The Schwinn LeTour
Steve Maas, Long Beach, California
I bought this bike as an experimental subject before doing the Carlton Catalina project. For that project, I had to do a few things I hadn't done before, so I
tried them on a bike I didn't care about so much. I bought the LeTour
at a garage sale. When I got it, it had a fair amount of rust and was a
startlingly ugly blue-to-black fade, with large, garish white decals.
It looked like a rolling bruise. I think it was made around 1990.
Still, the bike has a lot of positive characteristics. It is a nicely
built, lugged and brazed frame, not too different in geometry from a
Paramount. The tubing is (I think...) a straight-gauge Tange, probably
4130 CrMo. The Suntour/Dia Compe Blaze components are decent quality,
unlike most of the crap from Dia Compe. Wheel rims are a simple,
box-channel design and have reinforced spoke holes. The hubs are
Maillard. Gearing is six-speed with indexed downtube shifters. The
crank is a double.
I repainted the frame a more gentle, gray-bronze color and redid the
decals in a less "in your face" color. I disassembled all the parts,
cleaned, polished, and relubricated them. I cleaned and regreased the
headset, bottom bracket, and wheel bearings. I even took apart the
wheels, mainly to derust the spoke ferrules, and rebuilt, trued, and
tensioned them. Finally, I put on a new chain, bar tape, cables and sheaths, and toe straps.
I don't ride the bike much. I've kept it in nice shape, just in case I
want to sell it or give it to someone. I did take it on one ride of
about 50 miles, just to make sure it was OK. I was surprised at how
nice it was to ride. It had a nice feel; the brakes and gears worked
well, and it seemed stable yet light and responsive.
No "before" pictures, alas; just a few of the finished product.
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