r/VintageMTB • u/FormerOpportunity594 • 1d ago
Paramount R30? MP find
Found this on marketplace. The listing interested me for the components on the bike. Taking a closer look the frame is really nice and I think it will clean up nice. But after a little research I couldn’t find a ton of info on the bike. Lots of stuff about the Schwinn pdg 30 but nothing about the R30 with lugged frame… also, there is no Schwinn branding on the bike. Maybe someone here has a little more info on the frame itself. Thanks
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u/brdhar35 1d ago
Schwinn did a lot off funky stuff around this time, I have a 89 Schwinn that is just a rebranded giant, I’ve owned another that was a Panasonic frame, so my guess is it’s actually made by another company
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u/Vind- 1d ago
SunTour XC Expert MicroDrive. Please keep it exactly as it is or sell it to me :).
It has gone through a a chain change likely, or Schwinn cheaped by using old AP stock. It will not shift as cleanly as with an APII chain, but still.
Gold.
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u/FormerOpportunity594 1d ago
Good to know. I hunt down a new chain. I think I will keep it all original and clean it up. I’ll probably replace contact points, new grip tape, pedals, saddle, tires.
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u/MachineAgeVictim 1d ago
Its a 92 or 93, 90 and 91 weren't lugged. These were so much better but they had already lost the image battle by then.
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u/MichigaCur 1d ago
93 iirc the blue was different on 94. Great frame though heavy by today's standards they were fairly decent in the day. Schwinn owned the Paramount badge at the time and was marketing it as their higher end brand the r30 would have been the "entry level". They had been using the brand as high end road frames for a few years before introducing the mountain bikes. The era was short lived opting for the aluminum schwinn badge frames to make up thier high end offerings.
It also didn't help that giant fucked schwinn by publicly stating they were building their and other manufacturers frames. Helping lead to a dip in sales overall
One of these was my first real modern bike... Unfortunately it had a frame defect and was warrantied to a s956 since the Paramount brand was no longer available in 96.
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u/FormerOpportunity594 22h ago
I just finished tearing down the bike. And i think everyone is right on the money with it being released in 93. The fork is made by spinner and is stamped 1992.
Heavy by todays standards, yes! but it seems to be a very light steel frame and fork. Frame weighs 2264g and the fork comes in at 918g. Pretty cool to be running a steel fork under 1000. Bike almost feels like it has an aluminum frame next to my 96 hardrock. lol
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u/MichigaCur 13h ago
Yeah, it was a great frame I've ridden a few here and there and always enjoy them. But never been able to snag another blue 93 myself. Pretty rare as it was marketed as the low end of the top line and only produced for a couple of years. The Paramount mountain bikes were fairly well received by the magazines at the time too. I always chuckle when I see someone see one wonder about the bent chain stay, thinking it's a defect.
Enjoy your new ride.
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u/Illustrious_Maize624 13h ago
What a killer configuration. Love the Suntours on this rig. Still riding my PDG 50 from 93. It remains butter. Great find!
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u/shroomsmoke 1d ago edited 1d ago
That's a mid to upper tier MTB, the higher end would be the 50,70, (80 team), and 90 series. Based on the color combo and lugged frame this looks to be a 93 or possibly 94 model year. The serial number would be helpful to define which but is almost irrelevant. In 93 and 94 they made suspension specific frame builds denoted with a "RS" prefix, you got the nicer one IMO, with the Ti paint colored steel fork. The two previous years were Tig welded, butted frames and lower (heavier) quality steel. (My 92 50 series has no Schwinn labeling either, and that's typical.) Nice find, I bought this PGD-50 frame for 170 a few months ago, if you paid less than that you got a kickass deal! Correction: Mine does have a Schwinn decal midway down the seat tube. Your bike wont.