fujiyama

Do you think 80 dollars is worth it, given it's in decent shape?

Thanks!

mickey85

barring a bent fork or frame, yes.

CACycling

There are a lot of different Le Tours in varying levels of quality. I recently sold a couple of late '70s Le Tours. '77 Le Tour II 62cm frame with rough paint and mildly tweeked frame but rode fine went for $75 and a '78 Le Tour III ladies in good condition went for $100. Both had chrome steel wheels and decent rubber. These are probabably the lowest end of the Le Tour spectrum.

EjustE

+1 several different levels of "Le Tours" including a couple of models with Columbus Tenax frames and the 12.2. Most Le Tours were mid/entry and sat right on top of what Schwinn called Sports bikes, ahead of bikes like Continental, Varsity, Traveller, World Sport and World in various times. So there is a clarification (pictures help) needed to determine value. $80 for a ready to ride Le Tour can be from street value to a bargain (depending on the model and year)

garage sale GT

Thing is, it totally depends on the market in your area. People from less bike-friendly cities ask for peanuts for nice bikes it seems like, while in the Chicago area and others, $80 is not far from what they ask for most any old road bike which works.

There's lots of LeTours though; why not lurk around on ebay until you see what people ask for and get for them?

BigPolishJimmy

In my size with 4130 chromo = yes, hi-ten = not-so-much. But what garage sale GT says is true, depends on location, location, location. If by chance you are looking at it at 6pm tomorrow and it looks like this https://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...hJimmy/LeTour/ it's worth 10x that amount...

bobbycorno

How much would I pay for a LeTour? I wouldn't. Mid(or lower)-level Japanese bikes hold no fascination for me.

SP
Bend, OR

curbtender

$80 and it doesn't need tires? Good deal. They are functional bikes. You may be able to hold out for a nicer bike, but then you are in competition with the flippers in your area. Ride it, if it feels good, buy it.

fujiyama

heres a link to the bike i mentioned:

https://newhaven.craigslist.org/bik/1792963660.html

i live in new haven connecticut, which is a very bike friendly city. i'm gonna stop by there tomorrow evening if it's still available and check it out. she said she'd give it to me for $75. just finished refurbishing a 89 world sport and want a decent project bike to turn into a fixie, maybe this one will be nice when i see it.

thanks for all the posts.

mickey85

Well, unless you're going to build it as a suicide hub, you'd need to swap out the wheelset for a track set, and I'd go ahead and put new brake levers on as well. While you're at it, depending on the model of crankset, you'd be ahead getting a dedicated track crank as well. At that point, you're really just looking for a donor frame and, IMO, $75 would be too high for that. I'd ride that one as-is and find a good $30 project you can use as a fixie instead. Case-in-point - my Peugeot UO-8 was built up using mostly junkyard parts, but I got it original for $35. I didn't feel bad fixifying it because (a) there are a million of them and (b) I didn't spend any money to do it.

Grim

That picture is horrible hard to tell what it is. Since then said "LeTour" and not super or 12 I would assume it a lower end. If it is a Electro forge with steel wheels I would pass on it as it will be weight close to 40lb.. If it has aluminum rims then it is a little better model. If it has investment cast drops it is even better and that is a decent price. If it says Super LeTour 12.2...that's a steal.

Look for stickers that say 4130 on the vertical post for the frame material. That would be the better one to look for. If it says 1020 or nothing it is a low end frame. The fact that has the shifters on the stem I think you will find it is a lower model. The better ones tend to have the shifters on the down tube.
Catalogs.
https://www.trfindley.com/pg_schwinn_cats.htm

curbtender

Better deal https://newhaven.craigslist.org/spo/1792152036.html

Nishiki International 10 spd Bicycle - $65 (cheshire)

Date: 2010-06-14, 7:14PM EDT
Reply to: sale-nbqwa-1792152036@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]



This is a used in good condition Nishiki International 10 speed bicycle, approx size 55 cm. It should fit someone between 5"-8" and 6'. This is not a department store bike, I paid about $400.00 in 1978 at a bike shop.

• Location: cheshire
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

fujiyama

nice! good find. hidden in the sporting goods section. i never check there. definitely a better deal than the le tour. although, i have a soft spot for 70s and 80s schwinns for some reason, haha. but, if i can get this guy down to $50, i'll take it. thanks!

wrk101

You were ready to pay $75 for a gas pipe Schwinn, but you won't buy the Nishiki for more than $50? This does not make any sense. Around here, that Nishiki would be gone in a couple of hours, although listed in the wrong spot it might last a little longer.

I would get in my car, pay the asking price, and be ecstatic with the deal.

fujiyama

hahah, good point. i guess i have flea marketing in my blood. everyone always puts a little padding on their asking price. can't hurt to wheel and deal. if i dont get it, it wont be the end of the world. realistically, i have enough bikes already.

mickey85

Were letours ever electroforged? I've got a Letour mixte (~76) that is a lugged Bridgestone model...I thought that all of them were rebadged Japanese lugged bikes...