BikingViking793 

I found this bike and decided I had to have it. First I really like yellow bikes. Second I couldn't pass on a USA brand Schwinn bike, made in Japan, with a French name. Plus it was only $60 and most in the area are being offered for more like $150. Has new tires and recently tuned, but seller kept seatpost and saddle for another bike. I have a saddle so it should be pretty good to go with a seatpost. Has some scratches and chips, but otherwise pretty clean. My research tells me this is one of the lighter Schwinns for the time and I just like the look.

madpogue 

Nice, but do you have the shorts?

Velo Mule

Nice find. It looks to be in excellent condition. I sometimes upgrade the seatposts to Kalloy ones. While they are not period correct, they are better than the original post with a separate steel seat clamp. The seat is always a personal choice anyway. I have a yellow Varsity in Lemon Yellow and Rustoleum Sunburst Yellow is a good match. The big box stores may not have a pint, but the smaller hardware stores like Ace seem to stock it.

The chrome on the fork looks great. More pictures as this bike comes together and gets on the roads and trails please.

Velo Mule

Yea, those shorts would be the perfect accessory to complete the look. And a yellow shirt. Got to start visiting thrift stores, vintage clothing shops and garage sales.

rustystrings61 

My three riding buddies in Southwest Virginia c.1975-77 had Schwinn LeTours like that, one blue, one red and one this very yellow. Since there were no other LeTour colors to choose that year I got a Batavus instead....

All four of us had our steel rims replaced with Weinmann alloy rims. At least two switched out the stem shifters for down tube units. The LeTours got loaded down with Pletscher racks and panniers for a three day tour on the Blue Ridge Parkway the summer before my 15th birthday and they did just fine.

romperrr 

Ah, I love the Blue Ridge! What section did you do on your tour?

madpogue 

Which means you won the "coolest headbadge of the group" award.

rustystrings61 

We rode out from Ferrum (three of us were sons of Ferrum College faculty) to the Parkway and went left, camping the first night in Rocky Knob. We rode to Mabry Mill for breakfast before heading retracing our steps and then descending Long Ridge and making our way to Roanoke Mountain. There was a campsite there in those days and we stayed, returning back the way we came until we returned to Ferrum the third day. We were all 14 or 15, with generic cheap camping gear, canvas tents and generally too much gear. We had a great time, though!

BikingViking793 

Some more photos. Is this the correct type of fabric tape for the bike? This is my first vintage drop bar bike since being a kid. The color looks black in some pictures, but depending on lighting it's more grayish I guess. Is that just how the black looks for fabric tape or can I replace with a blacker tape? Or maybe yellow tape? Looks like they came with black from the factory. I love how the derailleurs are branded with Le Tour. I'll do more photos when the lighting is better, too sunny today.

BikingViking793 

Those shorts might be harder to find than the bike....

rustystrings61 

My memory is that they came with textured black plastic bar tape.

DesmoDog

I had a blue one back in the day. I seem to recall plastic tape too? I have a picture of it around here somewhere, taken when it was still rather new, but after I had modified the frame geometry by running it into the back of a van. Scarred chin and chipped tooth are still around but I sold the (repaired) bike years ago.

Deal4Fuji

I think Schwinn called it Flexon or maybe Flexon was a Schwinn approved vendor. I always liked the exact match of tape to frame coloring Schwinn did. Here's some on eBay

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...+tape&_sacat=0

I'm sure black cloth tape is still available too

BikingViking793 

Thanks. I think I remember that stuff now. Ours as a kid had green. Think I should try to track down black Flexon or is fabric also correct for the period?

FBOATSB

Black cotton wrapped from the top down sure looks original for '80s anyway. Memory fails me regularly though. Newbaums is my go to for bar tape.
Edit to add link: https://www.newbaums.com/
I also remember the Hunt Wilde tape. It was stretchy and easy to re use. Shows up regularly in the Box O' Crap. Just wrap from top down and tuck the end in the bar and shove on that chrome steel cap.
Any black cotton will fade to grey if exposed to too much sun over time. A couple coats of shellac will prevent that.

BikingViking793 

Found a seatpost locally and got it out for a short ride today. It is a pretty neat ride, the 27" handle the bumps nicely. Shifting will be something to get used to and guess I need to learn how to do it correctly. Seems like you just adjust them a little as needed if the gear isn't sounding right? Bike feels pretty comfortable for a short ride at least.

One of the shops I went to is South Shore Cyclery in Cudahy, which I'd never been to before. They actually have a bike museum in it. Mostly US made bikes. I got to see a couple high wheel bikes and even a bone shaker. Lots of Schwinns and other US made bikes. Was real cool to look around, think they must have like 200 old bikes. But they actually had a Le Tour which was sporting a seat like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/38386982304...4AAOSwJxVf0BaE
Kind of a weird one. Must have not been used on all of them as the old catalog picture doesn't seem to have one.

romperrr 

That sounds like an awesome trip. Thanks for the report.

bikemike73 

GREAT SCORE AND PRICE !!!!!!!

LOVE the Lemon YELLOW !!!!!

I have several bikes in this color !!