Since you guys were so helpful about recommending a new fork, I was wondering what else you might have to say about my bike. This is especially considering I might not completely grasp its significance. I just thought it was cool to have a titanium bike with a NOS Dura Ace group.



I had been planning to change the stem for a while. I lowered it a bit and I think it made a mess of the cable housing.



Does that look REALLY bad? If I end up switching the bar, I could change back to the original 3ttt stem, which is in really nice condition. I need to redo the bar tape, too. Don't mind that the left shifter is temporarily an Ultegra.

The bar is a Nitto Noodle, I'm not sure what to make of it. I like to ride mostly in the drops and I don't think I'd want the stem much lower than that with the amount of drop on this bar. Does it look unusually high? Maybe there is a better bar out there?

Any suggestions are welcome.


BTW - apparently this bike was previously ridden by a high level triathlete for years, including at some championships, and featured in an issue of some triathlon magazine. I'm not too familiar with that scene, I have yet to track that article down.

Handlebars are real personal, but the Noodle is widely thought of as a good one.

Your stem height looks good, I don't see anything to worry about. As far as upgrading, I'd suggest first, just make it work the way it came, ride it a few hundred miles, and see what you like and don't like.

If you like a deep bend in your back, lower the bars. If not, don't.

I'll start with a suggestion for a makeover:

Since it is a modern bike, i.e. Dura Ace SIS shifters, derailleurs, and only 14 years old, etc., (9 or 10 speed?), why not go reverse retro?

Find a nice set of traditional Nuovo Record levers and calipers, add barend or downtube shifters, a seven speed cassette, and a Brooks Professional saddle.

What you're going for is a look something like this:



So you might want to also upgrade to a triple crankset.

Turn my bike into a triple 7 speed? This is the best bike I own!

Do you mean to tell me it is inappropriate that I post this in the vintage forum?

Or, are you insulting my fredly doodads?


BTW the group is DA 7700.

Well, to be honest, your Paramount is not vintage, and neither a Chicago nor a Waterford made Schwinn, but for me, this is no biggie that it is posted here. I'm guilty of posting pictures about my 2001 Cannondale here in C&V.

But you asked how we might suggest changes, which opens the door to all sorts of possibilities. So I put on my creative thinking cap and thought, "reverse!"

We see many vintage bikes converted to SIS and Ergo shifters on a regular basis. The rear triangles are cold set and spread to accommodate 130mm spacing for 7-11 speed rear freebody hubs. So why not suggest that someone turn a modern bike into a bike that could appear to be C&V? Seems reasonable to me.

As far as "fredly doodads," I am never one to criticize how someone equips his/her bike in order to make it a practical rider. Each of us needs to make it work for our own personal needs and the ride we are on. Check out how I set up my Paramount for a 93 mile ride the end of June. I mounted a water bottle to the inside of the stem. I have both a seatwedge and a saddle bag mounted under my Brooks B5N. I wanted to be prepared and I didn't care how it looked.


Ignore the fat guy holding the sign. That is just me letting my ego get the best of me as I hit 1000 miles for the year.

Actually, I had earlier been having some issues with one of the shifters and had considered switching to downtube shifters, and a retro looking saddle. I think the straight top tube makes it look a lot older than it really is, making a retrograde styling do-able. But, I think it would be a bit of regression for me because I'm so used to the STI levers.

Does anyone even make bikes with top tubes like that post 2000?

Changing the groupset is not even on the radar, as far as I am concerned


What about the mess of cable housing? Should I bother to get that sorted right away? It doesn't really affect anything beyond aesthetics.

I'm tempted to try a red and white harlequin bar tape wrap. It might be a bit over my head, though.

https://farm1.static.flickr.com/189/4...d15d6907_o.jpg

Fixed gear conversion comes to mind, everything comes off (except the front brake) and goes in a box and a 46x16 chainset goes on. Think of it as a Bikini for your bike this summer.

My 2001 Cannondale CAAD4 has a horizontal top tube. There are many modern examples of frames with the same geometry, even steel and lugged frames.

But they don't sell as well to the modern roadies and weekend warrior types, who perceive that only CF and highly sculpted frames with the latest high end gruppo are worth owning. For those of us who are just enjoying the ride (and looking like the grinning fool in the picture above), we appreciate the look and heritage of your modern Paramount.

It's a great looking bike that I'd want to make into a "go-fast" bike. If it was mine I would keep the Dura Ace 7700 (get the matching left/front shifter), put the quill stem back on, and go with whatever bar you like. I have a few Nitto Noodles as well and they're not my favorite. For me, they're good for riding the tops or hoods but not so good for the drops. I'd put on a silver Soma Highway One bar in silver and 26.0 (I've never used the bar but it's on my list try out). After that, depending on what you have already, maybe some nicer wheels.

I would decide on the bars and stem you prefer, clean up the cabling and bar tape, and also consider 9 speed barcons. I have had quite a bit of trouble with that era DA shifter. Maybe its just bad luck. So my two bikes with DA7700 drivetrains both have Microshift levers on them.

Somewhat interesting, in both cases, it was the FRONT shifter that failed.

Well, you are too new to post here, but far too old to post in the roadie forum. They'll eat you there

I am fine with it. It's a classically styled Schwinn. Hell, you can't even find a good Schwinn nowadays. They're called Waterfords and Gunnars now. So... that means Schwinn is a throwback! I know others will disagree, but that's just my opinion.

Get rid of the adapter and get a proper stem. Perhaps a Dura-Ace quill to match the seatpost and group (good luck finding one for cheap). A Nitto would look really nice and would be easy to find. If you want to keep that stem, at least throw some spacers to hide the fugly taper of the adapter.

If you are getting a new fork, I would get the fork painted to match. A woundup will ride very well and look great on that (as mentioned approximately 1 million times in the other thread).

Definitely find the left shifter to match the group. If you are switching to a whole new group, get some new Campy... like an 11 speed Athena.

Saddle? A Brooks Swift, Swallow, or Team Pro would look great on that. Or perhaps a Selle anatomica.

As for cabling, it's not too bad. You can probably shorten by an inch and it'll look better. Unless you notice any sluggish shifting and braking, I would wait until you make another change until you do the cables.

Hope this helps.

I wouldn't mess with yours unless you can't resist the temptation to tinker, the original components are quite nice. My 1999 Paramount has a somewhat retro and non-original setup and I'd like to modernize it with a Campagnolo group eventually, but it works fine like this also. If I decide to get it repainted (the paint is pretty hammered,) I may replace the decals with the 70's era decals like Pastor Bob's, I'm not a fan of the big cursive script.

Chris, is your Paramount the one Kurt originally did the "weight weenie" build on?

If so, it could use some new paint, and using the '70s decals would be a cool idea! Go for it!

If i could spend your money I would do the following:

Dura ace 7700 down tubes
dura ace stem
dura ace brake levers
white selle italia slr saddle
White fizik perforated bar tape
silver white industries hubs 24h/20h
50+mm carbon rims (hate away )
veloflex tubulars w/ a tan sidewall

But if it were your $$'s ?

I'd go cheap and have fun: All City polished chrome crank $112, Set of Formula/Sun CR18's $119, rear cog $25 and sell the existing wheel set crank and derailuers and buy a used Brooks , 3 feet of link chain and a lock....with the pocket change I'd get a 6er of PBR's and a pack of Lucky Strikes and head for Coney Island.....it's summer man!

If I were on my budget I would trade the current saddle for a white slr, buy the da stem, buy the bar tape, and sell the sti levers to fund downtubes and brake levers. Eventually it would need tires and I would do veloflexes at that time. The total investment would be pretty low but I think it would look very nice.

The horror!

DOn't forget the eno hub.

Or the tatoo

Yes, I bought it from Kurt a few months ago. I haven't done much to it yet, I have a few minor projects to get out of the way first. I think the frame deserves some careful attention, it's a very nice ride.