Ignaz Schwinn, born in Hardheim, Germany in 1860 emigrated to the United States in 1891. In 1895 he founded, together with Adolph Frederick William Arnold, another german american, the Arnold, Schwinn & Company in Chicago. This new company coincided with a sudden bicycle craze in America and Chicago became the center of the American bicycle industry, with thirty factories turning out thousands of bikes every day.
The first american bike boom was short-lived, as automobiles and motorcycles quickly replaced bikes on american streets. Schwinn also produced motorcycles and bought several smaller bicycle firms, building a modern factory on Chicago's west side to mass-produce bicycles at lower cost. At the end of the 1920´s Schwinn´s motorcycle division, with Excelsior-Henderson was in third place behind Indian and Harley-Davidson.
Schwinn was soon sponsoring a bicycle racing team headed by Emil Wastyn, who designed the team bikes, and the company competed in 6-day races across the United States with riders such as Jerry Rodman and Russell Allen. In 1938, Frank W. Schwinn officially introduced the Paramount series. Developed from experiences gained in racing, Schwinn established Paramount as their answer to high-end, professional competitive bicycles. The Paramount used high-strength chrome-molybdenum steel alloy tubing and expensive brass lug-brazed construction. During the next twenty years, most of the Paramount bikes would be built in limited numbers at a small frame shop headed by Wastyn, in spite of Schwinn's continued efforts to bring all frame production into the factory.
On 17 May 1941, Alfred Letourneur was able to beat the motor-paced world speed record on a bicycle, reaching 175 km/h (109 mph) on a Schwinn bicycle[5] riding behind a car on the Los Angeles freeway.
John (Pop) Brennan, the greatest authority in the U. S. on Racing bicycles, says (in the 1940 catalog) about Schwinn-Built Light-weight Bicycles
'I have been the official mechanic at 6-Day Bike Races for over 25 years and have serviced every make of racing bicycle used.
'This past season, we had 18 to 20 Schwinn Paramount Racers on the track.What the boys call their No. 1 bikes have gone approximately 10,000 miles each or a total of over 90,000 miles in the 13 races, and I have yet to replace a worn or detective part. Not a single frame broke, and I honestly believe the strength of these frames saved the boys from serious injury many times, because we had an unusual number of bad spills during the season.
'I recommend Schwinn-Built bicycles not only to the racing men but to every cyclist who wants a lightweight, light running, substantial bicycle with correct lines and the best equipment.'
From their introduction in the 1930s, the Paramount models were the dominant racing lightweight in America for 50 years.
I
respect the hype about Schwinn. But it´s less the story about the
frames that have been soldered by women's hands only and should be
pointing more to iit's ride quality. The wheelbase is less than one
meter, which makes it very agile and maneuverable.
However, it is directionally stable and stiff. Would be unknown that
this is a street machine, you could almost get the impression of sitting
on a track bike. Just awesome ... and adorable ... it´s a Paramount ;-)
Recently I came accross this steel gray metallic 1973 Schwinn Paramount frame. At least I decided to go for a complete Campagnolo Nuovo Record setup.
Bottom Braket: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Headset: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Crankset: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Front Derailleur: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Rear Derailleur: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Shift levers: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Brake Lever: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Brakes: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Wheelset: Campagnolo Nuovo Record with Mavic tubular rims or Campagnolo Nuovo Record small flange hubs with Nisi tubular rims
Saddle: Brooks ProfessionalSeatpost: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Stem: 3ttt
Handlebar: ITM
Pedals: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Frame tubing: Reynolds 531
Fork tubing: Reynolds 531
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