Hi, new to racing here. Been a runner for a few years now and started road biking last year. Really enjoy it so far, and wanting to expand my racing from just foot races (I've done dozens of 5k-1/2 marathons, plus 2 full so far) to include duathlon. There is one in July I plan on doing (sprint distance). While I love my '88 LeTour I decided to get another bike for a few reasons, I mean you can't have just a single bike right? But loving the vintage Schwinns I found a similar one to my '88 LeTour but from their higher end race offerings, an '88 Prologue in great shape.
Anyhow I want to set this up more for a going fast bike, trainer/racer. I don't plan on putting a lot of money into it, one reason I went with the old bike. It seems to have decent stuff on it, Suntour Sprint, which after doing some research here seems to be good stuff back then. So I'm just looking for doing some basic/most important upgrade. My guess is the tires for now. It came with Kenda K152 90psi max which after looking around seem to be the type of tire you may see at Wallmart on sale for $10. I'd like to put some good tires on it, ones that will be a good choice for racing also. I'd like something that looks good but also fits the vintage aspect. I've done some homework and spent hours reading tire suggestions on here until my head spun. Seems there are lots of opinions there. And not being pro racer, its probably not as critical. After all my reading and searching I kind of like these: Veloflex Master. I've seen many places selling them for 30-some dollars so that seems fairly inexpensive to me. They seem to have great reviews and also available with a gum sidewall which keeps the vintage look. They are also available in colored tread, and I am thinking perhaps red might match the bike well? Kind of a nice twist of modern colored tires with vintage gumwall. What do you think? Seem to be a lot of debate between 23mm vs 25mm and I'm unsure which way to go. If it makes a difference I'm about 150-155 lbs.
I'm not too familiar with rim tech but what’s on it now is Weinmann hard anodized aero rims. I assume these are compatible. Also tubes... there were a few mentions of running latex tubes with these, good idea?
Is this all a good plan? Any other good upgrades I should be looking at or just use the rest as is? Not sure if there can be any significant weight savings swapping the seat, or less resistance with newer chains? For now I'd be happy with just new shoes but love to hear any opinions on other things as well. Thanks!