After a couple of years of dreaming and searching, I scored a '74 Paramount today from Craigslist for $250. It seems to be in pretty good shape. The frame seems straight, the chrome lugs are in excellent condition and it rides smooth as silk. But, for $250.00 there have to be some negatives. The negatives are:

- It's been repainted (good quality paint job) but it doesn't have any decals on it. Are decals available?

- The rear wheel needs to be rebuilt. Missing a spoke and out of true.

- The rear derailleur is Shimano. Are vintage Campy derailleurs expensive and hard to come by?

- It's a teensy bit too big for me. The top tube is right "up there". Would it be possible to put 700c wheels on the bike? Would that help with the stand-over height?

Any help/suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

-Lisa

Big-time congrats. I think you will really enjoy it. As for decals, try PM'ing mswantek, a fellow BF'er who makes such things. Also, Waterford is the keeper of the Paramount flame, and they can get them to you, although I'm guessing the decals are a bit pricey from them.

The spoke in the rear wheel should not be a problem if you are converting over to 700c wheels, which you can do and probably should, for tire availability if for no other reason. The difference between 27" wheels and 700c wheels is 8mm (630mm diameter v. 622mm). That's about a third of an inch. Since it's the radius of the wheel, not the diameter, of the wheels that matters fro stand-over height, you'll gain about one-sixth of an inch in stand-over clearance.

Campy Nuovo Record rear deraiileurs are available on eBay all the time. To be honest, since I haven't been in the market for one, I really don't have a good grip on what you can expect to spend. Try marking a few for your "watch this item" list and follow them to the end. That shoud give a pretty good view of the market pretty quick.

Enjoy the Paramount. It's a great bike.

I saw that, but BF was down so I didn't post it.

The bike will be 4mm shorter with 700c wheels. When switched to 700c wheels on my PX10 after riding it for 30 years with 27" wheels, it felt and looked much smaller to me. I went back to the 27" wheels. If you switch, you'll have a bigger selection of tires, but you may have brake reach issues.

What size tires are on the rims, or more importantly, what's the profile size? Lower profile tires can give you some additional room (probably a fraction of inch more).

Lisa I have a Jan 1974 Paramount and it is my favorite bike. I have three sets of wheels for it. Two came with the bike. The original 27" Weimann rimed Campy Record wheels and a set of Campy hub Ambrosia tubular rims. I have since made a set of 700 rim Campy wheels that I use regularly. The bike will use any of the wheels with minor brake block adjustment. The 700s and the tubulars are the same size. I would love to see a picture of your bike. Roger

Decals are avalaible. Either through Waterford (formerly the Schwinn Paramount builders) or through a reproduction decal producer such as velographics (contact mswantak here on BF's)

Rear wheel rebuilds aren't going to be too pricey, and if you're thinking of going 700c then might as well pick up a new wheelset anyways (see next point)

Going 700c is usually an option. The difference in radius of 27" vs 700c is 4mm. Which means if you can drop the brake pads 4mm then you should be able to fit the 700c rim no problem. If you can't get this much drop out of the current brakes, there may be longer reach brakes out there that can do the job.

Vintage Nuovo Record derailleurs are out there, and fairly common on ebay. They command a decent price, but certainly not out of sight (unless they are in NEW condition). I'm guessing around $30-$40 depending on condition and year.

Mod note: merged the duplicate threads together. Enjoy the Schwinn!

Thanks, guys! I keep going out to my garage to make sure she's really still there. I just can't believe I've actually got a Paramount! I went to the Waterford site and checked out their prices for repaint and decal application. The price actually seems pretty reasonable, and this bike certainly deserves it. I sent an email to Waterford with some questions, and I actually got a reply back from Richard Schwinn! Cool! If anyone would have told me when was a young lass in the late 70's on my beloved Le Tour that I'd have a Paramount and would be corresponding with Richard Schwinn... I'd have called them crazy!

I'd like to put the 700c wheels on, but it looks like the brake pads are down as far as they can go. I'll look into the longer reach brakes.

Here are a couple of pictures. They aren't that great since it's starting to get dark here. The bike looks much nicer in person. Thanks again for all the replies and advice.

-Lisa

This is the first time I'm glad that BF was down. The guy posted the bike at 10:00 a.m. and he still had it at 6:00 p.m.! If the bike had been posted here it might have got snatched up before I had a chance to snag it.

Wow. Good looking bike, even in the dark. I know very well the feeling of getting that long coveted bike. Enjoy!

Congratulations!

I love my Paramounts and I know you will love yours. Campy brakes, too, makes your deal even better.

Enjoy!

Damn, you want to repaint THAT? Other than the scrapes, the blue clearcoat looks wicked. If anything, I'd strip it to chrome and be done with it.

As for parts, I'd start off with stripping down the bike, getting the wheels trued and tensioned, rebuilding the hubs, BB, and headset, rustporoofing the inside, getting new brake pads, cables, and tires, and then think about new components.

Handbuilt wheels are pricey, as are campy groups, unless you have a buddy with old parts he's just giving away. Work with what you've got, then decide what you need

Yeah, the paint really is in good shape. I like the color and it only has a very few small nicks. But, I like the idea of sending her back to the "mothership", as it were. I guess I just really want the Paramount decals. (I'd prefer to have them clearcoated over, though.) I know it's a Paramount, but I want everyone on the bike trail to know it, too! Guess I'll email my buddy Richard and ask if they'll sell just the decals.

Beautiful Schwinn. Looks like the shifters have been replaced along with that rear derailleur. Both can be fairly easy to come by on Ebay. Or there may be a fellow BF member around with the parts you need that will come by and make your day.

Anyone who would be impressed by the Paramount name will recognize the quality frame you have, even if like me they couldn't definitively say it was a Paramount...

And if they don't know a quality frame by looking, the Paramount label will probably mean little to them.

With that said, if I had a Paramount, I would want the decals too.

Yeah, I'm bidding on the shifters and the derailleur on ebay now. Hope I get them!

Good luck. I've been keeping an eye on Nuovo Record and Super Record derailleurs lately as I have been thinking of doing an older vintage bike. Unfortunately that is going to require the sale of my current Schwinn in the stable (a mid 80's tourer). However if I had that Paramount there's no way I'd ever part with it!

Those shifters look exactly like some I have. Mine came with a Sachs Huret Eco-Duopar RD and an unknown Sachs Huret FD. The outer caps on the shifters say Sachs Huret, and they are similar in design to the Jubilee ones shown here.

Lisa, your Paramount is beautiful. I just obtained a Paramount myself (shown in the recently locked thread ) and I shall be contacting your Richard Schwinn friend soon as well.

If you don't win the rear derailleur on eBay.... I'm in SF and have a Campagnolo Pat 74 (circa 1974) Nuovo Record derailleur for $20.

You can PM me if you want it.

-C

Hmmm, there were some other drilled looking shifter levers in that bag as well, so maybe those pictured don't go with the derailleurs I mentioned above.

Well I think that the Sacramento bike kitchen might have some of it, if not all of it., if you let me know exactly what the set looks like I can check next weekend, or go on the forum and ask someone to check this Wednesday or Thursday.

Ha, ha!! That's a trip. I was just looking at the Bike Kitchen's web site. I was wondering if I could take the bike in there for help with the overhaul. I've never done much work on my bikes. I just take them to the LBS for any work that needs to be done. I'd really like to learn how to work on my own bikes, though. I have a set of tools. And this would be the perfect opportunity.

I'd recommend going on a weekend, since most people with a project come on that day.
And Saturdays are a bit less busy, and there are longer hours.
And you'll get plenty of complements.

Cool. Thanks!

Lisa,

Great bike! It was fun to read this thread this morning and see the progress you've made with answers to your initial questions. The one down side to applying decals now is that you will ruin them if you decide to repaint in a year or two--- then you will have that expense all over again. I suggest letting time be your judge. Clean that baby up and do all the important maintenance, and then ride, ride, ride! At the end of next fall make a decision about whether you need to repaint or not. If not, then decal.

I looked into having my '66 P-13 painted at Waterford. I decided not to use them for several reasons, but the biggie was that they couldn't reproduce the original pinstripes. They were very helpful when my seat tube decal fell apart and I needed a new one.

Best of luck on your project and enjoy the ride!