Thanks to a couple of fellow Paramount collectors I have just become aware that Paramount used their own cranks on their bikes from 1938 up through the very early 1960s. They look a lot like Chatter Lea cranks to me, but do have Paramount and Schwinn stamped on them. They also used a similar crank that did not have the crank as one of the three arms that attached directly to the chainwheel on lesser models (Such as the Superior), too, apparently.
Can anyone fill me in on when they quit using these cranks? Did they build
them in house, or were they built by another manufacturer? Were they only
for single ring cranksets? Were they a copy of the Chatter Lea crank as
they appear to be? Were they available in various lengths upon request?
Might there have been more than one model of cranks on these Paramounts, say
one for touring and another for racing models? Might there be a site where
one could see a photographic time line or selection of models?
I had naively thought myself fairly knowledgeable about Paramounts and I see
now that there seems to be a wealth of knowledge I had never even been
exposed to. My guess is that Harvey Sachs might be a rich source of info in
this? Perhaps Tam Pham? Where is Raoul Delmire when we need him?
As always I will be waiting for you more knowledgeable List Members to fill
in the Grand Canyon size holes in my own knowledge base...and many thanks to
those who for years have been doing this for myself and others.
Tom Sanders
Lansing, Mi USA