https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...29412feaed.jpg
Poorly staged pic but here it is.
this is an 89 I think. Trutemper and quite light. I dimpled the chain stays a little for 650b clearance and am still working on what rack to use but I must say for an entry level frameset it's excellent.

I generally don't like fade paint jobs, but I like that one.

I have three or four. Next time I'm coming north I'll be in touch.

Please and thankyou!

Here's an early LTL with centerpulls. Cantis came out the year after I stopped working at a Schwinn place.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...21300029847330

https://scontent.fric1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...fd&oe=614989F2

As I measure it -- and I acknowledge my measurements may be suspect -- I found a ~6cm drop on the LeTour and slightly more, about 6.5cm on the Trek.

I also measured the wheelbase and came up with ~410 on the Le Tour, and ~415 on the Trek.

That sounds about right. 5mm is not a huge difference, but in general a lower bottom bracket feels more stable and tracks better, while a higher bottom bracket gives better pedal clearance in cornering.

Is that chainstay length in millimeters? Wheelbase should be a little over 1m. Longer chainstays give better heel clearance when using panniers.

that’s overall wheelbase, although I may need to re-measure. I had measured the stays before and they’re about 5mm different, with the 520 being just a smidge longer.

...i dimly recall the Spirt's mechanics are inverted - the spring 'relaxes' the cage onto the big ring.

if that's correct, surely the Symmetric shifter auto-trim function will send the FD in the wrong direction?

I didn't realize there was an auto trim function on the shifters but since I use bar ends it's not an issue. The reverse action is what I find so appealing about spirts and some other suntours.

I have an older than yours Mississippi built Schwinn Le Tour Luxe that I thought would just be ok. After riding it, I like it a lot. The biggest knock I have with the Mississippi built Schwinn's is the paint and decals. They are not anywhere near as good as Chicago built Schwinn's and not as durable as some other comparable frames. It looks like you are taking care of that issue and therefore evening the playing field again.

Your can measure them, weigh them, analyze them, but the proof is in the puddin', as they say. Find out which one you prefer when you ride them. You may even want to swap the wheel set so that you have better comparison.

I'm with you on the comparison of Canti's to sidepull brakes. I don't really favor one over the other.

You have a good dilemma there denaffen ..

I have a similar one I have my Le Tour Luxe and a similar Traveler. Both from Mississippi.. One of the reasons that I may favor the LeTour is that the Traveler has a fade paint job. And the Traveler has double butted True Temper tubing and the Le Tours is straight gauge. It is older than yours, At this point, I am keeping both. I set them up differently. The Le Tour Luxe has bar end shifters with drop bars and a triple chainring (now).

You can setup the cam in those shifters to work in either direction.

The Golden Boy is correct - Trek's fortunes were already headed steeply upwards when they started sponsoring pro teams , incl. Armstrong. Furthermore, while I believe Armstrong was a cheat, and a particularly nasty one, that was (is?) the reality of pro cycling (and most pro sports) in general. Man many other riders, and even whole teams were caught doping.
Schwinns, while generally very good value, were never as good quality as Treks, with few exceptions. Schwinn also made the mistake of helping develop Giant into the behemoth they are today in order to cut their own costs, while Trek continued investment in their USA manufacturing capabilities until the mid 90s, when the bulk of their frame production started being done overseas.

Trek was certainly an up and comer before Lance, sure - and Schwinn did themselves no favors with poor marketing choices. But when talking the difference between two mid-grade bikes, the relative fortunes of the manufacturing firms has zippidee doo dah day to do with the relative merits of the bikes themselves, which was my initial main point.

denaffen Great job on the LeTour repaint. Really like the color. Thank you for posting your overhaul of these 2 C&V bikes, looking forward to the finished products. As often happens on BF, much information on the LeTour series and Trek tourers has accumulated. Good to have it in one place. I agree with rustystrings61 that a Marque going out of business doesn't necessarily speak poorly of the bikes they built. For example Motobecane, Bridgestone, Stella and many others still have quite a following. Adding a link to the 1985 Schwinn catalog: https://bikehistory.org/catalogs/1985.html Don

Just ordered stickers, which cost me more than 2x what the Schwinn did. But on the plus side, Velocals did reproduce the "made in America" sticker that wasn't in their normal inventory. They do nice work.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8b2804536f.jpg

hi all, been lurking a while, thought i'd try coming out of my shell...
,doesn't the "le tour" name refer (rather walter mitty-ish-ly) to 'le tour' de france, rather than to it being a 'touring' bike? just a thought.

cheers,
rob

Keep in mind you're comparing two bicycles of a different size.

For apples to apples comparison, here are some published wheelbases.
23" Le Tour: 40.75"/1035.05mm
22.5" 520: 1056mm

I took a guess that the 23" Letour is about the same as a 22.5" 520, but if it's more like a 24" 520 then the difference is even larger. 36mm or almost 1.5"! Admit it, the Le Tour isn't a touring bike! ;)

23" Le Tour: 40.75"/1035.05mm
24" 520: 1071mm

Geo charts below.

85 Schwinn Catalog (edited to move the columns close together)

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...28f8fe908d.png

88 Trek Catalog
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...324f08cfcf.png

there is absolutely no way there is 35mm difference in these two frames wheelbase

The Le Tour has its (hopefully) last coat of paint and is ready for polishing.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1f2411489.jpeg

Meanwhile, I just keep riding the 520 more and more. 5 miles one day, 6 the next, 8 this morning. It seems to always want to go more than I have time for. And I still haven’t done much except a light cleaning, throw some air in the ancient tires and swap out the worn out seat.

That color is so, so money.

Are you going to decal it?

--Shannon

Thanks. I’m loving the color too. It’s exactly what I was going for.

I am gonna decal it. I’m using the 70s block letters, white with a black outline. Velocals even made the correct steel sticker for me since it wasn’t in their inventory.

I've got a velocals decal coming for my fixie, it looks like they make really great stuff! I'm loving this build!!!

Meanwhile the 520 got a little more attention last night. I cleaned up the rear wheel, removed that tragic frisbee, cleaned and lubed the chain, replaced the grotty brake lines and finally got rid of that tragic foam grip.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3ea123d7f.jpeg

The 520 is still getting more riding than attention. As mentioned elsewhere I’m still trying to decide if the geometry works for me. It’s the largest small frame ever.

But the LeTour started moving again today, when my Velocals order finally arrived. They’re perfect. It’s part retro LeTour, part Gulf GT40 homage, and just what I was after.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e5b32beae.jpeg

Now I have to decide if I keep the original Schwinn-branded Weinmann 27-inchers or throw on some 700Cs I have laying around with some fat tires. These are 38s with plenty of room.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f8512ea0b.jpeg

Personally, I would use the Schwinn wheelset until it wears out, then replace it with the 700c wheelset. I'm of the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality, but if you prefer the cushy ride of 700cx38s by all means go ahead.

Dude... that Schwinn... that blue... the lettering.... the orange housing... like a Porsche 917... it's perfect. (OK, it won't get you 230 mph down the Mulsanne, but whatever.)

Go 700c. Because 27" tires mostly suck, and even the ones that don't suck aren't awesome, and that bike needs some great shoes. If I'm spending your money, I'm putting on the widest Rene Herses that'll fit.

I. Love. This. Bicycle.

--Shannon

Well, I decided to stick with 27" and the original Schwinn-branded rims, and ordered some more Panaracer Paselas. That'll give a nice head-to-head comparison with the Trek, which is also running on 27" Paselas. While I'm waiting on those to get here it keeps inching forward. I taped the bars last night. Not sure about my two-tone twine job (on the left). I may redo that. And I need to track down a barrel adjuster for the Dia Compe 600 brakes. There's got to be one around here somewhere.

The 520 continues to get ridden frequently with virtually no attention given to it. I'm still not 100% sold on the geometry, but it's getting there. It's comfortable enough that I did 25 miles on it Sunday, and could have done more if I'd had more time. For me, that's a lot.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e00f92fa3.jpeg

Almost done. Just need to fit the rear brakes. Tomorrow.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d029c0bd4.jpeg