What to do with this Schwinn?
 

So I am new to the cycling scene and looking for some advice on what to do with the Schwinn(link below) that I recently bought.

To give you some ideas what I am going to do with it:
It will be my main commuter, taking it to and from work and campus about 15 miles away.
I would also like to tour with it until I can afford a better bike and get more immersed in cycling.
I want a clean and nice up beat look, not something that looks like I just dusted it off and road it out of the garage.

I want to know where to start what I need to do. New tires? Handle bar grip? Cables?...etc.

Thanks a lot :)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...7546&rd=1&rd=1

Looks like you got a great deal, espeically if it didn't have to be shipped.

The question is how involved do you want to get with it?

To do it 'right', a complete overhaul involves striping the bike to the frame and servicing every component. Headset, bottom bracket, wheel bearings, shifters, cables, etc. Examining and evaluating each piece, replacing worn or damaged bits as you go. (This can get expensive fast).

To get it ridable you want to do a tune-up. It looks like you'll need a chain for sure. Disconnect, clean and lube adjust the cables, inspect the tires for obvious damage or degredation. From the pics bar tape looks good, keep or change as you'd like. Check and true the wheels as needed. Maybe a set of Kool-Stop Salmon brake pads, if you'd like. This will give you the most bang for the buck and get you riding quicker and then you can do component level service piecemeal as time & budget permits.

Good luck with your new steed.

Thanks for the input :)

I am being a little difficult in the fact that I want to get this bike looking nice, but I also want to get riding soon too. The plus side is I don't plan on taking this bike on tour till spring.(Thats when I will have the time) So I have till then to get anything that I need and give the bike a good long looking over.

One problem I am having is I don't know squat about bikes really. I picked up an old Schwinn Service manual from my library and plan to dive into that. But I don't know what the gearing for the bike is, what size tires is takes, brakes, brake levers, cables, chain, etc...

Any help is greatly appreciated and welcomed.
Thanks :)

From the graphics, it's an early eighties Super Le Tour. Here's a scan of the original catalog page.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...uperLeTour.jpg

Great deal....:) How much time and $ are you willing to spend fixing it up?

Your bar tape looks OK but replace it if there's another color you'd like and you have money. It's not as important as some other stuff you could do.

When I buy old bikes I find that I almost always need to replace the tubes and tires so start with that (unless the seller just did it for you). Keep the old tubes for spares. You can find lots of options in 27 inch online and maybe in your own area. If you search bike forums it's a topic with many previous discussions.

If the bike was stored for years you might be able to get away with keeping the original chain. I usually give it a good cleaning/soaking in WD 40 and a good lube and see how it cleans up.

If you give the bike a good cleaning and lubing it will help you to start to see what needs to be replaced and what just needs grease. Often the freewheel in the back is very dry.

Schwinns were built remarkably tough.

and the Forest Green is one nice color. I don't belive I've ever seen it. Thanks for this post.

Nice Score! I use the Park Tools Repair section of their website. You don't have to have all of their nice tools...but it sure helps:p ;)

Aaron:)

Oddly enough, I saw one in this colour on my long ride today :) . It was very nice in person.

East Hill

Sellers need to be more careful about spelling the name properly....Schwinn De Tour???

Thats how I was able to get away with it so cheap. :)

Thanks to Scooper for that page, where did you get it?


To people asking, I am willing to put all the money needed into this bike to make it look new or at least a nice bike. I plan to change the tubes and tires first off, then the handle bar tape just because I don't like th color. Then I will see where I need to go from there, probably a new chain since the picture shows a little rust.

Once I get it and can give it a good look over I will decide if it needs paint and other cosmetic touches, if I do paint it I would like to go with the original forest green color.

Not just a schwinn De Tour, but a Schwinn Super De Tour, haha. I'm confused on the Super part with stamped drops and 1020 tubing, though. I guess only the Super LT 12.2 got the forged drops and CrMo? Nice find nonetheless!! Awesome price too! All vintage bikes I find, get blown apart and rebuilt from the frame up. Condition aside, they all get the same treatment. I would do the full deal on this bike, and make it look as nice as possible. It shouldn't be too hard from the look of it.,,,,BD

Out of curosity, what is your full rundown for something like this? Where do you start and then end up. Just wondering what someone who knows what they are doing does for this sort of project.

Thanks

Lately I've begun overhauling old bikes. One of my first projects was my own Le Tour. I recommend you overhaul yours because the grease is possibly or likely dried and hardened. You could ruin the bearings if they're dry. All the work would cost about $200 if a bike shop does it, and even with that, there will still be details you should attend to that they won't for that price.

See post #10 at
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=296615 . I wrote this for someone who's working on his Varsity. In addition to all that, you'll need metric hex keys. And for the bottom bracket, you'll need a 14mm socket wrench to remove the crank fixing nuts, a crank extractor to take off the crank arms, a lockring spanner to loosen the adjustable cup lockring. A torque wrench to reinstall the crank fixing bolts (30 ft/lbs). Check Sheldon Brown's site, check the Park Tools site where there is instruction in addition to tools, check out a book from the library, and just have at it. It isn't that hard, your subject looks like it's in good condition and in that case it'll be straightforward, and at least you didn't pay too much for it. Finally, a workstand is an awfully big help.

On the other hand, if he's selling it after ruining the bearings himself, then you're into replacing cones & races, & the races are pressed into the frame or integral to the wheels. This means more special tools & finding the right parts, or paying a shop to do it.

Maybe you could find a garage mechanic who'd do it for less. Maybe you could do parts of it, like the disassembly, the headset bearings, the wheel bearings, the cables, while taking to the bike shop things requiring special tools; i.e. crank removal, bottom bracket servicing, freewheel removal.

Whatever it takes, go ahead and do it. I really like my Le Tour & there are others who feel the same; seems to be a Le Tour cult out there. Odds are the bearings are good. If you run into problems, you'll be able to get plenty of advice here. Good luck.

-Rich

I do the same thing for bikes that Bikedued does. Every bike I sell gets stripped down and rebuilt. This is what I do. I remove everything off of a frame. I clean up the frame and on some occasions have been know to wax a frame fork for that extra shine. I next remove the bottom bracket (I leave the fixed cup in the frame) and headset. All surfaces/bearings get cleaned throughly with degreaser, and it gets regreased and reinstalled. A lot of the times my bikes sit in this stage for awhile. I never can decide rebuild to stock, fixed gear or single speed, or to flip the frame/fork on CL. For ones that I do build back up I will put everything back on. I usually replace tires, tubes, cables, housing, and bar tape. I don't always do that depending on the condition I find it in. After reassemble I adjust brakes and shifters for proper operation. Wheels get trued and hubs regreased. Sometimes for lower end bikes with steel rims I will swap to a set with Aluminum rims from the parts stash. When finished I snap a pic and put it up on CL.

Dude, you got an excellent deal. Le Tours are one of the best, under-appreciated bikes on earth. I paid $100 for mine and feel like I got a good deal, as it was one of the best bikes I've ever had. Good job. Have fun!

All of the original components on that particular low mileage Schwinn are more than adequate for providig a smooth, trouble-free ride. All you need to do is clean and lube everything and replace tires and tubes, as has already been suggesteed. The bar tape definitely needs replacement. I would recommend a Varsity Green Schwinn tape, easily found on ebay.

I am a Suntour man myself, and if you are interrested in changing out the Shimano components for Suntour, I have a few suggestions if you are interested.