Hey guys! I recently came across a vintage racer in poor condition but with all the original parts completely repairable, all i can determine from the bike is that it is a "Chicago Schwinn". I would love to keep it but it is simply to tall for me to cycle. I have a rough idea of its worth but would like to be sure. The bike is in very good condition with a few odd scratches on the frame, and all original parts (head set, gears, Breaks etc.) pretty much intact!

Any information at all would be fantastic! I have attached here the picture of the Emblem on the bike, and i will try to later post a picture of the bike itself!

Any information would be great!

Hi, and welcome to BikeForums!

The "Schwinn-Chicago" headbadge was used by Schwinn for many models for a decade after the Chicago factory closed and production of Chicago manufactured bikes ceased. The factory closed in 1983. Schwinn's headquarters remained in Chicago until the 1993 bankruptcy, so the company continued to use Chicago on head badges of bikes produced both in the U.S. Greenville, Mississippi factory, and by manufacturers in Japan, Taiwan, mainland China, and Hungary.

Pictures of the bike with a model name, a serial number, and the components will help us pin it down for you.

+1

Chicago Schwinn badge = not necessarily made in Chicago. Post some good clear pictures of the whole bike and we'll be able to help you.

HI Stan thank you for replying! I have attached three pictures of the bike, if you could take a quick look and anything you can tell me would be great. I have tried to upload more pictures but something is stopping me, i will try again later if these photos are not enough
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Thanks again.

Thanks for replying jake. I have attached three pictures, if you could take a quick look would be great. Any information would be great! thanks

From the graphics, it appears to be late eighties vintage. There's not enough detail in the photos to tell what model it is.

Look closely at the head badge for four very lightly stamped digits. This number represents the assembly date of the bike; the first three digits are the day of the year (001-366) and the fourth digit is the last digit of the year. Also, look for any other numbers on the frame that might be on the rear dropouts, the head tube above the lower bearing cup, or on the bottom bracket shell.

Better photos would be a big help, especially close-ups of the components and frame details like the dropouts and lugs.

That is a huge frame. I hope you're really tall.

With Shimano 600 parts, it's not bottom of the line, but those pictures aren't enough to really tell much beyond that. There's no logo other than schwinn anywhere on it on either side to give a model name? How about a serial number on the bottom of the bottom bracket shell (place the cranks -things the pedals are attached too- run through)?

hope this six pictures are of some help! Thanks again for helping me with this i realy appreciate it! It says on the bikes headset "SHIMANO JAPAN VIA". Any idea of its value?

I looked where you told me and it says "SHIMANO 600". Thanks for replying.

Shimano is the manufacturer of the components that went on the bike. Kind of like if Ford were to make a car and use gear and motor and wheels from a separate company and Chevy could also buy the motor and wheels and everything from the same 3rd company. The Shimano 600 would tell you the quality of the motor and wheels and everything (in this case brakes, gears, cranks, headset), but won't tell you the brand or model of car because most companies from that era bought from them (or 1 or 2 other companies, but that just complicates things). Just that 600 wasn't the cheapest or the most expensive level of parts so it wouldn't have been put on the cheapest or most expensive car/bike, more of a mid-level (so basically you're not looking at a Ford Pinto or a Ford Mustang or a Chevy Metro or a Corvette, somewhere in the middle). Schwinn takes the place of Ford or Chevy in this example (if it makes any sense at all) because they built the frame and put the parts on it, so we still have to figure out what model of bike it is. Likewise, the cinelli on the bars (another component maker) probably tells us that it isn't something bottom of the line. The headbadge would probably say Schwinn Paramount (unless they'd stopped doing that by this point) if it was top of the line, so again this is somewhere in between.

I will say that if you're looking to resell it, the fact that it's such a large size will probably work against you. I'm a tall guy and there aren't many bikes for sale that fit us, but at the same time there aren't many of us that ride bikes, so you might find one tall guy desperately trying to find a bike that will fit him, but it would take a while and tall bikes tend to sell for less than medium sized bikes or small bikes (that often go for a little more for the same make/model).

That helped really makes sense to me. The only problem is i cant find anywhere the model number or code or anything like that, there is some graphics on the frame that have been worn down so i cant read it and i guess that is probably key to finding out.

Yes it is a huge frame but i'm just about 6ft tall maybe a little less and i found it enjoyable to ride. But that's probably just preference.

Basically i'm just looking for a general idea of the worth, say between 100-200 euros/dollars/pounds, literally an estimation, a starting point for me to try and sell it from. Any idea?

Sorry no idea. Depending on where you are, if you want to try and figure out what it might be worth, scan through craigslist or your local equivalent looking at 80's "10 speed" bikes in similar shape with Shimano 600 components and look to see what they're going for. Each area is different. If you want to try selling on e-bay (more work for you to deal with, but maybe a better sales price to make up for it), you can do the same thing looking through completed auctions.

If you want to take some time to find out what model it is, this page has links to all the Schwinn catalogs and you could page through them to find one that looks like yours with the same specs. If you're going to try selling on e-bay this additional information (year and model number) will be key.

Are there any stickers on it telling what tubing it's made out of? If there's a sticker saying Reynolds 531 for example, that should be mentioned in any ad you make and might increase the sales price a little bit.

I would put your bike as a 1986 Le Tour based on your photos and these two pages: https://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1...986Ltwt12.html https://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1...986Ltwt30.html

The Le Tour was the only bike in '86 to use True Temper tubing (I saw a sticker in one of your photos) besides the Traveler but the Traveler had stem shifters with cable guides brazed on, while yours has DT shifter bosses.

The Le Tour was a middle-of-the-line bike. The Shimano 600 pieces are not original and serious upgrades from the stock components. Most of the 600 is from the early-mid 80s (6300?) while the rear derailer, front brake, and shifters in particular are from the later 80s "tri-color" group (6400.)

I'm not sure why a Le Tour ended up with a 600 group, I'm guessing some tall guy loved the frame and wanted to hang some nice parts on it. How much is it worth now? Not a whole lot. Maybe your pictures are just dark but the bike looks dirty, and of course some of the decals are missing. The saddle looks awful and the bars aren't wrapped. It looks like a project in its current state and projects sell for a big discount. The huge size hurts it as well. Right now, I wouldn't expect more than $100 for it but the parts are worth a lot more than that. This bike screams part-out. But only if you have the time/knowledge to take the thing apart and sell the bits individually. From the sounds of it you are probably better off selling the whole thing as-is for someone to harvest the parts.

Are the wheel hubs also Shimano 600? If so, then easily the bike is worth $100-$120, just for the shiny parts. I paid $150 last month for a 1986 Raleigh Competition, with Shimano 600 group, except for the rear hub. It was a more desirable size at 21-22" frame, and the frame is also a Reynold 531 tubeset.

You could buy this bike, part it out, after you clean and polish everything, or hang the jewelry on another right sized frame!

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