Rob K's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle After

This is Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour restoration.  Rob is the original owner of the Le Tour and it was a gift in high school.  Rob would like to have the Le Tour restored and passed to his son.  I love bike history like this, it is very cool when the full history of a bicycle is known and especially when it stays in a family.

The Schwinn Le Tour is in descent starting shape and the awesome white/blue paint scheme is not to rough.  The Le Tour has a very nice Sun Tour indexed drive train with a very nice Sugino crank.  The Le Tour is missing the front wheel but the rear wheel is very nice with a Rigida rim.  It prove to be difficult to find a matching front wheel so a new more modern front wheel in black will be installed.

The Le Tour will receive a total restoration with all new cables, cable housings, bearings, new handlebar tape, new front wheel and new tires and tubes.  I might be missing some other new parts in there at the moment.

The white and blue paint has only a few small chips and scuffs.  The scuff should polish away and with the chips filled the paint should polish extremely nice.

From the many Le Tour restoration I have done in the past readers know how much I like Le Tours, they are very versatile well built bicycles and the 1987 version is no different.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Handlebars

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Bicycle Before - Brake Levers 

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Stem

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Head Badge

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Front Brake

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Stem

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Fork Crown

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Fork Decal

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Le Tour - Decal

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Shift Levers

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Saddle

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Seat Lug

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Crank

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Front Derailleur

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Rear Brake

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Seat Stay

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Rear Derailleur

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Rear Wheel

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Rear Rim

With the components stripped from the frame the paint looks to be in even better shape then what I was expecting.  The paint should clean well and polish very nice.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Head Tube

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Head tube - Sorry Poor Photo

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Le Tour Decal

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Shift Lever Bosses

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Bottom Bracket

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Down Tube

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Seat Lug

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Seat Lug

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Down Tube

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Down Tube

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Bottom Bracket

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Seat Stay - Poor Photo

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Brake Bridge

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
SeatStay - Scuff

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Drop Outs

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Fork

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Fork Crown

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Fork Decal

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame - Before
Fork Drop Outs

The frame cleaned very nice and I got on to the polishing.  The white paint has some staining around the bottom bracket from old grease, it cleaned pretty good and polished away okay, not perfect but not bad either.  The blue paint and the white are shades that are difficult to polish, with out a metallic fleck or a clear coat layer it is hard to shine with depth, especially on white.

With going through a few grits of polish and a lot of buffing the white and blue turned out very nice.  The scuffs polished away and he staining polished pretty well.  I am happy with the results and I really like the blue and white fade.

I apologize for the poor photo quality, I dropped my good camera and am making due with a crappy camera until the new lens gets here.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Frame Polished - Head Tube

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Le Tour Decal

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Frame Polished - Down Tube

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Frame Polished - Seat Lug & Decal

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Bottom Bracket

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Frame Polished - Brake Bridge

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Frame Polished - Scuffs on Seat Stay
Poor Photo

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Frame Polished - Seat Stay Scuffs

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Frame Polished - Fork

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Fork Crown

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Frame Polished - Fork Decal

The headset and bottom bracket are in good shape, I cleaned and polished both.  I also replaced the bearings, I do not replace the bearing cages as they are reusable and it saves money.  The headset and bottom bracket looked fantastic against the frame polished.  I see I missed the photo of the bottom bracket complete.

I have also recently decided to switch bearing grease I use.  I found this clear grease that seems to be extremely high quality.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Before

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Polished

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Headset Cups - Cups Pressed

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Headset Cups Pressed

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Headset Bearings
Packed 

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Headset - Complete

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Headset - Complete

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bottom Bracket
New Bearings - Packed

The stem is a Custom stem, a very nice stem.  It took a good deal of cleaning and polishing to get it looking good but the results are very nice.  The stem looks fantastic installed next to the polished headset and polished blue paint.  It is stacking polished on polished.

The handlebars are my favorite Road Champion handlebars, hey cleaned and polished nice and when the handlebar tape installed the stem and handlebars will really pop.  A polished stem and handlebars I think really make a bike.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Stem - Before

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Stem & Handlebars
Before

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Stem - Polished

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Stem
Handlebars - Polished

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Stem & Handlebars
Complete

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Stem & Handlebars
Complete

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Stem & Handlebars - Complete

At this point I am still working on the brake levers.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Brake Levers
Before

The crank is a very nice Sugino VX130.  There is a little scratching and the crank surface has a texture.  I was very surprised how well the crank arms polished with the textured surface I am thrilled with the results.  I installed new crank dust caps and installed the crank, it looks fantastic installed.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Crank - Before

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Crank - Exploded

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Crank - Polished

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Crank - Complete

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - New Crank Dust caps

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Crank - Installed

The shift levers are Sun Tour Accushift indexed levers.  The levers clenaed, lubricated and polished extremley nice.  I have always liked the Accushift levers, they have a fantastic crisp and light action.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Shift Levers
Before

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Shift Levers
Complete

The derailleurs are Sun Tour Accushift CX 4050 derailleurs.  The derailleurs are very gritty but I think there are some very beautiful derailleurs under there.

I disassembled the derailleurs and cleaned and flushed the pivot points.  After polishing I lubricated the pivot points and assembled the derailleurs.  The derailleurs polished very nice, they look fantastic and pivot very smooth.  They look fantastic installed on the frame.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Derailleurs
Before

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Front Derailleur
Before

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Derailleurs
Exploded

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Derailleurs
Polished

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Front Derailleur
Polished

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Derailleurs
Complete

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Front Derailleur
Installed

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Rear Derailleur - Installed

The brake calipers are nice Die-Comp 500's.  They are in good starting shape and after cleaning and polishing they look fantastic completed.  The front caliper pops against the blue paint, I am extremley happy with the brake calipers.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Brake Levers
Before

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Brake Levers
Exploded

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Calipers - Polished

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Brake Calipers
Complete

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Front Brake Caliper - Installed

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Rear Brake Caliper - Installed

The original saddle is in fantastic shape, a San Marco.  This was an extremely popular saddle when the Le tour was new, I am thrilled it is still in good shape.  The seat post is a little beat up from a rough spot in the lug.  I polished the seat post and it looks pretty darn good considering where it started.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Saddle & Seat Post
Before

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Seat Post
Polished

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Seat Post - Installed

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - San Marco Saddle
Installed

That leaves the main body components complete except for the brake levers.  The Le Tour is really looking good.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Main Body Components
Complete

The rear wheel is an extremely nice wheel with a Rigida rim and Shimano 600 hub.  It was time to replace the bearings and new grease, the hub polished beautifully and the rim came out okay.  The rim has a satin black finish but it cleaned up nice.  I trued the wheel and replaced one spoke nipple.  The wheel spins extremely nice.

I have not installed the new Michelin white wall tires yet because I don't want the white to get dirty in the shop.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Rear Wheel - Before

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Rear Wheel - Before

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub
Before

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Rear Rim - Before

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub
Old Grease

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub
Polished

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Rear Wheel Rim - Polished

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub
New Bearings & Grease

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Rear Wheel Complete

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Rear Wheel & Freewheel
Complete

The new front wheel is very nice.  The wheel feels very tight in construction if that makes seance and the color of the wheel is perfect for the Le Tour.  Best of all the wheel spins for ever.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
New Front Wheel

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - New Front Wheel
Rim

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - New Front Wheel
Hub

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Wheels Complete

 It took some time to get the brake lever white lever hoods to look good and it took all my tricks but they turned out fantastic and they are not sticky or rotten.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Brake Levers
Complete

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Brake Levers
Installed

 With the Le Tour basically complete it was time to wire the bike.  I ran the cables and the new white cable housings, the new cable housings look great and I was able to stand tune the Le Tour with it wired.  It is nicely tuned for being on the stand.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - New Cables & Cable
Housings

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Cable Ran

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Cable Ran

The pedals are very nice MKS pedals.  I cleaned and polished the pedals and installed the pedals, they turned out great for pedals.  I still need to get the toe clips look good and install new straps.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Pedals - Before

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Pedals - Polished

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Pedal - Installed

The toe clips cleaned up very nice and with new straps installed look great.  

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Toe Clips & New Straps

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Toe Clips
Complete

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Toe Clips - Complete

Only a white water bottle cage would look correct on the Le Tour.  I like these very light composite cages and they look good, it looks really good installed.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - New Water Bottle Cage

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - New Water bottle Cage
Installed

 That just leaves the new white synthetic leather handlebar tape.  I actually installed it after the test rides, I did not want to get the white dirty with my mechanic hands.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - New White Handlebar Tape

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Half of Handlebar Tape
Compelte

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Handlebar Tape
Complete

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Handlebar Tape
Complete

 That completes the 1987 Schwinn Le Tour.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete

In test riding the Le Tour it just took a few minor adjustments to have it tuned nice.  The Le Tour is a lot faster then I was expecting but that is probably the 700c wheels and the type of tires it has.  I really like the ride and I really like the Sun Tour Accushift drive train, very crisp.

Better yet is the looks, I mixed a very good match for the white and a pretty good match for the blue to touch up the chips.  The white wall tires are perfect for the Le Tour and the new handlebar tape and cable housings really make the blue pop.  I like the looks a lot, the bright work pops, the black wheels with the white wall tires are perfect, I really like this bicycle.

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle - Compelte

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Bicycle Complete - Front

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Front

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Bicycle Complete - Front Brake Area

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Front Wheel

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Stem Area - Beautiful!!

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration
Bicycle Complete - Front Half - Bad Camera

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Shift Levers

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Drive Train

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Rear Brake - Bad Photo

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Rear Wheel

Rob's 1987 Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Rear

Thank you for the interest and work,
John Z.