I grew up thinking that Paramounts were the be in and end all of Schwinn bicycles, which were THE bicycle to have, everything else paling in comparison. At least until I got my first taste of Italian with that loaner Cinelli I got my hands on at age 14, which broadened my scope significantly. I still drooled over the Paramount sitting in the Schwinn shop and poured over those 70s Schwinn catalogs and dreamed. By the time I bought my first brand new bicycle, at Palo Alto Bicycles in 1981, Trek had acquired a bit of mystique themselves and was certainly more affordable than the Paramount.
It wasn't until I got on the CR list that I heard that maybe all Paramounts were not created equal.
Since I'd made plans to buy my birthday Waterford long before I found the CR list, I just figured I was getting a Paramount if Schwinn had stayed in business and continued to evolve the product.
Since my Waterford is due pretty soon, and all this talk of Paramounts has piqued my curiosity, I read the history (through the eyes of Waterford) at the Waterford website, keeping in mind all the commentary here on the list about each builder.
Poor Paramount. What a long and torturous history. Its sad to hear that what I'd always thought as the "jewels of Schwinn" might have some cubic zirconium tossed in! The reasons why are fascinating.
Also interesting are the posts about how various steels ride. Since I ride little frames, pretty much everything is fairly stiff. I can make a bottom bracket sway out of the saddle in a big ring on a cheap bike, but to be honest, it was a no name welded frame 10 speed, with way too much fork rake. I'm very curious as to how my 60s Montelatici will ride, compared to my early 80s Trek, compared to my Tange Prologue, compared to the mixed tubeset Waterford, geometry differences aside.
I can tell steel from aluminum in a non suspended modern roadbike, and I find the current aluminum bikes to be awfully stiff, which has as much to do with tubing as geometry. I rode the Campagnolo donor bike a few times - a bonded aluminum era Vitus with traditional geometry, and it felt kind of noodley, yet harsh. Possibly the oddest thing I've ridden was a carbon and kinesium Raleigh, stiff as a board! Makes me glad I prefer era bikes, both aesthetically and ride wise.
Ann Phillips
Atlanta, Ga