wardie

I have a Chicago built Schwinn Le Tour 10 speed circa 1980. I think it has the 120mm (126?) old spacing and 27" wheels. I'd like to upgrade to something stronger, lighter and basically smoother. Any suggestions. The current wheels use a freewheel and it has friction shifting which I don't mind. Thanks for your input. Wardie

Retro Grouch 

My advice is to enjoy the Schwinn for what it is and to buy a whole new bike.

You'll be spending almost as much just to change out the wheelset and, all that you'll get for your money is a cobbled up bike.

HillRider

I agree with RG. Trying to modernize the Schwinn can turn into a bottomless money pit and you will still have a heavy frame and bike. The same money will get you a much newer or brand new bike that is just what you want right out of the box.

ang1sgt

Case in point...

My wife wanted me to refurb her 1977 Peugeot Touring bike. It has not been ridden since we bought a Tandem in 1989. It has sat in our upstate NY Garage for the whole time. The Frame is okay, but all the bearings are died out and need cleaning and repacking. Tires and tubes are shot. The Gel Seat is harder than the concrete on the floor. The wheel set needs to be replaced and many things need updating.

I wound up buying her a new TREK 7000 that functions better than this old bike ever did. The new one might not have the History and patina of the old one, but she riding the new one and loving it!

Time to look at Craiglist if you are on a budget, or hit up a shop for a new one.

Another thought is that MANY folks have taken these old Schwinn's and converted them to in town Single Speed bikes with great success. This might be an option for you too.

tellyho

+1. Unless you have a really nice older frame and want a good-looking ride, upgrading is not worthwhile. And, sorry to say, you do not have a really nice older frame.

FRANKIEJ

I disagree with the rest of the responders. The Schwinn Letour is a wonderfully desinged, classic bike. As long as the bike is in good condition otherwise, swapping the steel wheels for good alloy wheels is the single best upgrade you can make, and it shouldn't cost more than $60 if you re-use your tires, tubes and freewheel. Take a look at these:
https://www.bikepartsusa.com/product_...1&p=01%2D82957
https://www.bikepartsusa.com/product_...1&p=01%2D82958

I have heard good things about these wheels here on Bikeforums, and have seen them in person at the LBS,
and they seem like decent wheels for the money. For less than $60 bucks, you can seriously upgrade your classic ride. Letours are great bikes, and worth upgrading. Even if you decide to put on new tires, tubes, cables, brake pads and bar tape, you should still be able to do it all for little over $100 if you purchase your parts carefully. Keep the old steel on the road!

mike

Well, I often agree with Retro Grouch, but not in this case. You can get a new set of 27" wheels at Nashbar.com. Yup, it will cost you $200 for the set, but that's the way it is.

Check to make sure you have a Chicago Le Tour instead of a Japanese Le Tour. If it is a Chicago Le Tour, it is pretty rare.

If it is a Japanese Le Tour (yes, Schwinn made in Japan), then it really is a fine bicycke, especially if it is a higher end like a Super Le Tour.

I think these bikes are good machines and very worthy of new wheels or whatever else it takes to keep in on the road. The frame is lugged chromoly. The componenets are well made an lightweight.

I think a good Japanese made Le Tour (Super Le Tour) would be an upgrade for a lot of folks.

mike

No, not true. I don't know about the specific make of this bike we are talking about, but the Japanese made Le Tour (which is the most common) is nearly as lightweight as any roadbike you will find today, but it is better made.

Tally up what you might have to put into rebuilding and old Le Tour;

BASICS:
New bearings throughout: $5.00 tops
New bar tape: $10.00
Tires: $30.00

MIDDLE UPGRADE
Add a new saddle (say Brooks leather for example): $90.00

TOP UPGRADE
Add new wheels (assuming the old wheels are no good): $200

Sor for between $45.00 and $300 you can have a very nice lightweight roadbike. That sounds like a deal to me.

mike

Frankie, I just noticed your post. Thanks for the link to the cheap wheels! That's Great, and a more appropriate wheel recommendation than the Nashbar option I suggested.

well biked

True, and since the OP says this one is an '80, it was indeed made in Chicago. There was a spike in labor costs in Japan during this time period, and so the '79 and '80 le tours were built at Schwinn's Chicago factory, the only two years they were made there. Up until that point they were built in Japan, and then after '80, production went back to Japan for a couple of years before they began making them at the Greenville, Mississippi Schwinn plant, which opened in 1981. As far as I know, all le tour models from 1983 onward were built in Missisippi.

I like Schwinn le tours. Regarding the earlier models, the reason I wouldn't put a lot of money into one is that the frames are made of high-ten steel. There were exceptions, namely the Super le tour 12.2's that had a chromoly main triangle. From '83 on, all le tour models had full chromoly frames and aluminum rims. But even with high-ten frames, le tours are great riding bikes and worthy of upgrading to aluminum rims as the OP apparently wants to do. BF members pastorbob and timcupery have both upgraded very similar Schwinn Travelers (the Travelers and le tours of that time period are very similar bikes), done a great job with them, and as a result have very nice bikes they both enjoy. It's all a matter of opinion and preferences, but to me, having a bike you enjoy is what it's all about-

Hoz

If you can do the work yourself I'd say go for it. I recently had the same problem with my 1972 Raleigh Gran Prix. It had been sitting in the mini barn for at least 18 years. This summer I decided to get off my arse and do some riding. MAN, was I disappointed to see my old bike! Tires hard, flat and dryrotted. Wheels pitted with rust. I took it into the local LBS and they just shook their heads. Tried to sell me a new Giant, $400.00.

I checked craigslist and bought a good used Trek 700 for a C note instead. That got me peddling.

Then I decided to wrench up on the Raleigh. I'm no mechanic but I did remove, replace and repack bearings on my old Schwinn Monarch when I was a kid, 45 years ago...

Everything was dry, but a little WD40 cleaned them up. The pitted rims cleaned up pretty good with WD40 and, steel wool. I repacked the hubs, crank and fork and as soon as the new tires and tubes come from TiresDirect I think I'll ride it down the the LBS to show it off.

Ain't nothin like a classic.

bfromcolo

My 2 cents...I have a 71 Continental that had steel wheels. I found a late-80s World Sport in a thrift shop for $25 + tax with true alloy wheels. I took the wheels, 6 speed freewheel, brakes and rear derailler off the World Sport. Now my Continental is a 12 speed with alloy wheels. I sold the World Sport frame on Craigslist for $25. Total cost of upgrade about $1, or whatever the tax is on $25.

There is no shortage of low milage 80s donor bikes with decent alloy wheels in thrift shops around here for $20 or so. Don't know where you live, but I bet you can do this for next to nothing with a little patience.

cny-bikeman

You upgraded a CONTINENTAL? You must really love that bike, as it weighs more without wheels than most bikes do with them, and the "performance" is awful.

mike

Wellbiked, I LOVE your post - great detail about the Le Tour! Thanks.

I have a Super Le Tour which is a very nice machine. I have another Le Tour that I have to work on sometime.... I am not sure where it is from (Chicago or otherwise).

Were the Chicago Le Tours the typical Schwinn electroforged gas pipes or were they lugged like the Japanese Le Tour?

well biked

They were lugged, all le tours were.

JanMM

I had a continental, and it was a tank. It tolerated the abuse I gave it while learning the basics of cycling, tho.
Next bike was a '76 LeTour, which was very nice after replacing the steel wheels with alloy. Do that to a Continental and you have a tank with light wheels.
Next was a '79 Super LeTour, which I thought was made in Mississippi. Anyway, the first year they made inexpensive lugged frames in the States. That frame was mediocre straight gauge hi ten steel, and it cracked after several years of club touring, cross-country touring, commuting, pulling a child in a trailer, etc. Schwinn gave me a replacement '85 frame, which was double-butted CroMo. Great upgrade!

well biked

The '79's were made in Chicago, as were the '80's. The Mississippi plant didn't start up until '81, and it closed in '91, around the time Schwinn went bankrupt. Here's a link to BF member Bob Hufford's excellent Schwinn Lightweight Data Book website, showing the '79 Super Le Tour cagalog page. In the description, it says specifically the frames are made in Chicago-

https://www.geocities.com/sldbconsume.../79ccpg03.html

freako

You could upgrade the Schwinn to 700c wheels if the brakes calipers will adjust to make contact with the rim. the spacing of the hub is not a problem since you can find new 6 speed rear hubs from Shimano and others yet; or you could go to a 7 speed but that may take either dishing the wheel a bit differently or at the very most cold spreading the rear stay a tad, and since the rear stay is steel there's no problem doing that. Take it to a bike shop and find out, just don't let the sales people talk you into a new bike. Most modern bike shops don't want to hassle of retrofitting older stuff for newer because they don't know how since most bike mechanics are young college kids and have only worked on modern stuff anyways. Heck most bike mechanics today are perplexed when they see a friction shifting system!!! You want to find someone who appreciates the older stuff and works with them.

By the way buying a new 27" rim still is going to give you the problem of finding decent 27" tires. The only source I can find with a decent 27" tire is Nashbar and they have a Conti Gatorskin in that size for $35. Most LBS's don't stock 27" anymore. But if tire selection is the only reason you have to switch to 700c then I would try the Nashbar site and not spend the money of new rims if the rims are still good.

https://www.nashbar.com/results.cfm?c...ory%3A%20Tires

The rims that Franki showed you are very good rims by the way if you want or need 27" and need new ones.

Grand Bois

I don't see any suitable wheels on the Nashbar site, but Harris Cyclery has 27" wheelsets from $99.95 to $299.95. They charge $25 to ship a wheelset UPS ground.

https://sheldonbrown.com/harris/wheels/630.html

Dogbait

27 inch tires:

Bike Tires Direct

Universal

$10.00 to $35.00


Panaracer Pasela Tourguard 27"x1 1/8" on a 1980 Schwinn World Sport. Still in use.

Carusoswi

I have a '73 LeTour. I guess it would have been made in Japan. I bought it new when I was in going to the U of M in Ann Arbor, Michigan (still has my Ann Arbor "license" sticker from 1974). I always regarded it as a fine bike. When I started riding seriously again in '99 or so, I bought some new tubes/tires, but they wouldn't stay on the rims when I pumped it up to the pressure I desired. Took it back to the shop where I bought the tires, and they gave me the bad news about my wheels - that they weren't designed to hold the bead on at the high pressures I wanted. Can you believe that I was a little suspicious as they suggested rims I to which I could "upgrade?"

Anyhow, instead of laughing me out of the store, they agreed to hang onto my old rims or give them to me to keep, and also to put them back on if I didn't care for the new wheels.

That one change led to more changes. When I was finished, I had a 14 speed with a long gear of 56/11. I've had that old bike north of 50 mph many times since. It was always comfortable to ride, and I put some 15,000 miles on her before purchasing a new bike in the spring of '05. I doubt I could ever part with my old LeTour, but, I have to admit, I almost never ride her any more, although she is kept indoors, well lubed, and in otherwise perfect riding condition.

You should, by all means, spend the money to upgrade your LeTour. I do predict, however, that, as you start to upgrade, you'll not stop until there is no more upgrading to do except to buy a newer, lighter bike with up to date components.

But, the upgrading will be fun, the riding will be enjoyable, and, in the end, buying a new bike will be an eye-opener.

Have fun!

Caruso

TallRider

The old Continentals and Varsitys were the electro-forged frames (basically welded by running large amounts of current through the frame to melt the joints). And they're the extremely heavy ones.

I have two refurbished old lugged Schwinns (1980 Traveler and 1978 Le Tour) and you can read about them from my signature. But I put in the work because they're gigantic frames, basically can't find that size except for custom these days.

I'd put my vote in with the just-buy-a-new-bike crowd, although it's not a strong vote.

bfromcolo

A Continental is a great bike to ride around the neighborhood. Saw one in Craigslist in my size for $10 and couldn't resist, this was the bike I wanted as a kid. It's a very comfortable ride if you ask me. And my point was its really cheap to play with old bikes given the infinite supply of them in yard sales and thrift stores. Total investment in this is about $36 and some parts from the parts bin to get it into its current condition.

$10 bike
$20 tubes and tires
$5 cables and housing
$1 wheels, front brake, rear derailler



Another $12 in parts from guys on the vintage forum will get the front chainring and derailler working again. So then I will have $48 invested.

Skperry59

How do I determine where my LeTour was built?

WizardOfBoz

I would think that (unless the Continental was your size and the World Sport was not) upgrading the Continental would be going backwards. I say this as someone who set up 100s of these bikes back in the day. The Continental had a tubular fork (better than the Varsity) but was electrowelded 16 gauge strip steel that was very low carbon (type 1010). The World Sport was made of thinner (18 gauge) higher carbon (1020) steel and used a brazed lug construction. The World sport was about 3 pounds lighter, too.

That said, if the Continental had good vibes for you, cool. I had a friend in college, Gary, who upgraded his Varsity (alloy hubs and rims). Another friend and I went out with him on our superbikes (An early Trek large diameter Al frame, and a Raleigh competition in 531) and Gary kicked both our tuchuses. Embarrassing.

To add what others have said, the ~1980 LeTours were pretty good bikes. Not 23lb superbikes, but very nice riding. I have a similar bike (a Superior) and an even better bike (World Voyageur, made in Japan) from that era. The spokes were corroded on the superior so I rebuilt the wheels with new spokes. It rides really nice now.

Check your wheels. Some Le Tours had steel wheels. Some (the Super Le Tour for sure) had alloy rims. If you have alloy rims then: if the hubs are ok (smooth running) or can be made ok by cleaning and repacking with new grease, then upgrading the whole wheel may be of limited utility. If you have alloy hubs and a steel rim, you could either buy new wheels or lace new alloy rims onto the old hubs. Whether you go for new wheels or new rims, you have a choice about 27 inch wheels that came on the bike, and 700c wheels that are ubiquitous now. 27 was OEM and you know that the brake arms will reach the rims. 700c offers more tire choices and more availability of tires and tubes but will require some brake adjustment. As I mentioned, on my superior I kept the old rims and relaced with new spokes. There are very good tires available for 27 inch wheels (just not the wide variety of 700c). I put Panaracer Paselas on.

I agree with bfromcolo that there are a lot of great old bikes available on Craigs list, at coops etc. You might be able to pick up an entire new bike with really good wheels and better frame and workings for the 200 bucks new wheels will cost. But the Le Tours were pretty good bikes.