Schwinn Paramount PDG70

[nfmisso]

Well; I did it again - bought another bike. At least it continues my focus on lugged (or fillet brazed) cro-mo frames. It is in very good rideable condition with some scrapes, and no dents.

The PDG70 and the Cimarron show the progression of top of the line Schwinn MTBs from the mid '80s to the early '90s. The Cimarron is much longer, and is equipped for front and rear racks and fenders - including braze-ons halfway up the front fork. Both are cro-mo. I am debating about getting both EN plated.

The following are the CL pictures the seller had posted.

















I don't know when I'll get to it. My new job is taking a lot of time, and I have so many other bike projects already......

[Painkiller]

your as crazy as me, Ha. nicely equipped though. you know me, gotta ask how much it was picked for? If you do not want to say I understand. What year is it? Looks around a 89', 90'ish looking at the MOS and the chainstay's.

[nfmisso]

$150-

From info here:
http://waterfordbikes.com/w/culture/paramount/pdg-series-bikes-1989-94/

It is lugged so, '93 or '94; but it only lists the Series 70 for '91 and '92...... Other Series 70 pictures I have seen also are lugged....

I would place it as comparable to a Trek 970 of the same era.

[Painkiller]

(12-14-2014, 12:59 PM)nfmisso Wrote:  $150-

From info here:
http://waterfordbikes.com/w/culture/paramount/pdg-series-bikes-1989-94/

It is lugged so, '93 or '94; but it only lists the Series 70 for '91 and '92...... Other Series 70 pictures I have seen also are lugged....

I would place it as comparable to a Trek 970 of the same era.

it does have 92' all over it. What are the rims and hubs?

[GeorgeET]

Nice bike. You starting a bicycle collection. :-) I have a 90 Schwinn POD group design High Sierra , in Aluminum. For MB the stiffness is good and it does not rust. But on pavement I love my steel 85 Fuji del Rey.

[darreng]

Cracking bike mate! Definitely my favourite shape of frame also. A friend of mine had an old kona with the same style and was such a nice cycle.

[nfmisso]

(12-14-2014, 02:19 PM)painkiller Wrote:  ....
it does have 92' all over it. What are the rims and hubs?

Arraya and XT - originals, even have the Schwinn stickers on the hubs.

The tires and saddle appear not to be original, but otherwise it appears to be all original.

[Painkiller]

I am sure I have some NOS parts for that bike. I just put some of those levers on the Cannondale f300 build and the top mount thumbies, (one of my favorites). off the top of my head I know I have some nos araya rm20 rims, XT thumbies,
hg-90 cassette, front derailleur, Deore SG and Biopace crankset, deoreDX hubs all NOS.

[nfmisso]

(12-15-2014, 02:18 PM)painkiller Wrote:  I am sure I have some NOS parts for that bike. I just put some of those levers on the Cannondale f300 build and the top mount thumbies, (one of my favorites). off the top of my head I know I have some nos araya rm20 rims, XT thumbies,
hg-90 cassette, front derailleur, Deore SG and Biopace crankset, deoreDX hubs all NOS.

Thank you - but you know me, if I replace stuff, it will be with more modern components. Right now, I see no reason to replace anything except the tires/tubes and add fenders (black). As I get started, I will be checking all the bearings, freehub, chain and cassette. They actually feel okay now after a quickie check.

I agree with you on the thumbies - they are nice shifting.

[Painkiller]

I figured you would probably update some stuff. Love the thumbies, that is why you see a lot of my bikes with barends. Helps protect the shifters when flipping upside down for a roadside repair. I hate to let go of prime Nos parts, try to save for builds. To hard to come by and cost to much. When I was combing Craigslist in Florida for our new member Greggster, I saw a Paramount just like yours, looked nice. 50 Series same color. I will have to check the laws, but fender's might be illegal on a Paramount MTB ! Ha. Merry Christmas and Happy New year to you and yours Nigel! Keep up the good work! Love ya Bro!

[cradom]

Pardon my ignorance...EN plated?
Nice bike BTW.

[Painkiller]

(12-23-2014, 08:45 PM)cradom Wrote:  Pardon my ignorance...EN plated?
Nice bike BTW.

Electroless Nickel Plating, Nigel has been dying to try it out on a frame and I have been dying to see the results!

http://www.chromplate.com/electroless_nickel.html

[cradom]

Hmm...that's a new one on me. I only knew about electroplating. This looks interesting.
Thanks for the link.

[nfmisso]

I got to spend a little time with it yesterday. I hate the tires - wheels and tires replaced. The rolling resistance on pavement of those tractor tires is incredibly high. Given my weight, I am also not comfortable with 32 spoke rear wheels. The installed wheels are: black Wheelmaster 40H "tandem" hubs (cartridge bearing), Wheelsmith SS14 spokes and nipples with black with machined brake tracks Velocity Aeroheat rims. The front tire is a Nashbar slick (32-559) and the rear a Kenda Kwest (40-559) - both are 100 psi rated. Next step is adjust the brake pads as the Aeroheat rims are a bit wider than stock. I kept the 7 speed HG90 cassette, added a spacer on the inside of the freehub, which required removing the three bolts holding the cassette together.

The cables are interesting. Note in the pictures above, there is a sheath around the wires, inside the standard housings - which end at the front of the bike. The sheathed cables run through stationary guides. I haven't seen this before.

The brake pads are Deore XT - originals??? They seem to be very effective, which I would have a hard time believing of 20+ year old brake pads.

Neither the pedals nor the crank spins freely. I see replacement pedals and UN55 BB in the near future.

The FD and RD shift very nicely - thumbies are good

This is an incredibly light bike Double butted cro-mo on all tubes, including the fork.

[Painkiller]

Not sure what you mean by sheath and stationary guide Nigel. cannot tell by the pics because you size them to small to click on and enlarge. If you size by pixels more in the 800x1000 range we can click on em to get a closer look at them. back then the DeoreDx or II were very similar to the DeoreXT. How ever The Best, (DeoreXT) came @ a weight disadvantage without a true performance gain. The levers were black and would wear off of course over time and just not look as nice. the rubber mud boot is a nice touch though. I would put them on DX levers to kick them up a notch. (silver). The extra weight came from the Boots, cables, and the cable housing which was thicker and heavier. The original inner cables would also be thicker and in theory stronger @ 2mm vs the normal 1.5 or 1.7 we commonly see today. If the sheath that you are talking is a long tube covering the exposed cable, that is not so protective paint protector. If it is long enough to go from stop to stop it should be shortened a bit.

[nfmisso]

[attachment=5619]

Bob; I am not sure if this will help or not. The picture shows the RD cable going through the guide on the seat tube. The cable slides in the guide - no roller. The cable consists of a standard, but larger diameter, wire rope inner with a plastic sheath covering it. The overall diameter (over the plastic sheath) is about 2mm. The brake cables are the same. As can sort of be seen in the last two pictures of my first post, the cable housings stop at the head tube. For the RD only, there is a housing stop just above the RD as can be seen in the first picture of my first post. Everywhere else, moving plastic sheath cable is move relative to the bike.

I am inclined to keep the present cables and housings for the time being. I am debating about a slightly shorter stem.

Sorry about the picture quality, they are all from the CL ad. I will try to get some better pictures this weekend.

[Painkiller]

yea, I see it now. it is unsual, a lot of bikes may have a full noodle brazed to the frame for canti's. I use the tubing thru that area only and leave the cable exposed with rubber donuts. just cut the plastic tubing so it it runs past the loops 1/2in or so whenever you decide to replace them. Standard cables will work but on the originals the barrel would measure 8.9mm long and 6mm round, but would have a plastic grommet that made it 8mm round as you can see in my picture. this an original DeoreXT nos replacement cable from Shimano. the sweet things about this lever is the cam reach adjustmet and the way the return spring is (looks like a mini car shock), and of course the rubber boot. They come in 2 or 4 finger. very good quality lever if not the best Shimano ever made.

---

This is the rubber boot on the DeoreDX with the plain alloy lever. I think it sweetens those up to be nicer that the Xt, and the lever and barrel are more suited to most cables today.

[GeorgeET]

Not sure what the advantage is of removing the outer sheath and leaving exposed cable. Seems weather and mud protection is a good thing.

You look cold PK, love the laser canons on the bike. That's a really thick cable you got there.

BTW Nigel, you do know the difference between a Paramount bike and a PDG bike.

Paramount bikes were build in USA by a division of Schwinn, using Columbus tubes and high grade components. The PDG stands for Paramount Design Group, which outsourced the build. Although some frames like my aluminum MB were USA made. The derailleur cables run partially exposed on the lower frame tube and brakes run through the upper tube. (Not sure how those get replaced.

My 91 Schwinn Sierra is a PDG bike, with the aluminum frame build in USA. It had low grade components that as they failed after twenty years I up graded them. The forks and horns were added for when I rode MB patrol in Santa Monica Mountains for the CA dept. of parks.

[Painkiller]

No real need to remove it, It is there to use as a paint protector (That doesn't) and for a slide thru his guides. I am on the the fence about how much it protects the cable or not. Not much airflow thru it and if in wet/muddy riding it take much longer to dry. makes more difficult to slide your housing back and forth to scrub and lube the cables from time to time. When it comes time for him to replace them, to find and use the OEM cables would be costly, and I am sure unimportant to Nigel. Plus no real benefit in performance. I wanted to give Nigel the exact dim. of the cable so he can better judge his replacement so his barrel part of the cable sits in the lever better.

[nfmisso]

Thanx guys.

For now the cables are staying as is - both derailleurs operate very smoothly and quickly, and the brakes are powerful with the levers returning quickly. I got the brake pads adjust to fit the 2mm wider rims, and took it for a short ride today. SWEET ride I think that Bob would like it for the nausea rides. It is very quick to change direction.

It is going to be my take to work bike when I have to drive for some reason so that I can do a ride at lunch time. It is the lightest and shortest bike I have, so easy to handle in the back of the Jeep.