Sounds correct to me . If it was not just exactly a three-year period , it must have been fairly close .
So are we saying that Paramounts were built with fully Prugnat parts ( lugs , bottom bracket shell , & fork crown ) during 1968 - 1969 - 1970 ?
For what it's worth , both the 1967 AND the 1968 Schwinn consumer catalogs clearly show Nervex Professional lugs on the Paramounts . But Schwinn prepared their catalogs FAR in advance , so the pictures sometimes didn't match what really came out on the new models . And in the photo of the 1967 P14 Track Racer , you can just make out that it has a Nervex bottom bracket shell , because the bottom bracket shell is chrome-plated ! Paramounts didn't come with chrome-plated bottom bracket shells . On the other hand , at that time , every Track Racer was a custom-ordered bicycle . I wonder how many they made with chrome-plated bottom bracket shells . Did they make more than one ?
The Waterford Precision Bicycles web-site is "down" . But as I recall , the Schwinn history they have on that site does NOT list definite dates for the use of Nervex versus Prugnat parts .
And the Schwinn Lightweight Data Book web-site doesn't list information on Nervex versus Prugnat . And just to make things EXTRA murky and confused , included in the information about the 1969 Paramounts , is an advertisement for a 1970 Paramount , with Nervex lugs ( but it's a Track Racer , does that mean the rules don't apply ? ) :
http://www.geocities.com/
I don't own a 1970 catalog . And it's not easy to see fine detail in a scanned image of a catalog photo . But , the 1970 catalog photo looks slightly more like Prugnat lugs , to me :
http://www.geocities.com/
And here's a photo of a 1970 Paramount , with the full set of Prugnat parts ; lugs , bottom bracket shell & fork crown :
http://www.geocities.com/
Paramounts of which I'm proud to be the caretaker :
1966 "plain" ( not a Deluxe ) P12 Road Racer - full Nervex ; lugs , bottom bracket shell , fork crown
1970 Deluxe P15 15-Speed ( its a "Tourer" , but they didn't use that term in the catalog , yet ) ( happens to be the model called the "Diamond Jubilee Schwinn" but the only place that term appears is in the catalog , nothing special on the bicycle ) - full Prugnat ; lugs , bottom bracket shell , fork crown
1971 Deluxe P13 Road Racer ( thanks Harvey! ) - the "classic" mixture , from the period when they made the largest number of Paramounts - Nervex lugs , Prugnat bottom bracket shell , Nervex fork crown
( plus there are a couple more from the middle-1970's around here , but of course they have the same mixture as the 1971 )
My guess is that that the mixture which most of us are most familiar , Nervex Professional lugs and fork crown , with a Prugnat bottom bracket shell - lasted from 1971 through 1979 .
By the way , that "period" or "era" , of fairly modern Paramount , with Campagnolo drop-outs , and with Reynolds 531 double-butted tubing , and with Nervex Professional lugs , began in 1959 .
( but was it for the 1959 "model-year" or for the 1960 "model year" ?? - the big total overhaul of Schwinn models was for the 1960 model year )
And just in case you think that covers all of the possibilities , for a 1960 - 1979 Paramount . . . Here's one more ! When they re-introduced the "Ladies' Paramount" it was after they had standardized that mixture of Nervex lugs & crown , with Prugnat bottom bracket shell . But , they went to Prugnat for the special lugs for the Ladies' frames . So , those Ladies' Paramounts , 1973 - 1979 , have Prugnat lugs , and Prugnat bottom bracket shells , but with Nervex Professional fork crowns !
Raoul Delmare
Marysville Kansas
<classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2003 7:55 AM Subject: Re: [CR]Prugnat lugs on Paramounts
> I know we just went through this, but what years did Schwinn use Prugnat
> lugs, 69-70?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bill (see you in Pasadena) Curtis
> Costa Mesa, CA
>
> I have a '68 Paramount with non-chromed Prugnat lugs. I think Schwinn
> returned to the Nervex Pro in '71.
>
> Regards, Rich Robinson
> Jacksonville NC,
>
> I have full chrome Paramount dated 1968 and also Jan. 1971.
>
> Ken Toda, High Point, NC