The Schwinn Paramount Is Back and It’s $3,300
The takeaway: The Paramount is the light and highly compliant road bike for your next long ride.
Who Its For: Endurance riders who love a great value
What We Love: SRAM Force eTap AXS is a high-value parts group
Something We Don’t: The carbon fiber frame has above-average compliance, but below-average stiffness
Price: $3,299
Weight: 17 lb. (claimed, M)
Between 1938 and 2009, the Schwinn Paramount was a bike that spared no expense. Then it went away, and now it’s back as a $3,299 endurance road bike. Schwinn realizes that’s a lot to ask for bike from a brand that more recently is better known for its department-store bikes, but here’s the thing: It’s actually a steal. If you bought it aftermarket, the SRAM Force eTap AXS groupset would cost just $621 less than this complete bike. The mid-modulus carbon frame weighs around 1,000 grams in a size medium, and the company claims the complete (medium) bike weighs 17 pounds.
[Related: SRAM Force eTap AXS Brings Electronic Shifting to More Bikes]
On the roads outside Monterey, California, the Paramount felt fantastically light. Relatively speaking, the frame isn’t what you’d call stiff, but it is ultra-compliant and therefore comfortable over pockmarked pavement. The Force eTap AXS drivetrain shifts fast and the brakes are so potent that their stopping power feels limited only by the grip from the 28mm Vittoria tires. Paramount sales will be consumer-direct when Schwinn begins shipping bikes June 20 and that means that, for now, you won’t be able to test-ride one at your local shop. The ride is smooth but not special. That you can buy a brand new sparkly red carbon fiber road bike with electronic shifting and hydraulic disc brakes for $3,300, however, is quite special.
Schwinn Paramount Details
Frame: Mid-modulus carbon fiber
Fork: Carbon fiber
Cranks: SRAM Force DUB, 48/35T
Cassette: SRAM XG-1270, 12-speed, 10-33T
Brakes: SRAM Force HRD, 160mm rotors
Rims: Vision TriMax 30 Disc
Hubs: Vision TriMax 30 Disc, 28H, sealed-bearing
Tires: Vittoria Rubino Pro IV, 28mm
Tire clearance: 32mm
Saddle: Fi’zi:k Antares Versus EVO R5
Stem: FSA Energy SCR
Seat post: Schwinn carbon fiber
High-Value Components
The Paramount is among the cheapest-if not the cheapest-carbon fiber road bike you’ll see with full SRAM Force eTap AXS. Schwinn is a major global manufacturer, and product manager Sam Greenman says that helped the company source the Paramount’s components on the cheap. But that doesn’t mean the carbon frame is a rebrand from Schwinn’s cheaper road models: It’s been designed specifically for the endurance-minded Paramount. That means a 72.5-degree head tube angle, 415mm chainstays, and a (relatively high) 386mm stack height for the size medium bike. The cockpit is FSA and the aluminum Vision wheels, which weigh nearly 1,600 grams for the pair, help keep the price down; they retail at around $500. The thru-axles are a nice touch: They have retractable levers that slide out of the axles for tool-free wheel removal.
Ride Impressions
With its mid-modulus carbon fiber construction, the Paramount doesn’t feel as stiff as other endurance road bikes I’ve ridden. You don’t get that sharpness you’ll find on racier and more expensive bikes in the category; the $2,199 Canyon Endurace CF SL Disc 7.0, for instance, corners more confidently at speed. What the Paramount lacks in acceleration and corner-on-rails handling, it makes up for in lightness and compliance. With 80 psi in the Vittoria Rubino Pro IV tires, I plowed the bike through the same crack-laden pavement over which I rode Specialized’s new Roubaix. The Schwinn was nearly as comfortable, and although it’s not as fast or responsive as a bike like the Roubaix, the compliance is still impressive for the price.
There’s a scene in the movie Burn After Reading wherein John Malkovich tells Brad Pitt his “empty little head” is going to be “spinning faster than the wheels of your Schwinn bicycle,” after which Pitt retorts, laughing, “You think that’s a Schwinn?” That’s the Paramount’s albatross to wear. If you’re not too cool for the badge, you’ll have a comfortable endurance road bike with exceptional value that makes spending $3,300 on a Schwinn sound a little less outrageous.
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