Sorry little bit of a wordy explanation for my situation so bare with me.

I have, as far as I can tell, a 1984 Schwinn Le-tour that came with the .833 steam and fork. I recently tried to purchase the original stem for the bike, but after test fitting it it is impossible to get the stem to tighten. This caused me to question if I had the right size so I called the friend I originally received the bike from. He proceeds to tell me that he didn't have the correct size stem so he just sanded down a standard 22.2mm stem until it kind of slid in and then banged it the rest of the way in. So my thought, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that he probably bulged the steer tube of the fork mean I'm going to have to get a new fork. My question is whats my best option from here? Try and source a new .833 fork? Replace the fork with a more standard 1 inch with and use one of the 22.2mm stems I have lying around? Anything else I should take into consideration if I do decide to make the swap? How hard would it be to track down the original odd size fork?

If it were my bike, I'd just replace the fork with one having similar crown-to-axle and rake dimensions, and with a threaded steerer tube of the proper length for the frame's head tube (~40mm longer than the head tube) and having 1.5mm walls (to take a 22.2mm quill stem). The friend you got the bike from sounds a bit ham-fisted

In order to go to a 1 inch threaded fork that will accept a more standard 22.2m stem i'll have to change out the headset though right?

No; the hole in the top fork cone locknut will have to be enlarged (reamed out) to accommodate the 22.2mm quill, but it's a 25.4mm (1") headset for both the old fork's steerer and the new fork's steerer. The only difference should be the wall thickness of the steerer tube (the original Le Tour fork has thicker walls and takes a 21.1mm quill stem while the replacement fork's steerer tube has thinner 1.5mm walls). You'll want to use the fork cone from the old fork.

On the off chance it's a 61cm frame, I've got a nice fork and stem from an '83 LeTour Luxe that I'd sell cheap. See my avatar.

Nice, I'm trying to do this as cheaply/efficiently as possible so forgive my incessant questioning. So I can keep the headset I currently have installed but i will either need to replace the the fork cone from the original fork or enlarge it to fit the steerer tube on the new fork. Then I can install a 22.2mm stem to replace the other 21.15 stem?


Sorry I'm a tiny guy and so the bikes a 53cm. Thank You for the offer though.

Don't enlarge the fork cone. Its inside diameter is critical. Remove it and reuse it on the new fork. Enlarge the opening of the locknut only.

Ahh ya, sorry read that wrong. So enlarge the top lock nut. Is it possible to just get a top lock nut that should fit without modification?

Yes. The threads on threaded steerers except French are almost all 24 threads per inch (some Raleigh steerers use 26 tpi).

Busdriver is right; just move the fork cone (also called the crown race) from the old Le Tour fork to the replacement fork. Doing this ensures the fork cone will be compatible with your Le Tour headset.

https://sheldonbrown.com/headsets.html

If you live near a large city with a bike co-op you could certainly find a suitable fork for cheap. If you're patient you could probably find a dead-stock replacement fork eventually, but the 0.833" forks on old Schwinn's aren't compatible with anything else so moving to a generic fork will be a plus in the long run.

Also, you may be able to use the current fork if you get a stem that 'clamps' at a different spot. It all depends on how mangled the steer tube of the original fork is but usually there is only one small spot where the stem wedge expands and bulges out the fork tube. Since you have a short frame and the stem was 'banged' in, this may not be the case. Still, you may want to see if the steer tube is still usable with a different stem. Also, be aware that not all crown races (fork cones) are the same size. The crown race needs to be a tight (press) fit on the fork. If it is too loose or too small to fit, a good bike shop can probably make it work but at that point you might want to just spend $15 or $20 on a completely new headset, or for less $, just use the lower bearing cup and crown race/for cone. Good luck!

One possibility seems to me is if the steering tube is really 21.15mm or so, you could ream the steering tube to open it for a 22.2mm stem. I can't remember having to ream steering tubes before, but I have had to ream seat tubes on a few occasions. An adjustable reamer is what I would use.

I just looked on McMaster and Carr's website. They have the reamers. It would take two, and they are $130 or more each. If you can't find someone who already has them, you may have to look to another solution.

Harbor Freight has an adjustable reamer set that would have the correct sizes for about 60-70 dollars. I got one but haven't used it yet so I don't know if the cutters are made of steel or a secret Chinese mix of cadmium, zinc, lead and raw sewage.
Either way, don't ream it to a wall thickness less than 1.5 mm unless you want your dentist to be able to buy that Ferrari he's been drooling over.

I just took a look. $72.99 for the set. I may have to get this for myself.

Couldn't you have the larger frame size fork cut down and rethreaded if necessary?

I suppose for this bike, you should be able to find a suitable fork fairly easily though.

Yes, that's the solution I'm looking at right now. A friend has a spare fork that we are going to try that too. I've removed the old fork in order to get the right size, and where as I don't see any visible cracks or bulges in the steering tube it does feel like its been ovalized. Not really sure how to verify that without calipers though. The plan is to install the new fork and make everything a more standard 22.2mm to ease headaches in the future.