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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle After Restoration |
This is a 1982 Schwinn Le Tour that I recently finished a restoration on. About a year or maybe a little longer ago I restored the same year and color of Le Tour but this on is much taller. I love the Schwinn Le Tours as most readers know. They are a very underrated bicycle. They are a lug steel frame, they have great geometry for a very comfortable ride, they are well built and have bullet proof components. What more do you need?
This is one of the better starting condition Le Tours I have seen in a while. It is a fairly clean bike with no real bad spots. Mainly needs a good polishing and a mechanical rebuild. The Le Tour will receive a complete restoration along with new handlebar tape, new cable and cable housings, new tires and tire tubes and new brake pads and these pad where in crooked for a long time and where worn across the middle at an angle. The decals are rough, I wish they where better as I think the blue colored Schwinn decals are very cool.
I am excited to see this Le Tour shine again and maybe even a little more then it did new.
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Handlebars |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Stem |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Head Tube |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Stem & Headset |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Head Tube |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Front Brake |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Front Wheel Hub |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Front Wheel Rim |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Top Tube |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Down Tube |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Seat |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Chicago Decal |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Bottom Bracket |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Crank |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Seat Lug |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Rear Brake Caliper |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Rear Derailleur |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before Rear Wheel Hub |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Bicycle Before |
The frame paint is in amazingly good shape. The only bad spots are where a rear rack rubbed on the seat stays and probably a chain lock around the seat post. I cleaned the frame and worked through a couple grits of polish. The frame polished beautifully! The big difference between the before and after photos are the bright reflections in the paint after. It was a joy to polish this frame!
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Head Tube |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Head Tube |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Top Tube |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Down Tube |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Seat Lug |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Bottom Bracket |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Bottom Bracket |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Bottom Bracket |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Drop Outs |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Fork |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Fork Crown |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Fork Crown |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Fork Blades |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Before Fork Drop Outs |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Head Tube |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Head Tube |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Head Tube |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Down Tube |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Top Tube |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Down Tube |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Seat Lug |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Bottom Bracket |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Bottom Bracket |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Bottom Bracket |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Seat Lug |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Seat Stays |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Chain Stays |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Drop Outs |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Fork |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Fork Crown |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Fork Crown |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration - Frame Polished Fork Drop Outs |
The headset and bottom bracket where very very gritty and very close to being frozen up. In a photo below you can see the bottom bracket cups had some surface rust from the bearings and dried hard grease. I cleaned everything and then took a good amount of time at the polishing wheel. I was worried that the bottom bracket cups would be damaged but they where in good shape, the rust actually wiped right off.
The headset & bottom bracket pieces polished beautifully and look great against that polished blue paint. The shift levers are part of the headset and they turned out amazing also! I like these shift levers a lot, they work a lot better then the Schwinn Big Stick levers. Over all I am very happy with the results of the headset and bottom bracket, both spin great now.
The headset & bottom bracket pieces polished beautifully and look great against that polished blue paint. The shift levers are part of the headset and they turned out amazing also! I like these shift levers a lot, they work a lot better then the Schwinn Big Stick levers. Over all I am very happy with the results of the headset and bottom bracket, both spin great now.
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Headset & Bottom Bracket - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Shift Levers - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Shift Levers - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Shift Levers - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bottom Bracket Cups |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Headset & Bottom Bracket - Polished |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Pressing Headset Cups |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Headset Cups Pressed - Super Shiny! |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Headset - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Shift Levers - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Headset - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bottom Bracket - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bottom Bracket - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Headset & Bottom Bracket - Complete |
For how clean the Le Tour was the stem took a little bit of work to break free, not bad but a little bit of work. The handlebars and stem where cleaned and then polished. The handlebars polished great, I like these handlebars a lot with the little bit of flair up and out. They are like Randonneur handlebars.
The stem polished beautifully, there was a little rust staining but that went away easy. Installed the stem and handlebars are amazing against the polished blue paint.
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Handlebars - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Handlebars & Stem - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Handlebars - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Stem - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Stem - Exploded |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Handlebars & Stem - Polished |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Handlebars - Polished |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Stem - Polished |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Stem - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Stem & Handlebars - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Handlebars & Stem - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Stem & Handlebars - Complete Beautiful! |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Stem & Handlebars - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Brake Levers - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Brake Levers - Polished |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Brake Levers - Polished |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Brake Levers - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Brake Levers - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Brake Levers - Complete |
The crank is a Sugino Super Maxy, a beautiful crank. This is an early version which is still very cool the later version is even better. I disassembled the crank and cleaned and polished all the pieces. The crank turned out beautiful and will really stand out against the polished blue paint.
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Super Maxy Crank - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Crank - Exploded |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Crank - Polished |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Crank - Complete - I love this Stuff!! |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Crank - Installed |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Crank - Installed |
The brake calipers are Schwinn Approved center pull brakes. I like the center pull brakes a lot. They restore fantastic and they actually work very well compared to the side pull brakes of the same era. These brake calipers turned out great and look fantastic installed. I love it!
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Brake Calipers - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Brake Calipers - Exploded |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Brake Calipers - Polished |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Brake Calipers - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Front Brake Caliper - Installed |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Rear Brake Caliper - Installed |
I really like the Aluts derailleurs on this Le Tour. They may not be the lightest set of derailleurs but weight means nothing. What the Altus derailleurs are is very nice looking derailleurs with some nice lines and best of all they are bullet proof in durability and function.
I cleaned all of the pieces and then worked through polishing each piece. Everything polished very well and after assembly the derailleurs look great. With everything properly greased and lubricated both derailleurs function perfect.
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Front Derailleur - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Front Derailleur - Exploded |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Front Derailleur - Polished |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Front Derailleur - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Front Derailleur - Installed |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Rear Derailleur - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Rear Derailleur - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Rear Derailleur - Exploded |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Rear Derailleur - Polished |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Rear Derailleur - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Rear Derailleur - Installed |
The seat post and saddle are in fine shape. I polished all of the seat post pieces and the seat binder bolts. The seat post looks great polished and installed.
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Seat Post & Saddle - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Seat Post - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Seat Binder Bracket - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Seat Post - Polished |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Seat Post - Installed |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Saddle Color - Polished |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Saddle - Installed |
The wheels have some rough spots but should restore very nice. I disassembled the hubs and fund the grease to be pretty nasty. With the hubs cleaned I started the polishing. The hubs polished surprisingly well. They have such a deep shine I was not expecting and that the photos do not do justice too. The rims polished nice also. The rear rim has a few rough spots in one area but not to bad in the end. With the bearings packed in new grease and the new tires and tubes installed the wheels spin great!
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Rear Wheel Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Rear Wheel Hub - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Rear Wheel Hub - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Rear Wheel Rim - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Rear Wheel Hub - Old Grease |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Rear Wheel Hub - Polished |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Rear Wheel Rim - Polished |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration New Gum Wall Tires |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Rear Wheel - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Rear Wheel - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Front Wheel - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Front Wheel Hub - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Front Wheel Rim - Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Front Wheel Hub - Old Grease |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Front Wheel - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Front Wheel - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Wheels - Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration New Cable & Cable Housings |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration New Handlebar Tape |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Wires - Handlebar Tape Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Wired - Handlebar Tape Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Wired |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Wired |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Wired |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Pedals Before |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Pedals Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle - Complete |
The blue Schwinn Le Tour turned out fantastic. I am sorry for the poor lighting condition for the final photos but I think the Le Tour still shines through. The blue paint is perfect, probably not a better example for blue Le Tour paint out there. If new decals could be found in the blue it would be even more amazing. The gum wall tires are classic and the new handlebar tape accents everything perfectly. The bright work just pops! I really really like the way the Le Tour came out.
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Handlebars |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Stem |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Head Tube |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Front Brake |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Front Wheel Hub |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Front Wheel Rim |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Handlebars |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Stem |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Fork Crown |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Front Half |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Saddle |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Drive Train |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Crank |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Front Derailleur |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Rear Derailleur |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Seat Stays |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Rear Brake |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete - Rear Wheel Hub |
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| 1982 Blue Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Bicycle Complete |
Thank you for checking our the Le Tour!
John Z.
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