On Sunday, May 18, 2003, at 11:44 PM, recycle wrote:
> The only flaw in this arguement is that the NOS Paramount will be
> "really old"
> and "Impossible to relace" with the passage of time.(brief)
> Consider the NOS Orange Krate(off topic) that sold for $9,600 on eBay
> , and
> $2,500 is NOT out of any line.
<Pet Peeve Soapbox On>
For those that don't know, pointing out flaws in other people's arguments with another flawed argument is not the way to go. Poor analogy here. The Krate was an item that has had a HUGE market for the past 5-10 years. Even when they were new most Schwinn dealers couldn't keep them in stock. It was produced in much larger numbers than Paramounts, but 99.9% of them were beat to death and finding one in very good condition with all original parts is very, VERY rare. 1972 was the largest year of Paramount production with 3,300 produced (see Waterford's website) which is quite a few and I'm sure there were plenty left over at the end of the year. They were a popular a bike but never in the same league as the Krate as far as demand. Unlike Krates you had many other options in the lightweight world than the Paramount. Add that to the fact that most Paramounts weren't beat to death the way Krates were. Sure they may have been ridden many miles, but rarely were they locked each day to a grade school bike rack. I also doubt that many Paramounts were launched off of dirt jumps by fearless 10 year olds. I would also say that many of the aforementioned "fearless 10 year olds" most likely reside on this list and can speak of the folly of youth. Using this and basic fundamentals of economics and marketing applied to the facts you can see that you are comparing two totally different markets and products.
The analogy you should have used was the NIB Raleigh Internationals that sold a few years back. I think Bicycle Classics sold them for $1750, could have been more, could have been less. Anyone remember the final numbers? The international and Paramount are similar products with a similar market. The Raleighs were new in the box still which would add value, but that was a few years ago and prices have gone up since then so that would be a good starting point. This is the only way to compare prices. Asking what else modern and steel you could get for $2500 is another fallacy. This is the argument that seems to be the most used on the list. YOU CAN NOW STOP IT. I know I'm more poorly educated than most of the folks making these analogies so you should know better. Sorry but this is just one of my pet peeves and I hate to see people who should know better make silly arguments.
If you'd like to know how how to make your argument stronger try this
webpage to start:
http://www.nizkor.org/
I guess to get back top the original topic of wether the bike is worth
the price and the answer is. . . . if someone is willing to pay the
money I guess it's not too much. Would I pay it? Hell no, unless it's
a real piece of history.
</Pet Peeve Soapbox Off>
enjoy,
Brandon"monkeyman"Ives
SB, CA