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Old 12-17-19, 09:05 AM
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WizardOfBoz
Generally bewildered
 
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Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Eastern PA, USA
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Bikes: 2014 Trek Domane 6.9, 1999 LeMond Zurich, 1978 Schwinn Superior

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Reinforcing the message: hard to say without pictures.

You have to wait til you've posted 10 times before you can post pictures, but you can upload pics to google pics (or other free image hosting sites) and post the URLs here.

You can narrow down the year of mfr by comparing your LeTour with catalog cuts here:
https://bikehistory.org/bikes/letour/
Once you've narrowed it down, check out the more detailed catalog images here:
https://waterfordbikes.com/w/culture/schwinn-catalogs/

The LeTour was started at about 31 lbs, and lost a little weight as the years rolled by. From about 1985 to the last year of mfr (1988) they were 25 lbs. with a Tru Temper chrome-moly double-butted frame (that is, pretty good frames). The wheels, while perfectly rideable, are 27" and not 700c size, so you have a smaller (but still very ample IMHO) selection of tires. I think that the derailleurs and such were Shimano or Sun Tour, with Sugino Cranks and a 6 cog rear. In good shape, any Le Tour should be comfortable to ride. These were never intended for racing, but the later models (1985 and later) and the "Super Le Tour" bikes are probably closer to the "racing type bike".

Undamaged with no rust or corrosion and properly serviced, these bikes are eminently safe. An "unridden" one would not have rust and it's a steel bike after all - should be fine.

A similar (maybe better) Raleigh bike from that era would be a Raleigh Super Course or Grand Prix or Super Grand Prix.

But right now, there are too many degrees of freedom. Post the pics, or a URL of the pics. Good luck.

Last edited by WizardOfBoz; 12-17-19 at 09:36 AM.
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