RaleighBikeGuy

Yea that must be the best approach. Still, I have to imagine they were designed like that so you could assemble it without grease and oil the bearings before the race?

well biked

I'm sure you're right. As long as you're willing to oil the bearings after each race, the bearings will have less resistance with oil than with grease.

Italuminium

Stunning piece of kit, this.

BTW, the Campagnolo C-Record crankset is usually credited with the invention of the "hidden bolt" system, but it seems Schwinn had them beat by half a century!

Scooper

I used a vintage Campy Record crankset rather than the original Schwinn cottered crank. Here's the Schwinn Paramount crank from the 1939 catalog:

Roger M 

Very impressive, Scooper. The paint is beautiful, as is the complete bike.

Nice work!

dbakl

I imagine the bearings are too large.

shnibop 

little brother to yours: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Schw...item3f0f718fef

pastorbobnlnh 

^ WOW! Is that off the beaten path, even for by Northeast Kingdom of Vermont standards. If the sale is successful, Chuck might make a significant portion of his income for the winter. I wonder how it came to Chuck from LA?

Scooper

This one will be interesting to watch. It looks complete with all the original Schwinn components, but I wonder about the seller's read on the serial number; it doesn't follow the early Paramount numbers on the Paramount Registry at all.

pakman

Now that the paramount is built up, any chance that a ride report could be given as how it compares to later versions and possibly as how your modern rendition might compare to an original. Thanks

Scooper

I'll do that after I finish my new wheels. I lucked into some original Paramount high flange hubs and will be building them up with Ghisallo Pista wooden rims. The Campy hubs are 100mm OLD front and 120mm OLD rear, and I don't like the stress they put on the fork and rear triangle which are set up for the original 90mm front OLD and 110mm rear OLD hubs. I didn't want to cold set the frame because I figured I'd eventually get a set of original hubs and now they're on their way via UPS.

Here's a photo the seller e-mailed me. They should clean up nicely.

pastorbobnlnh 

Stan,

You lucky dog! What a score!

BobHufford

Oooh ... those are going to make some nice wheels!

Congrats,

Bob

Scooper

You two are the best!

I should have the new wheels built and ready to go in a couple of weeks. I've already ridden the bike on the oval track at the Golden Gate Park polo fields a couple of times dodging pedestrians, and in spite of the weird geometry, it handles really well. It's fast and the handling is nimble.

Scooper

I got the hubs a couple of days ago and have cleaned them up. I'm a little disappointed they aren't in better shape (lots of nicks and gouges, and some rust on the chromed steel shells), but the "patina" should lend a little authenticity to the wheels.

The rims are here, too, and I've measured the hubs and rims to order the correct spoke lengths from Harris. I'll order them Monday and hopefully have my new wheels on the bike in a couple of weeks.

Rodion R

Watch out for that inner chain link fence at the polo field. I was doing some laps and made the mistake of looking down at the pedals for a moment. Next thing I know, I was being helped off the pavement by another rider. I seems I was out cold for a moment. I lost some skin off of my knuckles and shoulder but the helmet saved the side of my face. I think i remember reading somewhere that this track used to be called the "cheese grater" due to the said chain link fence. Anyway I guess the lesson learned was don't look down. I would be a pity to see that beautiful paramount with road rash.

Edit: I found the quote: "...There was no functioning velodrome in the Bay Area at this time, so, the Polo was used for both road and track races. (Jim Manning informed me that the track was on the narrow side and that the chainlink fence could act like a cheese grater.)" https://velovecchio.com/polohellyer/polohell.html
There are some cool pictures on that site by the way.

Schwinn Paramount ad by Mon Jaque, on Flickr

gg8 by Mon Jaque, on Flickr

Scooper

Arghh! Thanks for the tip.

Rabid Koala

Stan, it is beautiful and I love those hubs!

Scooper

Thanks!

I think those hubs and the Ghisallo rims are going to look great on that frame; it'll look like a different bike.

ColonelJLloyd 

Oh, man! I cannot wait to see it with the new wheels! Have you chosen tires? What spokes did you choose and do you need to use washers with wooden rims?

Very cool, Stan!

Scooper

Thanks, Justin.

I'll probably use Vittoria Corsa 22s. I'll be using straight gauge 2.0mm (14 gauge) DT Swiss stainless spokes with washers and 20mm long nipples. The washers and nipples were provided by Ric Hjertberg at Wheel Fanatyk, the Ghisallo dealer who sold me the rims.

dexter9326

Now being offered at the BIN price of $2499. That's quite a drop from his first try to sell it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Steel-Frame-...item41623e58ad

Scooper

I finished the new wheels yesterday and took some photos. They're a tad heavier than the Campy pista HF hubs with Mavic rims I had on it originally, but still not bad. The new wheels really add a lot to the appearance of the bike imho.

The front wheel with Vittoria Corsa-CR 700x22 tubular tires on both the old and new wheels:

Campy Record pista high flange hub laced to Mavic aluminum alloy tubular rims ... 1.160 kg
Schwinn Paramount pista high flange hub laced to Ghisallo Corsa wooden rims ... 1.190 kg

The rear wheel with Vittoria Corsa-CR 700x22 tubular tires on both the old and new wheels:

Campy Record pista high flange hub (incl. cog) laced to Mavic aluminum tubular rims ... 1.270 kg
Schwinn Paramount pista high flange hub (incl. cog) laced to Ghisallo Corsa wooden rims ... 1.410 kg

Thanks for all the encouraging comments. I greatly appreciate the feedback.

bikingshearer 

OMG, I think I need a cigarette.

There are no words, Stan. There simply are no words . . . .

bhchdh 

Well Done sir.