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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle After |
The Le Tours paint is rough but I think we can get it back to a deep red shine. The white decals are also a little rough but I think they will clean up nice as well. The chrome is in good shape with a few areas of rust that should remove and come out nice. The alloy will also polish out very nice and when the chrome and alloy are polished they will look beautiful against the polished red.
The Le Tour will receive a complete restoration along with new tires, tire tubes, new cables and cable housings and new handlebar tape. I think the chrome wheel rims and alloy hubs will be stunning when complete with the new tires. The bright work is going to really make the red Le Tour. The early red Le Tours are my favorite, the red is hard to beat. I am very excited to see the results of the Le Tour and excited to get to work on it.
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Handlebars |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Brake Levers |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Before - Head tube |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Front Brake |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration\ Bicycle Before - Front Wheel Hub |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Front Wheel Hub |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Le Tour Logo |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Front Wheel Rim |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Before - Stem |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Shift Levers |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Fork Crown |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Seat Lug |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Before - Crank |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Front Derailleur |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Pedals |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Rear Brake |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Before - Rear Derailleur |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Rear Wheel |
With the frame stripped of the components it can be seen that there is some chipping and the paint is dull and worn in some places which just means the Le Tour is well loved, the way I like to see them!! I gave the frame a good deep cleaning and got to work on polishing. This may be the last time the frame can be completely polished out before a new paint would be needed.
I worked through the polishing grits, the red came back very nice, a very deep shine in most places. Even with that deep shine I think I am going to work through the grits one more time to make it as nice as possible before applying the touch up paint and the sealer wax.
The polished photos below are through the first round of polishing, I will added the second round photos later,
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Frame Before - Head Tube |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Frame Before - Head Tube |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Down Tube |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Frame Before - Seat lug |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Frame Before - Seat Lug |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Seat Tube |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Bottom Bracket |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Frame Before - Drop Outs |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Fork Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Fork Before Fork Crown |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Fork Before - Fork Blades |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Fork Chrome |
Below is the photos of the frame after the first round of polishing. The Frame really looks good but I think it can look even better. After the second round of polishing I will apply the touch up paint and then the sealer wax. The deep red and white decals are really looking good.
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished First Round |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Frame Polished - First Round of Polishing |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished First Round of Polishing |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Second Round |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Frame Polished - Head Tube - Second Round of Polishing |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Frame Polished - Head Tube |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Le Tour Decal |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Seat Lug |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Bottom Bracket |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Bottom Bracket |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Frame Polished |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Fork Polished |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Fork Crown Polished |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Fork Polished |
The Shift Levers are interesting, one lever is the original Le Tour lever and the other is a Sun Tour lever installed on the Schwinn plate. I wish I had some Le Tour levers to take the original lever from but I do not have any in my collection right now.
I installed new bearings and the new clear grease I have been trying out, The clear grease really seems to be nice grease. The headset and levers look good installed and I like the black bottom bracket cups and the chrome lock ring, its a great look. Best of all the headset and bottom bracket spin like butter.
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Shift Levers Cable Stops - Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket Polished |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Headset Cups Press |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Headset Cups - Pressed |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - New Headset Bearings Packed |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Headset Complete |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Headset Complete |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Headset - Complete |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - New Bottom Bracket Bearings Packed |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bottom Bracket - Complete |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket Complete |
The stem polished beautifully!! The stem looks incredible in the photos below, I could not be happier with the stem. The handlebars where in pretty good shape to start, with some cleaning and polishing they turned out very nice.
Both the stem and handlebars look great installed next to the red paint.
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Stem - Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Handlebars & Stem Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Stem - Polished |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Stem & Handlebars Polished |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Handlebars & Sem Compelte |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Handlebars & Stem Polished |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Handlebars & Stem Complete |
Even with the heavy duty mask I wear while polishing I could only do a little polishing today so with that I started work on the wheels. The wheels are in descent starting shape and will be great when completed.
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Rear Wheel - Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Rear Wheel Rim Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Rear Wheel Old Grease |
The wheel rims where in pretty good starting shape, just very little rust, I cleaned and removed the rust and polished the chrome, the rims turned out fantastic, could not be happier with the rims. The wheels look really nice installed on the frame and I really like the shape of the tires, they are going to be very comfortable.
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Wheels Axles - After |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub Polished |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Rear Wheel New Bearings & Grease |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration New Shwalbe Marathon Tires |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Rear Wheel Compelte |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Rear Wheel - Complete |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Front Wheel - Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Front Wheel Hub Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Front Wheel Rim Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Front Wheel Old Grease |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Front Wheel Hub Polished |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Front Wheel New Grease & Bearings |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Front Wheel Complete |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Front Wheel Complete |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Wheels Complete |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Seat Post Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Seat Post & Cable Hanger Polished |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Seat Post & Cable Hanger Complete |
The Brakes are the classic center pull brakes, they work so much better then side pull brakes. The calipers are a little rough and gritty but should come back perfect. I disassembled the calipers and cleaned the pieces before polishing. The rear brake caliper's decal washed right off as it was a little rough. All the pieces polished very nice and assembled easy. A Pair of center pull calipers have 48 pieces to polish but its all worth it with results like this. I love it when center pull brakes look like this!!
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Brake Calipers Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Brake Calipers Exploded |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Brake Calipers Polished |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Brake Calipers Complete |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Front Caliper Installed |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Rear Caliper Installed |
The crank is a little rough, a good deal of rust and most of the washer and lock washers are not savable. i disassembled the crank and got to cleaning and polishing. The drive side of the crank did not polish as well as I like, the Le Tour cranks have the large chain ring attached to the crank arm which makes it very difficult to polish on the power polisher and also a little dangerous and I learned the hard way a long time ago when a large chain ring and crank arm caught in the wheel and flung around and stuck in my shoulder.
The small chain ring polished beautifully and the rest polished okay with a lot of hand work. I am however fairly happy with the results considering the start. I replaced all the washers and lock washers with new stainless steal, the new hardware makes a huge difference and the crank looks great installed.
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Crank - Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Crank - Exploded |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Crank Polished Some of the old washers in front. |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Crank - Complete |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Crank - Installed |
The levers look great installed!
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Brake Levers Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Brake Levers Polished |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Brake Levers Installed |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Brake Levers Installed |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Front Caliper Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Front Caliper Exploded |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Front Derailleur Polished |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Front Derailleur Complete |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Front Derailleur Complete |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle So Far |
The Le Tour rear derailleur is going to be very nice to have on he Le Tour, the derailleurs where nice on the Le Tour, they have worked well and shift well.
I disassembled the Le Tour derailleur and cleaned and polished it. The derailleur turned out very nice so much better then the replacement derailleur. I am very happy with it.
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Derailleurs Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Le Tour Derailleur Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Le Tour Derailleur Exploded |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Le Tour Derailleur Polished |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Le Tour Derailleur Complete |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Le Tour Derailleur - Installed |
I installed the seat collar and seat. The seat collar was rough but after polishing it turned out great, which is usually not the case with seat collars, they tend to not polish well. The seat collar is an important thing to be polished out, you don't see it when its polished but if it was not it would stand out like a soar thumb.
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Seat Collar Before |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Seat Collar Polished |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Seat Installed |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Freewheel After |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Freewheel Installed |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Chain - Installed |
With everything installed it is time to wire the Le Tour. The Le Tour is going to get white cable housings and black handlebar tape. The white cable housings will accent the white decals and red paint very well and will contrast the black handlebar tape.
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - New Cables New Cable Housings |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Le Tour - Wired |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Le Tour - Wired |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Le Tour - Wired |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Le Tour - Wired |
The Le Tour will get very nice Bontrager black cork handlebar tape. The black will very nice to contrast the red and white.
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration New Black Bontrager Cork Tape |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Handlebar Tape Complete |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Pedals After |
I tuned the Le Tour and went for a test ride. The Le Tour rode fantastic and shift super smooth, this is why the Le Tour is such an under rated bicycle. The Schwalbe Marathon tires are fantastic and I like that they are wider tired.
Over all the Le Tour turned out very nice, it is one good looking bicycle. The bright work shines, the paint looks good and the black and white is perfect. The touch up paint turned out fairly good, there is a lot of it but really makes the frame look better.
I am very happy with the results of the Le Tour, it does not get better then the Schwinn red. I took the final photos and realized I did not install the rear rack. I replaced all of the rear rack hardware and the rack looks great installed, the black of the rack completes the theme through. Photos o the rear rack below.
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle - Complete |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle - Complete |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle - Complete - Front |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete Handlebars |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Front Brake |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete Stem |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Front Half |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete Front Wheel |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete Front Wheel Rim |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete Drive Train |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete Rear Brake |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete Rear Wheel |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete Rear |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete Touch Up Paint |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete Rear Rack Installed |
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| John S's 1973 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete Rear Rack Installed |
Thank you for the interest,
John Z.
Wow!!!
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