In a message dated 9/5/01 2:10:47 PM Pacific Daylight Time, davidg@iag.net writes:
<< he said it was a Schwinn LeTour, it has a lugged frame (all chrome when the paint was removed) It has mostly Shimano parts. Where does the LeTour fit in the Schwinn pecking order? >>
I used to ride a 1980 LeTour for a couple yeras in the early 80s. I believe it had plain old 1020 tubing. The components were a mix of "Schwinn Approved" stuff. The hubs were probably Malliard. I think the derailleurs were SunTour. The brakes were Dia-Compe with "Turkey-wing" extenders. I took those off and put on hoods. It came with stem mount shifters, which I replaced with down tube shifters. Rims were steel. I don't remember the crank--possibly a cheaper Sugino. Overall, as far as nice bikes go, it was fairly low-end. Nicer than a department store bike. It had a 5 speed freewheel. The next schwinn bike up the scale in 1980 was the Super LeTour. It had a 6 speed cluster, dt shifters, aluminum rims, no turkey wings. Even higher up in 1980 were the Voyageur, the Superior?, and of course the Paramount. I tink the models lower than the LeTour were the Traveller and Varsity. This is my best recollection. If someone has the exact pecking order of the old Schwinns, it would be interesting to see. I'm especially curious about the 1980 line.
Glenn Fahey
Herndon, VA