There is this bike in the Chicago CL that has been posted on and off for over a year. It is being sold as a Paramount but it isn't, that's why it hasn't sold. Can any of you guys figure out what it is? I'm not great at identifying bikes but I'm curious about this one.


https://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bik/3149474703.html

Try to get the serial number and the date code from the head badge. I suppose it could be an early 1960s Paramount w/ the Sugino Super Mighty crankset replacing the original cottered steel.

I don't know what it is. The seller is an idiot. I sold him a bike last year and he promptly put it up on CL as being all original. Nothing about the bike was original including the repainted with a brush frame.
I would guess his "Paramount" is a Panasonic or Fuji, but that's just a guess. And to tell you the truth I would think the seller really believes its a Paramount. He's greatly undereducated as can be seen in his spelling of crank. I have little patience for guys like this.

I'm not going to see the bike, I'm not interested in buying it.

I concur. Perhaps he is a "krank."

The serial number would help us identify the pedigree (with a closer look, I now concur w/ your "Japanese" guess), and the seatpost diameter would confirm or rule out a high-quality butted moly steel.

if the fork is original to the frame I'd guess this is French...the stay cap treatment is also something often seen on FR frames.

The seat stay tops appear French too, Gitane maybe, or some other similar effort frame.

Yeah, looks French to me...

I dunno, but I want the seat. looks in good shape

Agree. Looks like a French seat stay treayment at the seat post lug. Likewise the chrome on the fork crown. I'd guess it's a Gitane TDF or similar french bike. If so, it would have to have a 26.6 or 26.4 seat post.

Exactly. Seller is a dope and a fraud.

So someone went to the trouble of putting a Paramount decal set and headbadge on a French frame to pass it off?


WHY???


Sounds like something from a Pink Panther movie that Inspector Clouseau would try and foil! It's like putting a Ford Pinto grille on a Yugo...

+1 for being french

the lugs (especially on the fork) look identical to a 70's gitane tdf, but ive never seen one with those cable braze ons before.

anyone know what that seatstay treatment is called? not fastback seatstays but...... anyways never seen that on a fuji before but i have seen it on a french make before

Why? To get a good selling price.

It may be French, but it's definitely not a Gitane TdF.

Is lying against the terms of use on craigslist? I have no problem flagging the ad if it is.

I want my three minutes back that I used to read this thread.

If something is unusual and not advertised correctly on CL flag it. It's a user-oriented site.

Well, I didn't mean to start a complain against the seller, I was just wondering if someone here would know the true identity of the bike. If a buyer is willing to pay $800 for a bike they should know enough about it. Anyway, I give people some credit since it hasn't sold in over a year.

I think the concensus is the bike is French. I thought that might be the case when I saw the mafac brakes.

OK, TimmyT. On our next ride, I'll bring a long nylon strap, and I'll tow you for a spell to give you your three minutes back.

Forget TimmyT....I call dibs at the next hill!

did paramounts come with 27" wheels?

Yes, I'm pretty sure Schwinn didn't sell a bike with 700c wheel until sometime in the 1980's

If the bike was in Chicago when the identity transplant happened, need I write more?

The BB and seat stay caps - as previously mentioned - smell of Gitane, but I've never seen Prugnat headlugs of that type on a Gitane before.

Regardless of what it was, it's a cut-and-dried case of a cheat trying to get $400 more than his bike is worth by trying to pass it off as a Schwinn Paramount.

He's looking for a sucker. With any luck, we'll be able to prevent that if the potential buyer has the sense to do a few Google searches before committing.

-Kurt