Dear CR listees,
Greg Thies asks the following question to the CR list,
"I'm sure someone here knows when the Campy Gran Tourismo was stock on
Paramount P-15s and when it was dropped in favor of the Shimano
Crane".Response by Marty Walsh:
The Campagnolo Gran Turismo rear derailleur first appeared in 1970
according to Chuck Schmidt's,fine, website,"Velo-Retro", "Original
Campagnolo Timeline".
Please see: http://www.velo-retro.com/
The Schwinn Lightweight Data Book covers from 1960 - 1979 (SLD)
website,run by Bob Hufford lists "lists (most) all the old
Schwinn catalogs as there are some gaps (some items yet to be scanned
and some
missing,"(quoted from Bob Hufford) and is the "GO TO SOURCE" in my
opinion for things that are "lightweight" and Schwinn in the years Bob
covers on his wonderful website. It's definitely one website for CR
members to ''BOOKMARK"! Thanks for your wonderful work on behalf of
vintage bicycle collectors.
The Campagnolo Gran Turismo was shown on Paramount P-15's in 1971 and
1972 according to the S.L.D. see:
http://www.geocities.com/
http://www.geocities.com/
The S.L.D. does not list a specific rear derailleur for the 1970 Paramount P15 or for the model year 1973, for the Schwinn Paramount P-15 model. Local CR list member Tim Fricker told me that by 1973 Schwinn was using a Schwinn badged (Schwinn Le Tour) Shimano Crane GS rear derailleur on the 1973 Touring Paramounts,(that's what Tim has on his 1973 P-15 Paramount) but YMMV (your mileage may vary) with all things "bicycle" related,concerning production and parts during the bicycle boom years which 1972 & 1973 would certainly comprise.
For 1974 the S.L.D. lists an "Alloy cotterless crank set (36/49/54). 14-16-19-25-31 freewheel cluster. GT 300 Le Tour rear derailleur, Campagnolo front derailleur". Jerry Moos was close in his reply to the CR list!
http://www.geocities.com/
I would say 1972 would be the last year for a Schwinn Paramount P-15 to have had a Gran Tourismo "spec'ed".Campagnolo introduced the Campagnolo Rally by 1974,according to the "ORIGINAL CAMPAGNOLO TIMELINE" (Velo Retro website).
Suntour had the SUNTOUR VGT out by around 1973 another good touring derailleur from that time period.Mr Frank J.Berto has written extensively about the history of SUNTOUR INDUSTRIES in his book titled "THE DANCING CHAIN" and warrants a look on comparing derailleurs of the day.
A quick note from Bob Hufford and Chuck Schmidt.... check out their websites in the near future,both of their websites will see improvements!
Good luck with the Paramount P-15 build Greg! Yours truly, Marty Walsh in Vienna,Virginia, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (430 feet above sea level)