Paramount wheel set
 

Looking to buy a 70's paramount but it does not have the correct wheel set. Someone put newer wheels on it. I want to know if used wheel sets are available for this bike and also how much should one deduct from the value of the paramount for not having the correct wheels

I think you'll be lucky to find a correct front and rear wheel for your Paramount unless you're lucky enough to find them on eBay or craigslist, and IMHO that would be a long shot.

The correct wheels would have high flange Campagnolo Record hubs and either 27" aluminum alloy clincher rims with 27" x 1 1/4" high pressure "Le Tour" clincher type tires, or Weinmann or Mavic "Championnat Du Monde" Montlery aluminum alloy tubular rims with either Clement No. 50 cotton sew-up tires or Clement "Campionato del Mondo" silk sew-up tires.

If you plan on showing the bike at concours shows it might be worthwhile trying to assemble the correct wheels, but if you want to ride the bike you might consider lacing Campy Record high flange hubs to modern 700c clincher rims like the Mavic Open Pro using double-butted stainless spokes like the DT Swiss "Competition" spokes. That's what I did, and have no regrets. The hooked clincher rims of today are far superior to the seventies clincher rims and they accommodate tire pressures in the 120 psi range.

As far as deducting from the price for not having the correct wheels is concerned, if I were selling my Paramount I wouldn't be at all inclned to discount the price because I don't have the correct wheels. I gave away the original Mavic "Championnat Du Monde" Montlery aluminum alloy tubular rims that came on the bike, and by putting Open Pro clinchers on the original hubs I made it a much more rideable bike. As far as I'm concerned, the change added value to the bike; it didn't detract from it.

YMMV

Thanks, I agree that it would be better with newer wheels but I don't ride my colletable bikes much. It does not even have the quick release anymore, just a couple of bolts.

I wonder if my Chrome Schwinn Voyager wheel set would work?

Thanks again for your info, I will keep looking.
Paul

Paul,

If your chrome Voyageur is a 1980 or 1981 Voyageur 11.8, it has 27 x 1-1/4-inch Araya alloy rims, and the rear wheel freewheel is a Shimano Altus 6-speed cassette 13-15-17-20-24-28. If the seventies Paramount you're thinking about acquiring is a P13-9 Professional Road Racing model and was set up for 27" clinchers, the wheels from your Voyageur should work fine as long as the rear derailleur and shifter have enough range to accommodate the six cogs on the Voyageur cassette (the Paramounts have five cog freewheels).

If the Paramount is set up for tubulars, the radius of the rims is 4mm less than the 27" clincher rims, so the brake pads will have to be adjusted 4mm higher for the 27" rims on the Voyageur wheels. Also, there will have to be rear brake bridge and front fork crown clearance for the larger Voyageur wheels. These may or may not be problems.

What year and model is the Paramount?

On my Paramounts I have removed the "original" wheels and stored them. The 71 has wood filled tubular rims, the 73 had the Weinmann clincher rims. I can testify without doubt that those old clincher rims totally sucked, as they had no lips to hold the tires. I built wheels for both bikes using the correct Campy hubs and later clincher rims, Mavic Module E on the 71, and later Weinmann clinchers on the 73 that have hooks.

I did build a set of Mavic Open Sport rims for another Paramount I no longer have. They worked well, and are now waiting to go on another bike one of these days.

Like Koala, I bought a wheelset with NR hubs and Mavic rims subbing for the less-then-stellar Weinmanns on my 1970 all-chrome Paramount:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=160252926158

From what I have seen, Super Champions were also popular replacements for the Weinmann rims on Paramounts.

-Kurt

Kurt, I had those on my watch list. Glad you got them!

I forgot about the Super Champions. For a while I had a set of them with Phil Wood hubs on the 73, and I have built but not changed out yet a set of Super Champions with Record hubs. I guess I set them aside and got distracted with other things.

Paid through the nose, but I'm glad I got them. Now if they'd only arrive for a change.

-Kurt "Parcel Post Stinks" K.

Wow, seems as though everyone has a chrome paramount but me,,,,anyone want to sell theirs?

My little dream collection would be a Chrome Paramount, a Chrome LeTour and a Chrome Voyager 11.8.
I have the voyager and just waiting for decals to arrive to start resto. So if anyone has a chrome schwinn for sale please let me know.

The one I am looking at buying now has to many things against such as the tires and weak chrome.