I just picked up this 1987 Schwinn Le Tour frame and fork during my lunch break (that's the actual Craigslist photo), and I'm really looking forward to getting it together. I considered just buffing it out and riding the frame as-is, but the top-tube cable guides are rusted, and I know it's going to drive me bonkers to look at them corroding as I ride. There are also plenty of scratches and gouges in the paint to make powdercoating worthwhile, so there you go--another trip to Ideal Coatings.
In addition to the frame and fork, the young man selling it also produced (from his enviable stash) an extremely well preserved set of hard-anodized 27" wheels laced to lovely low-flange aluminum hubs. Not original to the bike, but I care exactly zero about that sort of thing. I was prepared to install the wheels from the 1985 Schwinn Le Tour mixte I'm working on, but now I can have both bikes rolling. You'll see them both come together here.
Although I only had $59 in my wallet, this was enough to get me the frame and wheels. Granted, this old and not-at-all classic Schwinn might fetch $10 at a yard sale as a complete bike when sold by one non-biker to another, but the seller was (is) a bike guy, and so am I, and I love the deal I got. But oh, if I only had more money on me. He had a Voyageur SP that I briefly considered knocking him unconscious for. A Bridgestone RB-1 in the kitchen. A Falcon decked out in a full Shimano Sante group (ever seen Sante stuff? The white-painted components embody the term "80s group" even more definitively than Flock of Seagulls). It turns out he was not merely an avid collector (procurer is probably a better word) of old bikes, but he actually pays the rent by buying and selling them. Hopefully I'll be a buyer again soon--or better yet, I hope to beat him to the next Craigslist find!
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