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Help! How is a Schwinn Le Tour for a commuter 2nd bike

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ewarnerusa

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I've been looking for a road bike/commuter lately at garage sales and pawn shops. I found an ad that says
"NEW SCHWINN Le Tour 10 speed. Found in Grandma's storage, ridden once. Asking $100."
I called the phone number and left a message. Any comments based on this little info? I searched a bit and it seems the Le Tour model hasn't been around in a while. But it seemed like a decent bike for my purposes. Any info is helpful, thanks!
Ed
 
#2 ·
I hate to date myself here, but a Schwin Le Tour was the last bike I rode before my first racing bike. Seemed to work fine back then for regular road rides and it was fairly light weight, I think around 25 pounds with alloy rims. I would see if you can get them down on price as they really weren’t very expensive now and the components, Sun Tour I believe, are completely outdated.
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
EBrider said:
I hate to date myself here, but a Schwin Le Tour was the last bike I rode before my first racing bike. Seemed to work fine back then for regular road rides and it was fairly light weight, I think around 25 pounds with alloy rims. I would see if you can get them down on price as they really weren't very expensive now and the components, Sun Tour I believe, are completely outdated.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I definitely plan on haggling down the price. Most of the looking that I've done dates Le Tour as pretty vintage ;), but I did find that schwinn was making a Le Tour in 2001. I still can't get ahold of the dang sellers! I'm getting pretty interested in this bike, I hope it works out. Thanks for the reply.
 
#4 ·
Nice!

Yeah, I think they made newer LeTours in the '90's, some with aluminum frames, which would probably be fine. The older 80's versions were lugged steel frames - definitely on the higher end of Schwinn's line. Nice bikes: never had one but I've seen several in shops. It's a popular model to convert to fixed gear (as is any nice older steel bike with horizontal drops).

I'd also try to get the price reduced, but if it's in good shape, youi're happy with the parts and you plan to use it, the price isn't bad. Being a touring bike, it'll take fenders & racks if you decide to go that route. Really a pretty nice commuter! Good luck,

Barry
 
#6 ·
another possible source

big city cop shops end up with lots of bikes and most of them hold occasional auctions, where you can get some amazing deals. I once got a full Campy Record (the old record, before indexing, delta brakes etc) equipped Colnago (!) for $40(!!!) They usually have no clue what they got, a Huffy's the same as a Cinelli to most of them, so it all depends who shows up to bid. If not many folks show up, and they're looking for bikes for their little kids, or more likely "mountain bikes" to ride on the road, an adult "10-speed" often goes unnoticed.
small town and rural cop shops don't usually collect enough bikes to hold an auction so they end up piled up in some back room. I've always found if you go to them with a good story about needing a bike, maybe bring them a muffin basket or a box of doughnuts, they'll give you whatever they got, just to free up some space.
 
#7 ·
Try the Heritage section at Schwinn.com for some good info on older Schwinn bikes. Most of their lightweights (LeTour, Continental, World, etc.) are good solid riders without much collector value. OTOH- those old Paramounts in mint condition can easily hit 4-figures.
 
#8 ·
yup

It's a popular model to convert to fixed gear (as is any nice older steel bike with horizontal drops).

yup, rode my fixed geared LeTour today, actually. Full fenders, 35mm cross tires, 39/16. 10 miles of pavement, 16 miles of dirt road.

Commuter original Q poster: Buy it, it'll be fine. Nothing wrong with old SunTour friction shifting components, esp. if the bike was hardly ridden. Don't be an idiot and believe you have to "upgrade" to stupid shitmano STI or anything. The stock parts are fine. Lots of folks these days never even rode a non-index shifting bike. You can be their superior.
 
#9 ·
At the time SunTour was good stuff if you and Shimano was only on much cheaper bikes, with the exception of Dura-ace. Even index shifting took a while to help Shimano gain acceptance as the early models were so loud you may as well have made an announcement that you were planning to jump.
 
#10 · (Edited)
ewarnerusa said:
I've been looking for a road bike/commuter lately at garage sales and pawn shops. I found an ad that says
"NEW SCHWINN Le Tour 10 speed. Found in Grandma's storage, ridden once. Asking $100."
I called the phone number and left a message. Any comments based on this little info? I searched a bit and it seems the Le Tour model hasn't been around in a while. But it seemed like a decent bike for my purposes. Any info is helpful, thanks!
Ed
Click to expand...
.
You could do MUCH better ..... a 'vintage' LeTour is a $25 bike at many flea markets .... and not really suited for your purpose ......... unless it is a special Super LeTour or something like that ..........
.
As far as Schwinn is concerned, look for the high end stuff ...'vintage' - late 80's/early 90's whatever - Circuit, Prologue, or Peloton ..... or a notch down to a Tempo .... or maybe a Prelude ......etc. These bikes had quality lugged frames - some with Columbus tubing, some with Tange. The Circuit, Prologue, and Peloton are (especially) keepers.
.
These bikes use 700c wheels - as opposed the 27" wheels used by an old LeTour for example. Most of the running gear would be a huge upgrade over an old LeTour (or similar) also. Most of these bikes were 6 or 7 speed (126 mm rear triangle) - much better than a 5 speed - but the rear rear triangle would need to be spread to 130mm if you plan to go 8 or 9 speed in the future. Still, relatively easy to upgrade - especially when compared to an old 27" wheel bike ......
.
Also, an early 90's Schwinn Paramount would be an *excellent'* choice .... lugged Tange Prestige (steel) ..... great frame/bike and affordable .......
 
#11 ·
ewarnerusa said:
I've been looking for a road bike/commuter lately at garage sales and pawn shops. I found an ad that says
"NEW SCHWINN Le Tour 10 speed. Found in Grandma's storage, ridden once. Asking $100."
I called the phone number and left a message. Any comments based on this little info? I searched a bit and it seems the Le Tour model hasn't been around in a while. But it seemed like a decent bike for my purposes. Any info is helpful, thanks!
Ed
Click to expand...
.
What size bike are you looking for ........... and where do you live ?
 
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