Thanks to all for the kind words. Working on my 25-year-old Le Tour Luxe was a labor of love. Here's a before picture taken last year when I was thinking about selling it. Disintegrating foam grips, rock-hard plastic saddle, dry-rotting gumwalls, badly in need of a TLC overhaul.
Here's the catalog page I used to pick the powder coat.
It took some elbow grease, but surprisingly little cash because the parts were all tough enough and of good enough quality to reuse.
I was especially worried about the Mountech rear. One of the first mountain-bike-specific derailers made, it had a reputation for shifting like butter but self-destructing after a few months of hard use because of a complex design and faulty seal. When it was disassembled, there was some wear as you would expect from a part that had been in use for a quarter-century, but it still shifted like a champ and allowed me to keep the bike all-original.
Riding it is a lot better than looking at it. There's something about the geometry and give in an old steel frame.
It took me a trip or two to get reacquainted with the downtube shifters after the Shimano 105s on my newer bike, a Specialized Sequoia Elite. Now I understand why friction is still popular with old-school tourers. It's bulletproof, easy to adjust, works with any brand or model of derailer and won't leave you stranded.
The 18-speed touring ratios go high and low enough to zip down city streets or cruise up moderate hills without breaking a sweat. It's pretty close to my ideal of a commuter bike. My only worries now are when I stop.
Before it was too ugly to steal.