In my opinion the worst bicycle on earth is the brand new one because it cannot be ridden without eliciting some discomfort and fear by the owner. That's why i would not pay $1500 for a NOS paramount, i prefer just to download the pix free from ebay. The better and more valuable type of paramount is the ridden one !! however, in the particular case of paramount, i already have a P15 so please don't offer me yours for > $1500. with mine someone else rode it the first 150 miles and chipped one decal before i got it.
I'm a restorer/rider, not a collector/poser. In a search for a parts bike to repopulate an old raleigh, i actually had difficulty in purchasing of a sexy italian machine for the purpose of stripping the parts. In fact, i was finally able to buy an "Alan" bike under the premise that its an early aluminum frame that must be about to fail anyway. I'll probably repopulate it with Suntour/GranCompe when i strip it down. I don't know if its going to fail or not (please do NOT tell me), but i sleep easier at night thinking in these terms ...
- Don (sympathetic to bicycles' feelings) Gillies