A little progress - looking slightly better. I was going to use STX brake / lever combos, but they turned out to be knackered. Why did I keep them in the spares boxes for years?
I think it looks a lot more 'period' than it did before, more early 90s correct - aside from the wheels.
So my understanding is that Paramount was Schwinn's brand and they created it to give more cachet to their top end bicycles. The factory was in Waterford and it was one of the few assets the Schwinn family retained after the company went belly up. They have kept making quality hand made bikes under the Waterford Precision Bikes brand and for other companies - such as Rivendell.
If I had the space and good fortune I think I'd add a Paramount to my collection.
So what's the idea with that 1 chainstay tube as it looks all wrong especially with it being the only stay that's bent. I can see from searching thats how they came and the only thing I can think of is to increase chain clearance on the top but I'm only guessing
Stem with internal cable routing arrived, allowing me to run cantis. This came freshly blasted in bare metal from a member on here, saving me the trouble of stripping it. Thank you!
Now in the airing cupboard whilst the primer dries....
All I managed this weekend was to **** up the paint on the stem :evil: and un-seize the cable roller for the front derailleur.
I found a NOS Paramount stem on eBay US and confirmed the original forks were 750g feather-light items and are pretty rare - though re-badged Tange Ultra Light items.
Still no donor wheels from the tip, but I got a lawnmower!