Schwinn Paramount Design Group
#1
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Joined: Nov 2007
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Schwinn Paramount Design Group
Just saw this and was wondering if anyone had any info about it?
https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/bik/592189305.html
Not my size but looks like an interesting frame if someone wants it.
Paramount design group? Never seen this frame before.
https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/bik/592189305.html
Not my size but looks like an interesting frame if someone wants it.
Paramount design group? Never seen this frame before.
#2
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 541
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From: Philadelphia
Bikes: Formerly...1978 Proteus, 1981 Miyata 912, 1983 Schwinn Paramount, 1962 Raleigh Sports Deluxe, 1976 Alan Super Record.
PDG was the name of the Waterford, WI factory that produced Paramounts when it was owned by Schwinn from about 1981 through the early 1990s. Looks like one of their later frames.
Edit...I should add that PDG continued to produce awesome bikes as Waterford Precision Cycles. There's a pretty good history section on the site.
Edit...I should add that PDG continued to produce awesome bikes as Waterford Precision Cycles. There's a pretty good history section on the site.
Last edited by Yogurt; 03-02-08 at 07:50 PM.
#5
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 10,488
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From: Santa Rosa, California
Bikes: Waterford 953 RS-22, several Paramounts
It's a PDG "Series" Paramount built in Asia, and was Schwinn's effort to leverage the Paramount brand by offering Asian built bikes using Tange tubing at a price point lower than the Waterford built Paramounts.
They're nice bikes, but they're not built to the same standards as the Waterford built Paramounts.
They're nice bikes, but they're not built to the same standards as the Waterford built Paramounts.
#6
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Joined: Jul 2006
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From: Tucson AZ
I thought Paramount Design Group was a marketing idea that Schwinn concocted when they started having their "Series" Paramounts made in Asia. It connoted that the frames were designed by the same people who designed the Waterford frames, even though they had "Made in Taiwan" stickers. The frame in the CL ad appears to be a "Series PDG" built of Tange OS, with a unicrown fork, so I'd suspect its a TIG-welded Asian frame, not a Waterford product.
#7
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 541
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From: Philadelphia
Bikes: Formerly...1978 Proteus, 1981 Miyata 912, 1983 Schwinn Paramount, 1962 Raleigh Sports Deluxe, 1976 Alan Super Record.
Damn you, Schwinn! That's terrible business practice, you can't keep doing stuff like that!
#8
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Joined: Jul 2007
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From: Lancaster County, PA
Bikes: '39 Hobbs, '58 Marastoni, '73 Italian custom, '75 Wizard, '76 Wilier, '78 Tom Kellogg, '79 Colnago Super, '79 Sachs, '81 Masi Prestige, '82 Cuevas, '83 Picchio Special, '84 Murray-Serotta, '85 Trek 170, '89 Bianchi, '90 Bill Holland, '94 Grandis
I thought Paramount Design Group was a marketing idea that Schwinn concocted when they started having their "Series" Paramounts made in Asia. It connoted that the frames were designed by the same people who designed the Waterford frames, even though they had "Made in Taiwan" stickers. The frame in the CL ad appears to be a "Series PDG" built of Tange OS, with a unicrown fork, so I'd suspect its a TIG-welded Asian frame, not a Waterford product.
Also, the unicrown fork does not equate to TIG-welded - as a cursory glance at the photos of the craigslist bike reveals.
#9
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From: Kalamazoo
Here is a link to Waterford's site about PDG.
It is titled "PDG in Waterford"
https://waterfordbikes.com/now/home.php?newstype=pdg
It is titled "PDG in Waterford"
https://waterfordbikes.com/now/home.php?newstype=pdg
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#10
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Joined: Jul 2006
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From: Tucson AZ
This is a common misconception - or perhaps "urban myth" would be more accurate. The "Paramount Design Group" name and concept predate the "Series" bikes by a good decade. Waterford frames with "PDG" decals sometimes fail to bring full value when sold because of the idea that PDG=Asian-built. It's rather remarkable this stuff continues to get repeated when the Waterford site makes all the information readily available.
Also, the unicrown fork does not equate to TIG-welded - as a cursory glance at the photos of the craigslist bike reveals.
Also, the unicrown fork does not equate to TIG-welded - as a cursory glance at the photos of the craigslist bike reveals.
As for the frame in the OP - I still don't see anything in the photos that I can clearly make out as a lug, though I see a hint of one at the bottom bracket shell. Am I also incorrect in surmising that a frame of Tange OS was probably of Asian origin?
Last edited by GCRyder; 03-03-08 at 06:53 AM.
#11
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 5,045
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From: Lancaster County, PA
Bikes: '39 Hobbs, '58 Marastoni, '73 Italian custom, '75 Wizard, '76 Wilier, '78 Tom Kellogg, '79 Colnago Super, '79 Sachs, '81 Masi Prestige, '82 Cuevas, '83 Picchio Special, '84 Murray-Serotta, '85 Trek 170, '89 Bianchi, '90 Bill Holland, '94 Grandis
Thanks for setting me straight on that. My limited (and apparently inaccurate) knowledge came from lusting after a Paramount during the days when they were being made. I devoured everything I could read about them, and I must say that I honestly do not recall ever seeing the letters "PDG" on their frames before they started importing from Asia. But what's on the Paramount webpage (link above) does sorta dispel the rumors. Schwinn would have been well served to distribute that information to its dealers at the time, since they were the boldest purveyors of the evident misinformation.
As for the frame in the OP - I still don't see anything in the photos that I can clearly make out as a lug, though I see a hint of one at the bottom bracket shell. Am I also incorrect in surmising that a frame of Tange OS was probably of Asian origin?
As for the frame in the OP - I still don't see anything in the photos that I can clearly make out as a lug, though I see a hint of one at the bottom bracket shell. Am I also incorrect in surmising that a frame of Tange OS was probably of Asian origin?
You are quite correct that Tange OS is a clear indication of Asian manufacture, as is the "Series" designation as pointed out by Stan.
#13
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 541
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From: Philadelphia
Bikes: Formerly...1978 Proteus, 1981 Miyata 912, 1983 Schwinn Paramount, 1962 Raleigh Sports Deluxe, 1976 Alan Super Record.
#14
I too , was misinformed early on in my Paramount quest.....confused by the lack of distinction between PDG and PDG-"series"....ughhhh.....
I passed on a couple early on....
I passed on a couple early on....
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...and also a 2006 R-14 66cm Waterford road bike, my former dream bike :)








