BlankCrows builds his Paramount
 

Well..... not really. WE built it for him, but he did help - sort of. :D

BlankCrows, TIOS, Scooper, and Bikingshearer joined me today in my garage for the long awaited Paramount build. Some of you may remember the story of Blankcrow's find back in January of 2007. It was a long time in coming, but all the parts finally came together today to build up a very nice bike.

We had quite a bit of fun, drank a lot of beer, got in each other's way, and STILL managed to get it done right. :)

It's late and I'm going to bed, so I'll give the others some time to chime in on the day's festivities. My pics are still uploading, but below are a couple of teaser pics of what it looked like when Bill first got his hands on it and how it looked when we started the building today:

As received:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...PDR_0819-1.jpg

At the start of today's build:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t.../paramount.jpg

It's about time! Can't wait to hear the rest of the story......!

It was a fun day. Good thing they didn't let me get my hands on it much during the build as I discovered that one of the NOS Campagnolo brake hoods I got was obviously defective :rolleyes:. Here's what it looked like when we were done with it. It is still without the honey bar tape that matches the Brooks Team Pro saddle but that will get on soon. I just got back home out here in Sacramento. Long day, I'm tired. I'll comment more soon.....

Ooooh! It does look nice! :D

Did you guys get a late start to pull this nearly all nighter? Or were you just having so much fun, you couldn't stop? :p Paramount fun! :)

+1!

Especially that shiny pedal dust cap! ;) :p

Red tyres to set off the decal--very blingy!

Hurrah for the concentrated effort! A :beer: for all of you :D .

East Hill

Lookin' good!

It's beautiful. Way to go you guys! :beer:

Mmmmm, chrome...

http://www.justinbrothers.com/Images/drooling_homer.gif

Also, what kind of saddle is that?

Brooks Team Pro (ref. post #3)

Very nice. What wheelset did you put on it? The originals look kinda cheezy.

Wow - can I come over? I'll bring some Pilsner.

I wasn't around for the original story - so glad this bike found its way to an appreciative owner!

Looks very very very good.

It was a really fun day, and by the time the sun began to set BlankCrows had a really stunning build to take back to Sacramento. It was great meeting bigbossman, BlankCrows, Bikingshearer, and TIOS.

Here are a few more photos..

BBM installing the BB:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...IMG4406med.jpg

BBM's garage is a real candy store!

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...IMG4410med.jpg

BlankCrows works on the saddle installation while BBM adjusts the front derailleur:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...IMG4414med.jpg

BlankCrows' smile tells it all. After he took his "new" Paramount for its inaugural spin around the block, he generously let us all do the same. What nicer way to end a perfect day?

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...IMG4417med.jpg

Very nice. Looks like you all had a lot of fun, and the result was a saved bicycle that also happens to be stunning! It looks like you even enjoyed nice weather! :)

Great story, great photos! :)

tape those bars, hipster!

We had a good time, and it was great getting to meet Scooper - thanks for making the drive, Stan!

Pastorbob - it took so long to do the build for a whole variety of reasons, but what really kept us up late was the after-build wild duck BBQ feast the BlankCrows so graciously provided for.

dck - the original wheels were Schwinn Varsity steel. We replaced them with a set I had picked up one one of my flips and sold to Bill for this project. I forget the rim brand/model, but they are a light gold anodized and laced to 32 hole Campy hubs. They look very, very nice on the bike.

East Hill - the tires really set the whole bike off. Bill had brought them over with his pile of stuff, but wasn't going to use them. His brother and I felt differently, and talked him into it.

The bars aren't taped for a couple of reasons -
1) I'd never installed barcon's before, so after I got them all on and adjusted, I figured out that I needed to unstring everything, tape the bars, and reinstall, and 2) Bill had elected to go with some high-zoot leather Brooks bar tape, after the brake hood incident I didn't want to be "the guy" that wrecked $80 bar tape. I wussed out.

A few more pics of the build:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...aramount-1.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...ramount-11.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...ramount-12.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...aramount-6.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...aramount-5.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...ramount-14.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...ramount-10.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...ramount-15.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...aramount-9.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...aramount-7.jpg

That was a ton of fun getting that bike built up. The bling factor is pretty close to un-measureable and the black/gold chain is pure eye candy. Better keep that clean BlankCrows! Too bad I didn't have enough gold cable casing but I'll keep looking. And if the Binda leather toe straps were not so wide (they wouldn't fit through the pedal slot) you would have seen 24K gold toe clips on it!

Next time you guys want to build a vintage bike...let me know. I could use some help. I've got a Reynolds 531 rig that needs some help. I still need to learn the do's and don'ts of cable routing/bottom brackets etc.

I can buy the beer. Where did this build take place what city?

Beautiful!

Turning a neglected classic back into functional art is a great thing. Looks like you guys had fun doing it too! :D

Oh, yeah - those toe clips were something. :D

Ya know - what I forgot to get a pic of was Bill sitting in his pile o' parts. He must've had 3 of everything in that pile, and everytime we went to bolt something new on, the actual work was preceeded by a lengthy commitee meeting to decide which one was just the right one for the job.

That process ran a bit of time off the clock..... :rolleyes:

I forgot; BlankCrows wanted a picture of the serial number. Here it is:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...IMG4405med.jpg

...and we can't forget bigbossman's beautiful Golden, Cody:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...IMG4409med.jpg

You guys had a great time for all of us, especially those of us stuck in the snow! Thanks for the pictures!

Hey! There's something different.......a pic of a Paramount from behind a garage door, instead of in front of a garage door! :D

That is a sweet build, guys! Congrats on a job well done!

WOW!!! Very nice! You got that for $80?

(Now put the bars back in the DUI commuter mode as a finishing touch.:D)