower level models. That creates some confusion, as the "Paramount" name had previously be reserved for "made in the USA" hand built bikes.

As a general rule, 26 inch tires provide a bigger air cushion than 27 inch and 700c tires (although there are exceptions). As a result, 26 inch tires have been popular for mountain bikes, beach cruisers, and recreational bikes. The 27 inch and 700c sizes have dominated for bikes designed for use on pavement, especially for riders who like to ride long distances, or ride at maxiumum speed...comfort being a secondary concern. In the United Kingdom, 26 tires have become popular on touring bikes, because they allow touring on dirt roads, gravel roads, and where there are NO roads.

The 853 Paramounts were reintroduced around 1998 or so and were only produced a few years.They were brazed by Match, for Schwinn IIRC.

Richard Schwinn, the great grandson of Ignaz and grandson of Frank W., purchased the Waterford, WI, facility where Paramounts were made before the 1993 bankruptcy, and continues to build beautiful bicycles there under the "Waterford" and "Gunnar" brands. He has several pages of Paramount history from the first bikes by Emil Wastyn in the late thirties until the 1993 bankruptcy on the Waterford website at https://www.waterfordbikes.com/2005/d...ount/index.php.

It's all here: when the switch from Chrome-Molybdenum to Reynolds 531 tubing was made, when the Nervex lugs first appeared, the aborted attempt to use Prugnat lugs, the curved seatmast "short-coupled" frame, the switch to Reynolds 753 tubeset, the move from "the cage" in the Chicago Schwinn factory to the new facility in Waterford, WI, building the "Elite" Paramounts and the change from Reynolds to Columbus SL and SP and eventually SLX tubing, the change to the OS tubeset with the 1 1/4" downtube, the move to importing Paramount-branded bikes from Asia, the incorporation of Reynolds 753 version of the OS tubeset, and the development of the "Series" Paramounts (including the Series 9C composite models built by Kestrel).

The history on the Waterford site also describes the colorful characters who played important roles in the Paramount story. It's definitely the most complete and authoritative narrative on the Paramount I've seen anywhere, and represents thirteen single-spaced size 10 font pages without any of the illustrations.

After 1993-94, the new Schwinn owners wisely chose to keep the Paramount name, but I know very little about the post-bankruptcy Paramounts.