Waterford Paramount Rescue Mission - A Paceline Success Story

[mikemowbz]

First up: a huge thanks to @mhespenheide !

Thanks, Mark.

I took Mark up on his offer of a 50th anniversary year Waterford Paramount frame in my size...offered for the price of shipping on this thread here on Paceline (https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=238101) due to a few 'issues'.

Bottom bracket drive side cup frozen in place.

Thomson Elite post frozen in place.

Drive side seat stay brazing failed.

I work at a bike shop that also has an in-house frame building operation - and I have a thing for classic 80s steel bikes. I figured I could give this a go.

I applied penetrating oil from both top and bottom to the post, and did the same for the seized BB cup - and hung the frame in the rafters for a few months (re-applying penetrant intermittently) until the quiet winter months were upon us.

It took some very serious measures...but the post came out of that Paramount frame this past Thursday.

The BB cup came pretty easy once we locked on a good Tacx BB tool and got some extended leverage on it. The long soak probably didn't hurt.

The post...did not come easy. We tried a few things. Ice & fire, and a lot of force (2 guys at full muscle-popping effort using the frame as a lever with the post in a vice), finally did the trick.

Now we just have to sandblast the area that needs re-brazing and check the alignment.

I'm planning to build it up with a Rival22 group I'm pulling off another bike - no repaint, just clear coat to seal the steel when we're done. This one has a story!

A big part of that story is about the awesome community here at Paceline.

Couple of pics below, including one of me showing off the frame and sawed off section of post that just came out of it Photos are from our technician, Jackson, who contributed his expertise and considerable force...and added the tongue-in-cheek captioning on that last pic for Instagram or some such social media thing.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49447179517_e7797f84bf_k.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2iktHKT)Paramount Torch (https://flic.kr/p/2iktHKT) by Mike Mowbz (https://www.flickr.com/photos/baddestofthebad/), on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49446953156_f26eba87c8_k.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2iksyt7)Paramount Torch Closeup (https://flic.kr/p/2iksyt7) by Mike Mowbz (https://www.flickr.com/photos/baddestofthebad/), on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49446478008_613b982f46_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2ikq8dU)Paramount Happy Customer (https://flic.kr/p/2ikq8dU) by Mike Mowbz (https://www.flickr.com/photos/baddestofthebad/), on Flickr

[Gsinill]

Well done and good for you.
Maybe besides building your own, nothing beats reviving a frame with character, at least for me.
Similarly to you, I once got a nice frame (Serotta CSI) that needed a repair; bought it from a member here on TPL for close to nothing.
Puts a smile on my face every time I pull it out for a ride.
Probably the very last bike I will ever sell...

Enjoy!

[mhespenheide]

Nice!

There's even more backstory -- I had inherited this one from a craigslist seller... I'd inquired, then passed on it when the top tube was too short for me. He emailed back a week later and said that the seatstay cracked when a prospective buyer tried to raise the seat for a test ride. The seller just wanted it to get back on the road as it had belonged to a friend who had passed away.

So I'm glad, karmically, that it'll be out there again.

[weaponsgrade]

That is some patience. Great backstory too.

[mikemowbz]

Nice!

There's even more backstory -- I had inherited this one from a craigslist seller... I'd inquired, then passed on it when the top tube was too short for me. He emailed back a week later and said that the seatstay cracked when a prospective buyer tried to raise the seat for a test ride. The seller just wanted it to get back on the road as it had belonged to a friend who had passed away.

So I'm glad, karmically, that it'll be out there again.

That additional backstory is new info to me - I suppose I didn't really ask how all of this came to be!

I had inferred that the separation of the stay at the seat lug was probably related to the stuck post - logical enough.

I'm really happy to to have this well on the way to being back on the road - and feeling the positive karma (and a little bit of gravitas), now knowing this further background.

Should get the brazing done this week or next, and have it on the tarmac shortly thereafter...

If I can, I'll try to snap a few more pics and update this thread along the way.