politicalgeek

I have what appears to be a '78-'79 Le Tour with the 1020 steel. I need a summer project and would like to start doing the research and planning now over the next few months. Want to keep it on a budget as much as possible ($200-300 or less). I'll be moving back with my parents when the lease is up on my place, so most of my riding will be commuting the 10 miles up the bike path and onto city roads. I had thought of doing a town bike build with a 5 speed IGH and swept back bars. Instead I'm thinking of something more appropriate to distance and hills. Thus far I am thinking:

Looks like I can get some decent parts through places like Loose Screws, so I'm thinking of picking up a Shimano 6 speed cassette hub or similar. I'll look at upgrading the derailers as well and possibly the crank set. Any suggestions for either vintage parts or new?

I love these bars from VO. Switch from stem shifters to bar ends, which, from everything I have been reading here, should be doable.

I'll probably keep the 27" wheels, why mess with a good thing? I'll definitely switch to alloy wheels, though.

Don't know if the brakes just need a good clean and polish or if there is a better choice out there to update this.

Overall I hope to keep this a nice, simple bike. Front rack to hold a bar bag, saddlebag in the back and some old school fenders. Should make for a decent project. Everything I have seen shows the Le Tours to be decent little bikes. Riding around town has sure shown me.

pastorbobnlnh 

Andrew,

Let me toss in my couple of cents of thoughts: Building new wheels will be you biggest expense and can easily run $150+. Your best bet might be to pick up another bike with aluminum wheels for under $100.

Your LeTour is spaced at 120mm, i.e. for a 5 speed freewheel. You could use a Suntour Ultra 6 speed freewheel without changing the spacing. Adding a Shimano 6 speed will mean spreading the rear dropouts to allow for a 126mm spaced hub, and thus a different hub from your original.

The VO bars look nice, but you will need to carefully measure your existing bars clamp area. Schwinn tended to use smaller sizes 30 years ago then are used today. The VO bars might not fit into your LeTour's stem. Then there is the stem size challenge. Schwinn used a .833" stem diameter. No one makes these now. So finding one with the correct clamp size for the VO bars could be a challenge.

The brake calipers will polish up very nicely with Blue Magic or another metal polish you can find in the hardward store. New Kool Stop Continental pads, new cables and casings by Jagwire will improve the performance considerably. You also might consider the Tectro Areo levers. They are really worth their $25.


https://velo-orange.com/tebrler2r1.html

What color is your LeTour? Pearl Orange by any chance? A really nice color when brought back to life!

politicalgeek

Pearl Blue

I am going to scrounge Ebay and some other places for some of the parts. Maybe head to the co-op to see what they have. Trying to get a handle on what I am looking at before I really start anything big.

ETA
Quick search of ebay turned up a view vintage, alloy wheel sets for $15-20. The budget I mentioned will be more of a guideline. I'm not going to throw big bucks at this, but if I go a bit over it's fine. Just looking to get a solid bike.