I was taking some stuff to the storage unit and remembered I bought this a year ago:

1974 Chicago Schwinn Paramount, 23", black with all Campy NR including bar-end shifters. I need another right pedal and a correct-era Brooks saddle to complete this. The rims were recently replaced as they have no wear and are cross-4 and are clinchers. IIRC from my Schwinn LBS days in 1980, Schwinn used exclusively cross-3 in the 70s and the early 80s and all Paramounts had tubulars. Even came with the original pouch, owner's manual and very-rare Paramount tool kit.





and with one of the other two Paramounts I own (1978 Chicago Schwinn, 23", all Campy with downtube shifters)


I have one more Chidago Paramount, a 1974 tourer that I will post soon. It needs new tubulars

Dang, I wish I could find a Paramount in my shop!

[QUOTE=greyg8r;4967111] and all Paramounts had tubulars.


My 1978 came stock with 27" clinchers

The P-13/14s came with tubulars, the P-15/10s and tandems with clinchers standard (you could upgrade the P15/10 to tubulars).

I also wish I would stumble across a "forgotten" Paramount ... Lucky ...

Bob

Are they 27"ers? How much you want for 'em??
PM me.

The last surprise I got from my storage area (basement) was two years ago, that dang ferret that had disappeared five years earlier! nice bike man! I REALLY hate you!

You "remembered" that you bought it a year ago?

Heck, I'd like to be able to have a collection in where I could easily "forget" about a Paramount or two...

-Kurt

I have purchased three complete Paramounts, one with tubulars, two with clinchers and all three were laced 4 cross.

The seat tube decals on your Paramount would indicate 1972 or earlier. Maybe the frame is a respray?

I'm jealous

You forgot about a pristine '74 Paramount you bought a year ago?

Seriously, it's gorgeous! Koala's right about the decals, though; they'd make it a '72 or earlier. Check the serial number on the left rear dropout for the month (A=January, M=December) and year (two digits following the month letter) for the month the frame was manufactured.

One of the drawbacks of aging (48) is, darn, now I can't remember what I was gonna say...

Good spot, Koala! I was thinking the black one was a 74 and the yellow a 78, but you'se guys are right - they are H72 and D71, respectively, making them August 1972 and Apri 1971. Schwinn dropped the Olympic ring decal design after the 72 Olympics.

My orange tourer is a 74 and it doesn't have the Olympic rings.

All three have original paint and decals. Repainting or redecaling a Chicago Schwinn is a sin IMHO.

As for the wheels, the 74 Tourer has matching sewup wheels, which I believe are the original, because this bike has the least wear of all three. (The Brooks saddle, which is stamped 1974 and presumably the original is not broken in). The black P13 has recently replaced clincher wheels - I don't have the old ones. The yellow P13 has non-matching sewup wheels. So, apparently all three had sewups to begin with.

And I found the missing right pedal.

I am going to ride the yellow Paramount this Saturday on my 1/2 century fast group (19 - 21mph) club ride. But, I'm going to swap out a pair of Look pedals to be competitive. The only other drawback, other than the minor weight over the bikes that the other riders use (carbon fi, aluminum and some steel) are the downtube shifters, not a big deal in flatty Florida, and having only 1/2 the gears of a modern road bike.

I get as many comments on my Chicago Paramounts as do riders with $4K carbon fi Orbeas or Colnagos.

Richard

Crazyb's wheels are also cross 3.

His is a later 70's version. Mine are 1971 (original wood filled Weinmann tubulars), 1973 and 1974 (with original Weinmann clinchers).

Given my choice, I would prefer 3 cross. I recall reading somewhere that was actually stronger anyway.

You have some VERY sweet looking Paramounts! Time to take them out and enjoy them!

The original Mavic sewups on my '66 P-13 were 4 cross, as were the steel-rimmed Rigidas on my '62 Continental. Both used double butted spokes.
The original tubular rims are long gone to other C&V members. So I've sinned all over the place--- New paint, new decals, new pinstripes, a new Rally RD, barend shifters, Shimano SPD pedals, Araya 27 X 1 clinchers, kevlar belted tires, straight guage spokes, modern padded bar tape, a triple 144 BCD crankset, a Suntour Ultra 6 wide range freewheel, a Third Eye chain watcher, and a Phil Wood BB. No one will ever want my Paramount. Thank goodness for grace. Or I'd be heading straight for Schwinn purgatory.

... because they had a greater claim to fame and could now adorn the bikes with world champion stripes thanks to Sheila Young, World Track Champion (Sprint), 1973.

Bob

Bob, aren't those the world champion stripes at the top & bottom of the Olympic ring panel decal?

I'm totally floored that you could forget about a paramount. I'd be riding that bad boy as much as possible.

Beautiful bike.

Where did you score the bike?

Yes, but here they are used in conjunction with the Olympic rings (they are the Olympic colors as well) as Schwinn was the official U.S. supplier of the bikes for the Olympic team for '64, '68 and '72 (I'm pretty sure -- going from memory). Once they won a world championship for the marque, they could sport the stripes alone.

Bob

eBay. I paid too much for the first orange Paramount, but paid too little for this one and the yellow one. Go figure.

I've never had a bike with anything other than downtube shifters, so I'm curious to see how I like barends. I've ridden the yellow Paramount over 1000 miles, so I am familiar with the ride - somewhat soft and lacking in a lot of gear choices, but a headturner to older riders like me who can remember when the Paramount was near or at the paramount of bicycles.

Schwinn must have changed from three-cross to four-cross wheels from the early to late 70s. When I worked at Tampa Schwinn in 1980, we had an older (1978 or 79) Paramount that I used to ogle. I definitely recall the LeTours having cross-3 wheels and I think the Paramount did as well.

Not that this is of interest to anyone but me...

In April, I took my '72 chrome Paramount with me to the Arizona Ironman in Tempe (my brother-in-law was competing) and rode it around the venue for the three days I was there. I was amazed at the number of people (mostly old codgers like me) who stopped me to talk about the bike. Many owned or had owned Paramounts.

I really hate it when I misplace a Paramount like that.....

I swapped the 6 speed wheelset on my 86 for a very similar 8 speed wheeset - also Dura-Ace hubs aero anodized clincher rims. I had to go back to friction shifting (turns out the matching levers were 7 speed). I like the gear choice much better now. I have Dura-Ace barcons on my Fuji commuter and really like them. I used them friction mode with the same 8 speed wheelset and indexed with 9 speed Ultegra on my new Cane Creek wheelset.

That black Paramount looks great! The French seemed to favor 3X spokes, but I have otherwise seen mostly 4X lacing on 36-hole high-flange hubs on Austrian, Italian, and Japanese bikes of the 1960s and early 1970s. The English used a neat trick on the old 3-speeds, with a 40-spoke 4X pattern on the high-flange Sturmey-Archer rear hub and a 32-spoke 3X pattern on the low-flange front hub, using the same length of spoke.

So there's a method to that madness! Ingenious. I've completely failed to notice that in the years that I've worked on these things.

-Kurt

How does the ride of the 72 Paramount compare with your new 953 Waterford?