-The Le Tour is True Temper 4130 throughout and the Prelude is Columbus Tenax main tubes with chrome-moly stays.

-The Le Tour fork is Mangalloy and the Prelude fork is Tange hi-ten.

-The Le Tour geometry is a little tighter with a HT of 73, ST of 74, & 39.4" wheelbase compared to the Prelude with 72.5 HT & ST and 39.75" wheelbase.

-Both have 700c wheels.

-Both have the same braze-ons (eyelets, DT shifter bosses, 2 sets of bottle cage bosses, etc.).

-The Prelude is listed stock at 24 lbs and the Le Tour is listed at 25 lbs.

The Prelude is one level above the Le Tour in both '87 and '89, but given the specs above (from the Schwinn catalogs), what differences would you expect in the ride/feel of the two bikes? Some of the 1lb weight difference is probably in the components, but what would you think the difference is in the weight of the frames? Does the feel of the nicer tubeset of the Prelude get lost in the geometry difference, at least to the point where there's no discernable difference (if there was to begin with)? Which would you prefer and why?

I think the Le Tour frame is built from straight gauge, non-butted tubing. I had a 1989 Traveler, one level down, and neither the catalog or the True Temper sticker mentioned any butting.

Whereas my 1989 Trek 400's True Temper sticker is explicit about being double butted. And lighter as a 1" larger complete bike, with all the other variables.

I really enjoy the 1989 geometry, and I can't talk to the slacker Prelude geometry.

I might err on the side of Tenax though, and personal preference for Shimano Light Action.

Good point on the butting. The '89 catalog does mention double-butted tubing on some models but does not mention it on the Le Tour.

Anyone know if the '89 Le Tour had double butted 4130? The '88 catalog lists the Le Tour as having double butted 4130 and weighing 25lbs, so it would make sense that '89 would also be double butted since it also weighs 25lbs...unless the components were lighter and the frame was heavier? Then again, the fork in '87 and '88 was the same for both models, but the '89 Le Tour's fork changed.

I have an '87 Prelude and highly recommend it. Shimano Indexed Shifting which I got working pretty good. The LeTour has Suntour Accushift which, from what I've heard, is great if it's working right; very smooth.

Doohickie,
I've seen your Prelude...nice bike! Wanna trade for an '83 Supercourse that's too big for me (25")? Then I can make all the comparisons myself.

I've got an '89 Le Tour that I've been considering upgrading, but I was comparing it to the '87 Prelude because it's the highest level Schwinn with eyelets (other than the Voyageur), and I want somethign with eyelets, 700c wheels, and recessed brakes. The '88 versions were reversed, with the Le Tour having 72.5 HT & ST angles and the Prelude having the 73 and 74 angles, so comparing my '89 with the '87 Prelude made the most sense in terms of geometry differences.

Now there's an intriguing prospect. I suppose the Super Course is not indexed. But.... the Prelude is a wee bit small for me. Is the description in the 1985 catalog similar (i.e., is it a "Raleigh USA"?), or is a 1983 model prior to the Huffy relationship? What tubing? What gruppo? Pictures?

Hmmmm....

did the '87 prelude have touring or racing geometry?

At any rate the later preludes had the same geometry as schwinn's racing specific bikes and had columbus tubing. The other one is random 4130 tubing and touring geometry. There will be a big difference IMO.

The Prelude is the "worst of the best" in the Schwinn lineup for 1987. It is the lowest bike in the line to have the Columbus Tenax tubing. I believe it does have the racing geometry; felt kind of "twitchy" when I first started riding it, but quickly grew accustomed to the responsiveness. But it also, as brockd15 mentions, have eyelets, downtube bosses and bottle cage bosses. It's a pretty nice bike. Right now it's the fastest one I own.

In what way specifically?

As I mentioned in the original post, the '89 Le Tour has the tighter 73/74 geometry (in '89 all the bikes from the Aluminum models to the Traveler had the same geometry) compared to the '87 Prelude at 72.5/72.5 (same as the '89 Voyageur). In '87 the top three bikes had the 73/74 geometry, and from the Prelude down they all had 72.5/72.5. The '87 Prelude also had a slightly longer wheelbase than the '89 Le Tour.

So, it boils down the Prelude being better steel with slacker geometry and the Le Tour being lesser steel with racier geometry.

The 86,87 Preludes were sport touring geometry with the 72.5-73 degree head the seat tube angles. More lively than a full tourer. IMO, makes for a nice Rando bike.

Actually, both the '86 and '87 catalogs show the Prelude to have 72.5 seat and head tube angles.
And it would be at least a part time rando bike.