I picked up an old Paramount today and after a bit of research think it is a 1980's Japanese built Columbus SLX "Super Butted" tubing. Has Campy Velox rear derailleur and Grand Sport front with three piece cottered steel crank. Balilli center pull brakes, TTT stem and bars, Gnulli hubs/27" wheels and steel steel tubular post. The frame has the same decals as my signature and does not have campy dropouts. The lug work is not great. I'm assuming this was an inexpensive "Paramount" touring bike in the 1980's. What does the forum know about this bike or is it some one project gone bad??? 8-)

I'm sure the paramount experts will chime in, but a cottered steel crank on that bike (or any 80s bike) seems horribly wrong. Sounds like someone threw whatever was in the parts bin on the frame.

How about some pics?

you must post pictures. you must post pictures. There weren't (until, i think, maybe '89) inexpensive paramounts. No SLX paramounts were inexpensive bikes. I'm pretty sure that there were no Japanese SLX bikes built, either.

The parts that you describe are way,way more like early '70's parts, and the mix that you describe is nearly exactly as a lower-level European bike would have been spec'ed from that time frame...

you must post pictures...your eyes are getting heavy...you must post pictures...

We need pics!!! If it has cottered cranks it is shouldn't be a Paramount from the 80's. The last Paramounts with cottered cranks were from the 60's and earlier. It does sound like someones parts bin build.

ps- post pictures

Did anyone ask for you to post pictures?

Paramount lovers (and others here) thrive on pictures.

The pic is of the decal style. I'm new to this forum and still getting use to what can be done. Thanks for the interest and response.

Decal enginering. Not SLX, not a Paramount. 70's something or other gaspipe frame.

OKay, so it has a dearailleur hanger.. it looks like a 70s bike with a repaint... we'll need some detailed shots of the lugs, dropouts etc... all frame details.. fork crown etc... it doesn't look like a paramount at all but it could be of decent quality... I feel an interesting ID thread coming on.

Here's my two cents: The crankset looks very simular to the one Schwinn used on some of the early '60s Paramounts.


But the lugs on the OP's frame don't match the '60s lugs on Paramounts (chromed or painted).


Having just acquired an '83 Standard, I can safely say the OP's frame does not match the early to mid '80s. Here's why: There is no way to mount a center pull cable bracket in the seat binder bolt. The top of the seat post lug is pointed. The end of the seat stays at the top tube are long and flat.



Hope this is helpful. Best of luck.

Definitely not a Paramount, I'd think. The lack of a chromed drive-side chainstay and the tops of the seatstays are entirely different from what I can find. (They should be flat, not round.)

Pastor, I think it's time to start blacking out the prices when you post those old catalog pages. They strike me as obscene.

Looks somewhat like a 70s Centurion, maybe one of the early "LeMans" that had a Hi-Tension steel frame.

Hopefully there is a serial number on it somewhere. The number and location of it may help to identify it.

It's definitely not a Paramount of any flavor. Schwinn never used lugs like those on any Paramounts and the seat stay caps don't look like any of the Paramounts. The decals are mid-to-late eighties Paramount decals, and those bikes were built with SLX or SL/SP tubes, but everything else is wrong.

I think Otis has it: decal engineering.

Thomcycle, hopefully you can you get your money back. It's possible the seller who sold it to you was fooled by whoever sold it to him. This kind of counterfeiting is the worst kind of thievery IMHO.

For reference, this is my 1987 Paramount frame set. All of the mid-to-late eighties Paramounts had the same Henry James investment cast lugs. None of these bikes had chrome fork crowns, and they all had three rear brake cable braze-ons on the top of the top tube. Dropouts were forged Shimano.

My gut agrees with all the comments. The badly stamped serial number on the BB is 555444, which doesn't seem to follow any Paramount/Schwinn system. This bike was a partial trade that is still incomplete so I have some negotiation headroom. I'll post more pictures so you can rip into it. I'm out of town until Sunday.

Thanks again for your keen eyes and insight.

What is even worse is the 1970's Campagnolo price catalog I have? I cry when I look at it now knowing what some of the stuff sells for on Ebay. I can't say I wish I stocked up on the parts then as I wasn't born until the end of the decade.

I'm back in town and I had a chance to look at the bike closer and rub the grime off the painted surface. What I thought was a coating of dirt/oil/?? hiding the paint job was really a bad paint job. No gloss or smoothness with the decal applied on this surface. I'll let the experts scan this photos on flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/9933344...7604083988321/) and give me their best guesses.