Here are better photos of one that belongs to a local friend of mine. We upgraded him to mostly Super Record, but the original gruppo was indeed Gran Sport, with cranks and hubs dated 1979.
<http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/fujifish1/FriendsBikes/Schwinn_81_Superio r_63cm_Orange_/> (http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/fujifish1/FriendsBikes/Schwinn_81_Superior_63cm_Orange_/)
My description of the bike, as I have gleaned from the archives: The "Baby Paramount" fork is Tange tubing, but the Reynolds 531 frame is said to be identical to the Paramount, except the finish and serial #. Original 1979 G.S. gruppo was swapped for c.1982 Super Record in 2003
Ciao, Mark Agree Southfield MI USA ~ ~ ~
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:57:45 -0700 (PDT) From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Schwinn Superior on eBay
Here is a variation of the Schwinn Superior I did not know existed:
http://ebay.com/
The seller is fairly clueless, including the all too common mistake of confusing Reynolds 531 with Reynolds Aluminum. But it appears the frame is 531 DB, essentially the same frame as the Paramount. But if you look closely at the poorly chosen photos, it appears the bike has a Campy Nuovo Grand Sport gruppo - the RD is definitely NGS.
One questionner suggests this is a Paramount with incorrect decals. But the NGS gruppo suggests otherwise. It appears to me that in the early 80's Schwinn built a bike with essentially the same frame as Paramount, but equipped with NGS instead NR/SR to sell at a lower price point. And they recycled the Superior name last used in 1978 on the last of the fillet-brazed Schwinns. Anyone know for sure if I am correct about this? And if so, was the 531 frame built in Chicago (or maybe Waterford) or in Japan? It may seem odd to suggest a 531 frame was built in Japan, but Schwinn did exactly that with the late 70's Volare.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, Texas, USA
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