letourfanatic

I just received a free Schwinn Le Tour Tourist bike and I want to rebuild it and repaint it. I have nothing else to do in my spare time seeing as I have just moved across the country. I was wondering if anyone could help me to locate assembly instructions or direct me to where I could purchase them or print them up.

Thank You!

well biked

I like Schwinn le tours, I have three and will be happy to help you with any questions you might have, but I don't understand what it is you're asking. Are you saying you have a complete bike you want to disassemble, re-paint, and then re-assemble, or do you have a frameset you want to repaint and then build up with new or different parts (I've done it both ways). Be a little more specific about what you plan to do...........Also, there was quite a wide variety of le tour models over the years, does yours have a decal on it stating what type of tubing it's made from (something like 1020 Extra Lite, 4130 chromoly, True Temper chromoly, Columbus Tenax, etc)? If it does, it will give an idea of exactly how old the bike is and what type of parts would have been on it originally. If you look at the headbadge, you may be able to see four small digits stamped on the metal badge, if so this is a date code indicating when the bike was assembled at the factory. The first three digits represent the numerical day of the year, the last digit represents the last number in the year. Example: 1252 would indicate the bike was assembled on the 125th day of 1982, assuming it's an '80's bike-

letourfanatic

Sorry about that post being extremely vague. Yes, I have a complete stock tour and want to break it down clean it all up paint it and then reassemble it. Future plans include maybe a shimano crankset, road pedals, and new seat. 1207 is what is stamped on the metalic decal on the bike so it is either an 87 or 77. My bet is on that its an '87 seeing that it came with the house my relatives purchased. I did not see anything resembling the type of tubing it is. I jumped into it prematurely and sanding part of it down to bare metal. All i remember is it saying Le Tour Tourist bike. Thanks for the reply

well biked

One quick way to narrow the date of the bike down between the '70's and '80's: does the rear cluster have five gears or six?

letourfanatic

It has 5 gears.

well biked

Here's a '77 le tour II, from the Schwinn Lightweight Data Book website compiled by Bikeforum member Bob Hufford: https://www.geocities.com/sldbconsume.../77ccpg14.html

Does it look like that?

Also, I believe '77 was the second year the Super le tour 12.2 was produced, it was a lighter weight model, with the "12.2" designation representing the complete bike's weight in kilograms. Here's a link to the '77 Super le tour 12.2 on Bob's site: https://www.geocities.com/sldbconsume.../77ccpg13.html

letourfanatic

It looks identical to the Super LeTour 12.2, even matching pedals although it was blue. I contacted schwinn and they told me there is no real assembly manual. They referred me to a book by a guy named Zinn. Its called the Zinn of bike repair and maintenance, something along that line. It sucks, I'd really like a book that starts you off with put front tire here and back tire here and then it leads you up to calibrating brakes and setting your gears correctly.

sonatageek

Why not go to the public library and check out all the books they have on bike repair, flip through them and see which one works for you.

Scooper

In the early seventies, Schwinn published a two volume service manual for Schwinn dealers, similar to an automobile service manual. Between the two volumes, there are nearly a thousand pages covering every bicycle maintenance task in great detail. These manuals are profusely illustrated with exploded drawings and step-by-step photographs. Unfortunately, there is nothing like it currently in print.

They occasionally show up on eBay and amazon.com.

letourfanatic

on the tubing it says 1020 ASI tubing.

Scooper

1020 is straight carbon steel, which isn't as strong as 4130 chrome-moly. So, frames made of 1020 carbon steel are heavier than frames made of 4130 since the tubing wall thickness must be greater to achieve the same strength as (thinner walled) 4130.

Le Tours made of 1020 are still nice bikes, but not as light or desirable as the later ones made of 4130 chrome-moly.

TimJ

There's nothing specific about the schwinn that makes it different from any other older bike you'd assemble, except possibly and odd-sized stem. Any good bike repair manual will help you.

letourfanatic

what is a decent price for the chrom-moly le tour, probably a '76? i had an old trek that was chrom moly. got stolen, durable stuff.

well biked

The only chromoly le tours before 1983 were the Super le tour 12.2's, and even those were chromoly main tubes only, with high-ten stays. The best le tours are from 1983 onward, in '83 all le tour models got full chromoly frames. Generally speaking, you won't pay any more for a nice '80's le tour of 4130 than you will for an earlier le tour of 1020 steel, most sellers don't know the difference. Depending on where you get it and its condition, look to pay anywhere from $25 to $150-

edit: here's a large, all chrome super le tour 12.2 on ebay. The price is too high in my opinion, but there's something about an old, all-chrome Schwinn just the same. Here's a link to the auction: https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ayphotohosting

letourfanatic

Hey man I appreciate all the help. thanks a lot.