It was an unqualified success, other than that it was very expensive to produce and showed little if any real profit potential. Sponsorship of 6-day riders produced a team to showcase the Paramount, the riders such as Jerry Rodman (The Michael Jordan of that time in Chicago) and the rest of the Schwinn Co. bicycle line. If I recall, it was what Schwinn called a “cantilever” frame, where the seat stays pass by the seat cluster and continue on in a graceful curve to join the bottom of the head tube. Older Schwinn “cruisers”, such as the Excelsior that was the inspiration of the first mountain bikes, used a straight lower top tube from the bottom of the head tube to the seat tube.
It’s important to keep in mind that there are so many beautiful – but less widely-known -vintage Schwinn bikes worth buying beyond those listed above. The Paramount was first introduced in 1938 and became one of Schwinn’s longest running schwinn dealers models. This not only presented Schwinn with a lack of publicity, but also meant that Schwinn did not keep up with the latest innovations in frame geometry, gearing, and other components pioneered by the professional peloton.
Although their models were favored by slightly older buyers, they weren’t able to find huge success in the growing younger market, which had leaned increasingly towards lightweight and technologically advanced road bikes. Throughout the decade, the company further expanded its range of 10-speed racing bikes with the launch of the Varsity, Continental, and LeTour schwinn beach cruiser models, in order to rival European heavyweights such as Peugeot and Gitane. You also get two different frame sizes to choose from, which is a big upgrade over the single one-size-fits-all frames that many e-bike companies still offer. I’m sure that keeping it in low pedal assist will still net riders the claimed maximum of 35 miles that Schwinn promises.
Nevertheless, Peugeot proudly advertised its victorious racing heritage at every opportunity. By 1979, even the Paramount had been passed, technologically speaking, by a new generation of American as well as foreign custom bicycle manufacturers. By the late 1970s, a new bicycle sport begun by enthusiasts in Northern California had grown into a new type of all-terrain bicycle, the mountain bike. Mountain bikes were originally based on Schwinn balloon-tired cruiser bicycles fitted with derailleur gears and called “Klunkers”.
Similarly, if the bike is scarce, such as the 1934 triplet or the Aerocycle, it may be priced in the thousands of dollars on eBay. YP – The Real Yellow PagesSM – helps you find the right local businesses to meet your specific needs. Search results are sorted by a combination of factors to give you a set of choices in response to your search criteria.
“Preferred” listings, or those with featured website buttons, indicate YP advertisers who directly provide information about their businesses to help consumers make more informed buying decisions. YP advertisers receive higher placement in the default ordering of search results and may appear in sponsored listings on the top, side, or bottom of the search results page. Notable mentions include the sophisticated and elegant-looking Corvette/Cruiser style bikes, or the iconic motorbike-inspired design of the Schwinn Aerocycle.
That represents a miniscule fraction of the estimated 13
million adult bicycles sold in the country each year. The one commonality is
an exacting attention to detail and precision measured by the thousandth of an
inch. The factory that produced the iconic Schwinn Paramount racing bikes has solidified its place near the top of the US bicycle manufacturing industry. As the parent company of such legendary brands as Schwinn and Mongoose, Pacific Cycle delivers some of the biggest names in outdoor recreation. But it’s not just the names customer’s trust, it’s the look and feel of our products, our superior quality, and our outstanding customer service that help us bring these premium brands to the hands and feet of our customers. In late 1997, Questor Partners Fund, led by Jay Alix and Dan Lufkin, purchased Schwinn Bicycles.