Oldies but goodies

I think the Paramount was well under $1k but still beyond my means. I had a Schwinn Varsity. Can't remember the difference between that and the Continental, other than the Continental was a much better bike. I didn't know how bad it was, so I did century runs and even raced it a few times. Toured it thousands of miles.

Those bikes were before my time but Schwinn bikes are very popular on my college campus. It's great to see 40-50 year old bikes still being put to good use.

I just bought a 2010 Paramount Series 7. While it may not be that old, classic Schwinn, it's a damned good bike. I'm quite happy with it.

LDB said:

I think another difference was a second brake lever if you were riding on top. It wouldn't give quite as much braking power but was fine for all but the most intense panic stops.

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I think you were right on the other brake options

The early-'70s campus bikes were the Continental, Varsity, and Sports Tourer. My mom had bought a Sports Tourer, the top model, in 1970, for exactly $135. My Raleigh Super Course was only $120, so I thought she got took.

I'm sure the prices crept towards $200 after the petroleum shortage that started in 1973. Towards the end of the decade Chicago was no longer making 10-speeds and new models such as the LeTour were coming from Japan.

Paramounts were another story. They came from a sort of "skunk works" annex where the frames were lugged and brazed, not welded. If memory serves me correctly, they were around $300-350 at the start of the decade, and crept towards $1000 by 1980. One of my buddies had a mid-'70s road racing Paramount--lugged and butted Reynolds 531, and all Campagnolo Nuovo Record except for Universal Mod 61 center-pull brakes.

LDB said:

I just found this site with lots of old catalogs including the 1971 Schwinn Paramount catalog.

Catalogs and Brochures (Bicycle Manufacturer Specific)

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Oh, where for art thou, plastic bike?

LDB said:

I just saw something about a limited edition Paramount available by special order only. It didn't give any pricing information that I could find but I'm sure it's not cheap.

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The one I got was a US Exclusive through Performance Bicycle, but I'm not sure if that's the one you saw. Mine retailed for $1999, but I walked out with it for $1199 with various discounts. Mine is blue and white with some subtle touches of red striping separating the blue from the white.

LDB said:

I think another difference was a second brake lever if you were riding on top. It wouldn't give quite as much braking power but was fine for all but the most intense panic stops. I also remember there was a Le Tour model that fell in the line somewhere.

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My Schwinn Varsity had those second brake levers, called ghost brakes, and the shift levers were mounted at the base of the handle bar stem rather than on the down tube.

I don't remember the exact year my parents bought that bike for me, but it would have been in the late 60's or early 70's.

I remember the Continentals and the Le Tours, they were both better bikes than my Varsity. I think a Varsity went for about $70 when mine was purchased.

My Dad bought a new 1964 Paramount for a little over $600. That was a lot of money for a bike back then, or at least it was to us. The local paper did an article in the sports section about him when he bought it. That Paramount lives at my house now...

64Paramount said:

My Schwinn Varsity had those second brake levers, called ghost brakes, and the shift levers were mounted at the base of the handle bar stem rather than on the down tube.

I don't remember the exact year my parents bought that bike for me, but it would have been in the late 60's or early 70's.

I remember the Continentals and the Le Tours, they were both better bikes than my Varsity. I think a Varsity went for about $70 when mine was purchased.

My Dad bought a new 1964 Paramount for a little over $600. That was a lot of money for a bike back then, or at least it was to us. The local paper did an article in the sports section about him when he bought it. That Paramount lives at my house now...

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We had a Varsity from the early 70's. I was the third person in line to receive this bike as a hand me down around 75 or 76. We called the top brake lever the coaster brake. This brake really got a lot of use because of all the steep hills in the city we grew up in.
I remember the bike itself was very durable. It lasted through three brothers and was stored outdoors in new england year round. I cant remember what happened to it when I was done with it but find myself wishing I still had it at times.
Those were the days.