YouthxCrew

Just got this as a bare frame in my favorite color from a Craigslist seller. Hoped to make it a quick build to try it out but got a wrench thrown when the .833 Schwinn stem turned out to be too big for the steerer and and the bars too big for the Schwinn approved brake levers I already had. I think there must be some mislabelling involved.



Without this shim, the seat tube took a 26.0 seatpost easily.



Color-coordinating feline not included.

I'll update this thread with progress.

Uncle Randy

It's got a shim in the seat tube like my '74 Le Tour. The stem might be the same, too. Did you look up the serial number to see what year it is?

Metacortex

The original stem was labeled 0.833 (21.1mm), however it will measure slightly less. Any other same sized stem should work. The original handlebars were 25.4mm center and 23.8mm where the brake levers would mount. This is the standard size for road bike brake handlebars/levers at the time.

Michael Angelo 

Seat post size is 26.2

YouthxCrew

Yeah, 77', the first year they offered it in orange.

Some updates:

It turns out the problem wasn't the steerer/stem combo, but the locknut. It's a millimeter too small. After trying 4 others, I found one that fits closely enough. The bars ended up being mislabelled, measuring both ends 6 times gave the same measurement each time, 24mm where the brakes should mount.

It's not a big deal though, I bought a set of Dia-Compe brakes and levers off a friend last week that might end up fitting the bar.

Jeff Wills

Why not?

BTW: a Pearlescent Orange Le Tour III was my first 10-speed. I'd been looking to build one as a restomod, but I found a green Superior instead.

My owners are that color, too:

YouthxCrew

I just noticed the missing seat tube and fork decals though- Don't know why I didn't realize till today that they weren't there. So I'll have to find replacements for those.


Bottom bracket is installed at least. I have to decide which crank I'll put on. Thinking something drilled would look cool.

Lovely cats by the way! It's so hard for me to take photos of everything without mine showing up. She's got camera senses.

db130

Nice project, I'm am working on an orange Le Tour III mixte that I acquired as part of a package deal.

uncle uncle

Yes, I noticed the "fake" world stripes were missing, but I thought it to anal of me to point out. I have the red version, which still maintains most/all of it's schwinn approved components. I bought mine to ride the hell out of it, which I've proceeded to do. Which means that in time, I fell in love with it. Heavy? Yeah, but I'm riding it for exercise, mostly, so what do I care? Now I wonder whether I shouldn't be wearing out all those unique pieces and parts. I've always lusted after the orange. By far, it's no competition, the orange is the nicest and most desired of all the color choices.

YouthxCrew

The crank is on now. Currently wearing a temporary drivetrain while I do some work on the freewheel I want to use. I thought about getting one of those gold anodized freewheels, but fear of possibly gaudiness made me compromise with a bronzed Shimano that needs some cleaning.

(Borrowing the wheels and pedals from my commuter/beater)

YouthxCrew

Brakes and levers are installed:




(I know the cable stop is on backwards, it was the only way I could get it to go on)

A better shot of the crank.

Jeff Wills

That's because that's not the original cable stop and seatpost binder bolt. The original cable stop was a "Y" shaped device that had ears on both sides of the binder bolt and did not have an adjuster or quick-release. The QR and the adjuster were on the brake lever.

uncle uncle

Uh, your seat post looks smallish. The lobes on the seat binder bolt look like they have been pulled to close to each other. Just saying.

YouthxCrew

I know, both were from the parts bin. Seems the actual seatpost size must be bigger than 26.2 which is a real surprise for hi-ten. Unfortunately the only other size I have is 27.2 which is too big so hopefully I can find a 26.4 and that works.

Metacortex

The original seatpost was 25.4mm (1") in size, but that depends on having the original shim installed (see the 3rd pic in the first post).

Jeff Wills

You sure about that measurement?

And I agree that the shim was stock original equipment. I think they did it that way so they didn't have to ream out the seam in the tubing as deep.

coolkat

Sorry to pile on with everyone else, but your front wheel doesn't look centered in the fork. Love the color!

Metacortex

Positive. That same seatpost and shim were used at least from '74 through '78 on the Le Tour. I just measured a '78 Le Tour III with the same setup.

uncle uncle

My 77 Le Tour has a shim at the seatpost ... and I'm also pretty sure it's been there since it was shipped from the factory.

The Golden Boy 

You could try putting the cable stop on the non-drive side, the side the bolt is going in.

Otherwise, I ground down a section of the cable stop and put it between the clamp areas.

YouthxCrew

Some updates. I replaced the cable stop and got a new seatpost, so those are resolved. Wheels are nearly ready. Shimano HC 110 hubs laced to Araya 18 rims. The hubs have been serviced, the cups weren't pitted and seemed fine after cleaning but I replaced the bearings.


These will get polished tonight.


The rear came with a gold anodized Suntour Pro Compe. I think it's pretty, but the gearing seems like it'll be too low for me. I cleaned it and serviced it anyway.

The shifters, like the hubs and crank are Campy copies.

Progress thus far.

YouthxCrew

One thing I have to mention is the weight. I had heard that Schwinn was more conservative in their weight estimates than other companies, and I think it's true for this frame (granted, it is the second to smallest frame size) Company specifications were between 29 and 31, and as built, it's a little bit more than 25. I'm very happy with that.

YouthxCrew

Some progress. I've journaled the progress so far in more detail here, but here are some photos for those who don't feel like reading info about how I cleaned up the parts and why I picked them:

YouthxCrew

On the way home from work today, just by random chance, there were two blue 78' LeTours with different owners that were locked up almost directly across the street from one another. The second was even the same size frame as mine:



(You can see the other one in the background here)

uncle uncle

I think the change from steel to alloy rims probably accounts for about 2 lbs of the weight difference. And the tires from the original spec'ed ones, maybe another 1 lb there.