Many of you will remember the recent eBay posting of this Paramount from the late 1930s. It was a "buy-it-now," and I can't find on the eBay completed listings any more. Pete Rutledge outed this bike's sale: <snip> "Nice orange bike,...It has a little more chrome than most '38/39 Paramounts--head tube and all lugs, fork tips, and track ends. Based on previous pictures that I have of this bike, hubs appear to small flange Schwinn Superior variety."
Ray Sheldon, the new owner, also lives in NoVa, and brought it by today. You know, maybe it would try mating with my '38, and we'd get valuable progeny...
It is really nice, but many features are not like anything I've seen before. Everything except the chain and the axle adjusters seems to be original. I think that Pete's right that it has the Superior hubs, but, unlike other Superior hubs I've seen, it takes regular (British) track cogs and lockrings. It also came with a pair of Paramount "telephone dial" hubs as spares, but one of them has a Superior axle set (as does one of mine) instead of the "vacuum fitted" cones with double lock rings. Tough luck, eh? The saddle even looks original, and has the proper oval Brooks badge on the flaps. If the paint is not original, then it is pretty old...sure looks original to me, and the decal looked right, too.
Ray's a recovering bike racer and a Paramount fan, and maybe we can have an area for older Paramounts (and Superiors) at Cirque this year. There are a number in the area: Larry Black, Pete Rutledge, mine, and who knows what else!
harvey sachs
mcLean va