Re: [CR] Paramount on Ebay

(Example: Framebuilding:Paint)

From: "Stephen Barner" <steve@sburl.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
References: <CATFOODkjeo4lB4BwOZ00000e10@catfood.nt.phred.org>
Subject: Re: [CR] Paramount on Ebay
Date: Sat, 5 Apr 2003 17:46:49 -0500


It sure would, and not very profitable if it goes for what it's worth. I've found that people who were not Schwinn fans during the boom (often people who worked at shops that competed with Schwinn dealerships) have a distaste for Paramounts. This is probably justified by the fact that Paramounts had a very good reputation with the uninformed, while many bikes, while superior in workmanship, were largely underappreciated. Those chrome Nervex curlies loist their appeal when the more sophisticated eye spotted the filemarks and sloppy bike boom workmanship that too often lay underneath. Also, Schwinn didn't work hard enough in my mind to move Americans to lighter models and to market bicycles to athletic adults. They continued to create heavy bikes using outdated manufacturing techniques, marketing them as toys. Still, the Paramount was a legitimate attempt by a production bicycle company to offer a premium model and it has an important place in American cycling history. They compare very well against similar off-shore companies, such as Raleigh, Peugeot and Atala. In 1973, the bloom was still pretty shiny on the Paramount rose, so, yes, it would be a shame to part it out, and I bet it's still a really sweet ride.

--Steve Barner, Bolton, VT ----- Original Message ----- From: LouDeeter@aol.com To: steve@sburl.com Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2003 5:22 PM Subject: Re: [CR] Paramount on Ebay

It does have nice parts, but it would be a shame to part it out.