1989 Schwinn LeTour, keep or scrap?
 

Hello everybody,

I purchased a 1989 Schwinn LeTour earlier this year to use in a 20km race I entered. I have had some issue with it, since when I bought it, it still had all the original equipment, SunTour Blaze drivetrain, Schwinn tires and tubes, etc. I replaced the tires and wheels, but still have the rest of the equipment. My ultimate question is would it be worth it to fit it with newer components and some new paint, or just sell it and buy a new one? It is a 4130 chrome-moly steel frame, and is fairly light and fits me well. I'm pretty big and like the idea of having a bike that will put up with my applied force. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Hi Sneakysnake, welcome to the forums. Can you post some pics? How did you do in the race?

The first question is does the bike fit you correctly? Unless your 350+ and solid muscle with thighs like phone poles you should be OK on this bike for most reasonable riding.

While Suntour Blaze is on the lowerend of the scale with a little care and proper adjustment it should shift smoothly and provide years of service. Are all the parts correct? Suntour shifters? Suntour Freewheel? Are the shifter and FW booth 6 or 7 speed?

If the bike fits and your happy with the ride doing a slight drivetrain upgrade may not be a bad idea but I would not go nuts repainitng it. Swapping out to some lowerend shimano shifters, RD and FW may make the shifting crisper.

Should be a good solid bike, perhaps a little heavy. Catalog for that year puts it at about 25 pounds, you might lighten some with a newer drive train and wheels, but the expense of that might be prohibitive. If it is all working well, ride it! Might look for a donor bike for drive train, MUCH cheaper than new, and there is always the trading thread on the forum.

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Here are some pics as requested. Sorry it took so long, I was replacing the crankarm that I rounded out during my race.

Solid bike - just not worth the upgrades ..... If your getting into racing you might have more success with a lighter bike with more modern compents - STI . The Le Tour could make a trainer/rainy day bike.

The bike probably hasn't been extensive overhauled since it left the factory. In less than 1/2 a day, you can do the following:

Those cable housings look original to the bike. I would spend a couple of bucks to put all new cable sets and possibly cable housing on the bike.
Also, your chain, RD, and freewheel look pretty dirty as well, so they need to be cleaned.
Finally, the cranks should be removed and the bottom bracket bearings serviced/replaced.

$15-$49 in parts and cleaners, depending on whether you buy Wallyworld Bell cable sets ($7) or Jagwire cables ($35 +/-).

Looks to be in decent shape, I would not repaint. A repaint will be too expensive and the paint does not look bad as is. Just do some basic maint and keep her on the road. What exactly would you want to upgrade and why? Maybe with some more info you can get some recommendations. Here are some link to very useful sites for cleaning and maint.

http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...4_WORKSHOP.htm
http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help

Probably worth keeping, as bikes in that size you don't see every day . At least I don't .

I think that what I really want to upgrade is the shifting system. It is kind of a pain in the butt to have to reach down between my legs and shift. The other things are just simple, saddle, pedals, a wider set of drop bars. As far as the paint, it really isn't that bad overall, but could use some touch-ups, it has quite a few scratches.

Bar end shifters may be nice, and the cable guides can use the old shifter braze- ons

Any recommendations on how to clean a freewheel and chain?

dont scrap it! Its a great frame for what it is. If you want to ride it and it fits you well then upgrade it. If you just want something different as an upgrade then look at something more road race oriented. it's a great bike for what it is and can be made to do quite a bit, especially after upgrading. Don;t think you'll just be able to buy speed though, the engine is the biggest difference.

Check out Sheldon Brown for freewheel cleaning as well as chain . For chains , I use diesel and then dip the chain in melted parrafin, melting the parrafin in hot water , not directly . You can find parrafin as Gulfwax with home canning supplies . Tri flow works well too.
Another recommendation would be to ditch the chain altogether and buy a new one . Chain stretch can ruin a freewheel, so when in doubt, replace .

what's interesting is the size of the bike. You obviously need a large frame for your large frame. A new bike of similar size might be hard to find, and costly. Appears you are just getting into racing from the short distance of that event. I'd keep the Schwinn and update the drivetrain cost effectively to improve ridability and some performance.
Easiest upgrade is replace the Suntour friction drivetrain for Shimano SIS indexed gear. That would entail a SIS compatible 7 speed freewheel, new HG compatible chain, Shimano SIS RD (new or used) and SIS shifters. Since you don't like DT shifters due to the reach. You can opt for either Shimano bar-ends with 7 or 8 speed SIS indexing. Or, a set of Shimano 7 speed rocker shifters that mount either side of the stem, on the handlebars. This is the most cost effect upgrade.

Next would be to acquire a set of 7 or 8 speed STI brifters.
An option next would be to get a new freehub rear wheel for 8 speed cassettes, and cold set the frame to 130mm.
The bike will be more fun to ride and competitive.

Keep it, just clean it up and it'll be a good workout/city bike. Some good recommendations above, and I'll add replacing the bottom bracket. If its a square taper BB, install a newer one and it should make pedaling a lot easier, plus the newere ones are sealed to prevent water and dirt intrusion. That's waht I did when rehabing a 1980-ish LeTour and it was noticable easier to pedal. .