One of the last Paramounts to be brazed in Waterford, Wis., by the Paramount Design Group before frames started to be imported from overseas in the early 1990s and the Paramount nameplate lost its cachet. The end of an era really came when Schwinn was sold in 1993.

I bought this lightly-used classic in 1994 and rode it a total of four or five times. The rest of the time it has been sitting in my basement waiting to become a classic. Recently I spent about 10 hours completely cleaning it up to restore the luster to this beauty.

The frame is fully-lugged Columbus SLX with a cro-moly fork. This bike has the full complement of Dura-Ace components. It has one of the earliest index-shifting systems before the technology is trickled down to the rest of Shimano offerings, with downtube shifters controlling dual chainrings (52/42T) and 8-speed freehub (12-21) in the back. Wheels are 32H Mavic Open4CD clinchers with straight-gauge DT spokes (14G) laced to Dura-Ace hubs. The brakeset and brake levers are Dura-Ace single-pivot (this was years before Shimano came out with dual-pivot brakes). Other Dura-Ace components include: front and rear derailleurs, crankset, sealed bearing headset, seatpost, and Look-compatible Shimano 7401 pedals.

The serial number is 510A WB 87044. According to this Waterford Precision Cycles Web page, the serial number breaks down to denote:

510: frame size, 510 mm or 51 cm
A: frame style, road frame, or A-size fork (smallest), depending on the timing
W: manufacturing location, Waterford
B: month of manufacturing, February
87: year of manufacturing, 1987
044: the 44th frame made in February 1987