paramount identification
 

Help! I am trying to ID a paramount frame I am thinking of buying. It is advertised as a '92. The serial number is 5101AJ8466. I see a clumbus tubing decal on the downtube in a photo. I have looked at the numbers in the waterford web-site and am confused. Is this a waterford built frame? Is the '92 year correct? Any other info? Thanks for your help.

Picture would really help to answer you questions. If its a Waterford then the 51 means it is a 51 cm frame. Is that correct? Hopefully Scooper will see this as he is the expert on later Paramounts. Roger

paramount id
 

the only picture i have seen is a little one on e-bay.

Give the auction number so we can see it then. Roger

If this is the Paramount you are referring to,

http://i11.ebayimg.com/05/i/001/03/4e/f04e_1.JPG

I'd say it is a Waterford built bike. I'm not certain about the dating.

paramount id
 

Bob, that is the one.

The serial number is "garbled", for lack of a better word. The "J8466" at the end translates to September, 1984. "510" is the frame size in millimeters, measured from the center of the crank to the top of the seat tube. Right after the 510, there should be a letter, A through E, representing the length of the fork steerer tube. A 51cm frame would have an "A", which is the shortest steerer tube fork. There should be a "W" before the "J8466", and that means the frame was built at the Waterford facility.

So, if it followed the mid-eighties self-describing serial number convention, it would be 510 AW J8466. The frame would be the 66th Paramount built by Waterford in the month of September, 1984.

From the decals and the garbled serial number, I agree with Pastor Bob; it appears to be a 1985 model year Waterford Paramount "Standard", built in late 1984.

1985 Paramount catalog page 1

1985 Paramount catalog page 2

I was guessing an '84, but was not certain. I'm glad Stan came along to clarify. I have an '83 standard Paramount and it is a great riding bike, but it uses the same serial number system as Schwinn used on the '70s Chicago built Paramounts.

I'd say that the BIN price is reasonable if the fork is in good shape and it is the correct size for you. I'd ask the seller lots of questions and ask to receive some better pictures. Best of luck.

paramount
 

Thanks so much. This is my first day on bike forums and I could not have had a better experience.

paramount
 

Thanks for your help.

Glad to be of assistance. Best of luck and don't forget to come back and tell us how things turned out.

Bob, I'm curious to what/where your serial number is. My '83 is devoid of any numbers aside from a "635" on the Cinelli BB shell. (63.5cm) The frame was apparently a warranty replacement.

The serial number is stamped into the left rear dropout (Campagnolo) in the same fashion as the Chicago built Paramounts of the '60s and '70s. I don't recall the exact number but it is something like "F83018." Which I would interpret as the 18th frame built in June 1983. Interestingly, there is no corresponding serial number stamped into the fork steering tube as there is on my 1966 Paramount. There is another number in the Cinelli BB shell, just like yours, but I don't recall that number.

It seems unusual, that even if your frame is a warranty replacement, it should still have a serial number. :rolleyes:

Robert51751,

Did you pull the BIN trigger and get the Paramount? I see it is no longer there. What did you end up doing?