Originally Posted by
wrk101
Does headbadge say: "Schwinn Chicago" or "Schwinn Quality" or "Schwinn Approved". The Schwinn Chicago was made in USA, in Mississippi, as the Chicago plant was long gone by then. I believe the 1986 LeTour was USA made. The Schwinn Approved and Schwinn Quality were made in Asia. The Taiwanese Schwinns tended to have a Giant serial number on the drop out.
Note that the Japanese Schwinns were some really good bikes, made by companies such as Panasonic and others.
This is a Miss. made bike. Funny enough, all (I think) the 80s+ Schwinn Chicago badged bikes, including the Tenax bikes were made by Giant. Most of the Schwinn-approved bikes in the mid to late 80s were made in Miss. Here are the badges of my Asian made '87 Super Sport and '89 Traveler:
1979 or 80 was the last production year in Chicago (for Schwinns) and 1989 or 90 in Greenville, MS
Actually the 1986 Le Tour was a fairly interesting bike: It has a French flair with Huret derailleurs and Stronglight crankcase. Not sure about the price, but it was right below Prelude at the time (dead middle in the lineup)