I started work on a Schwinn Super Le Tour between the tune ups and between prepping frames for powder coat and heat time. The Super Le Tour is a very underrated bicycle. They came with descent alloy wheels, Sun Tour Cyclone derailleurs and Dia-Comp 500 brakes. It is a very nice set up.
This Super Le Tour may have had some time exposed to the elements but I think it will come back pretty darn nice. The red paint is is descent shape under the weathered dullness, it should cut to a very nice finish. The alloy may look rough but the fact that just about all the main pieces of the components are alloy means it will all polish beautifully. I think there is an amazing bicycle in there, I can't wait to see it!
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| 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Handlebars |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Stem |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Head Badge |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Front Brake |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Front Wheel Hub |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Front Wheel Rim |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Stem |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Super Le Tour Decal |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Shift Levers |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Down Tube |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Saddle |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Crank |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Front Derailleur |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Seat Lug |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Rear Brake |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Rear Derailleur |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before
Rear Wheel Hub |
From the looks of the frame the paint has definitely spent some time out doors in the weather and rain but the paint has very few chips. The paint is very dull and rough with some staining and deep tar stains but everything should polish out very nice.
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| 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Head Tube |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Head Tube |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Top Tube |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Down Tube |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Down Tube |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Seat Lug |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Seat Tube Decal |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Bottom Bracket |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Bottom Bracket |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Bottom Bracket |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Bottom Bracket |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Seat Stays |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Chain Stays |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Drop Outs |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Fork |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Fork Crown |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Fork Blades |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before
Drop Outs |
After working through a few polishing grits and spending a good deal of time with each grit, the frame turned out amazing. The red came back very nice, the stains polished away, and everything has a nice deep wet look. There are a few spots that are just slightly dull like the bottom bracket area but that is mainly because of the cable guides. I am very pleased with the polishing of the paint, the red looks great!!
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| 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Head Tube - Beautiful!! |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Head Tube |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Top Tube Deal |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Down Tube |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Down Tube Decal - I love the silver against the red! |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Seat Lug - A few small chips. |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Seat Tube Decal - Beautiful! |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Seat Tube |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Bottom Bracket |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Bottom Bracket - Chips from kick stand. |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Seat Stays |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Drop Outs |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Fork |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Fork Crown |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Fork Blades |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished
Drop Outs |
The headset and bottom bracket where a little rough to start so the pieces went into the crock pot for cleaning. After some polishing the headset and bottom bracket look great and with the new grease they each spin great. I like this headset a lot, I would say it almost has a Campy look to it.
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Before |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Polished |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration
Pressing Headset Cups |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration
Headset Cups - Pressed |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Headset Bearings
Packed |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Headset
Complete |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bottom Bracket
Bearings Packed |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Bottom Bracket
Complete |
The handlebars and stem where in fine shape to start. Some time on the polishing wheels and they look fantastic. Installed next to the polished red paint they look amazing.
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Handlebars
Before |
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| 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Stem - Before |
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| 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Stem & Handlebars - Before |
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| 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Handlebars - Before |
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| 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Stem - Before |
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| 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Stem - Exploded |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Handlebars & Stem
Polished |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Handlebars
Polished |
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| 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Stem - Polished |
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| 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Stem - Complete |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Stem & Handlebars
Complete |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration
Stem & Handlebars - Complete |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Stem & Handlebars
Complete |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Stem & Handlebars
Complete |
The brake levers are nice Die-Comp areo levers. the hoods are in great shape they just need a deep cleaning. I polished the levers and then cleaned and treated the hoods, they turned out great and look great installed.
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| 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Brake Levers - Before |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Brake Levers
Polished |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Brake Levers
Installed |
The crank is a Sugino. It is in rough starting shape, it has some gouges and scratches and has a very textured surface to the aluminum that makes polishing difficult. When I broke the crank down I had to chain ring bolt break off on me, those will get replaced. I cleaned all the pieces and then did my best to polish the textured surface. The hardware polished great, the crank arms polished pretty good and the chain rings polished very nice. On the crank arms you can still see where toe clips where rubbing the crank arm, the wear was just to much to polish completely away. Overall I am very happy with the results of the crank, it looks great and with two new chain ring bolt it will be good for years to come.
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| 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Crank - Before |
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| 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Crank - Exploded |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Chain Ring Bolts
Broken |
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| 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Crank - Complete |
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| 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Crank - Installed |
The seat post is my favorite kind, which is anything with flutes and alloy. I polished all the seat post pieces and then installed the original seat forgetting that there was anew white saddle for the Super Le Tour. I later remembered and installed the correct saddle. The white saddle looks great with the red and will look even better with white handlebar tape. For some reason white and red just work.
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Saddle & Seat Post
Before |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Seat Post
Exploded |
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| 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Seat Post - Polished |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration
Seat Post & Saddle - Installed |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration
Correct Saddle - Installed |
The shift levers where very gritty and barely moved. I broke the levers down and started the cleaning and polishing process. With grease in all the right places the levers function very smooth now, they also look fantastic, I love them.
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Shift Levers
Before |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Shift Levers
Exploded |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Shift Levers
Polished |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Shift Levers
Complete |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Shift Levers
Installed |
The bike being left out in the elements for some time really shows in the derailleurs, there are a lot of rough surfaces and some rough areas. I cleaned all the pieces and lubricated the pivot points. All the pivot points moved fine and with no wiggle or play so the derailleurs should function great. With all the pivot points checking out I started polishing, I worked through a few greats and put the time in and all the pieces really polished nice. I assembled everything and lubricated everything one more time. The derailleurs turned out great, I am very proud of the work that went into them! They also look great installed!
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Sun Tour Cyclone
Derailleurs - Before |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Front Derailleurs
Before |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Front Sun Tour Cyclone
Derailleur - Before |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Sun Tour Cyclone
Derailleur - Exploded |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Front Derailleur
Polished |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Front Derailleur
Complete |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Front Derailleur
Complete |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Front Derailleur
Installed |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Rear Sun Tour Cyclone
Derailleur - Before |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Sun Tour Cyclone
Derailleur - Exploded |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Rear Derailleur
Polished |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Rear Derailleur
Complete - I am very proud of the results! |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration
Rear Derailleur - Installed |
The brake calipers are Die-Comp 500's. I like these calipers, they work pretty good, they look good and I like the release mechanism. I did not notice at first but the hex key nut on the rear caliper an the end of the brake stud broke off when removing. I broke the calipers down and did the cleaning and polishing. The calipers look fantastic polished and amazing installed against the red polished paint.
I had to figure out what to do about the broken stud and nut. I took an extra long nut and cut it down a little. It is longer then the original to catch more threads. The new nut now catches now about 5 threads and will work good.
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Die-Comp 500
Brake Calipers - Before |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Die-Comp 500
Brake Calipers - Exploded |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Brake Calipers
Polished |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Die-Comp 500
Calipers - Complete |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration
Front Brake - Installed |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration - Rear Brake
Replacement Nut |
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1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour Restoration
Rear Brake - Complete |
The pedals are missing the toe clips but they polished out very nice and spin very smooth. They will work well.
John, beautiful bike! I have a 1984 Le Tour Luxe that I bought new. Still ride it several times a week. It is comfortable and indestructible. The gold paint is starting to look dull though and the decals are flaking. How did you preserve the decals so well on the Super?
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