Schwinn Le Tour Restoration Part 1

I have old Schwinn Le Tour IV here to fix up. It has duct tape on the handlebars and probably the most uncomfortable looking seat ever made. Thankfully it's going to a good home, but first it needs a major overhaul.

I'll start by removing the handlebars so I can repack the headset. First I unhook the brake cables from the levers:

The cable then comes right off after unscrewing the barrel adjuster on top:

After loosening the stem bolt, the bars slid right out: Now I can remove the top nut holding the headset together:

With those shifters out of the way I can unscrew the top headset race:

Now the fork slides out of the frame, along with all the little ball bearings that it spins on:

The chrome fork legs are a little rusty, so I rubbed some wet aluminum foil on the chrome to clean them up:

I'm going to take the bike apart some more, so off comes the brake caliper. It's held on by a 10mm nut:

Now the seat and seatpost (this is why you grease the post before installing it):

Now it's time for the brakes and bottom bracket. These dustcaps unscrew with a coin:

Then you remove the 14mm nut with a socket:

The crank wont slide off without a crank puller.

Crank removed, the left side comes off the same way:

On the left side you can unscrew the lock ring that holds the bottom bracket in adjustment. I use a special tool, but you can use a vise grip or channel lock pliers if you don't mind a few scuffs on it:

Now unscrew the left side bottom bracket cup. This one came out with a 5/8" wrench:

With the bearing cup out of the way, you can slide out the spindle and ball bearings (these were really dirty):

The right side cup comes out with a big adjustable wrench. This one is reverse threaded, so unscrew it as if you were trying to tighten it:

The rear derailleur needed some love too, so I removed it for cleaning and oiling the pulleys:

 

To clean and oil the cables, you can slide them out of the frame through these slots:

 

To do the wheel bearings, use a cone wrench and an adjustable to undo the locknut on one side. Then unscrew the cone all the way and slide the axle out:

I soaked all the bearings in mineral spirits together to break up all the dried up grease and dirt. In the past I used to use degreasers or soap and water, but I never got the bearings nearly as clean as I can with mineral spirits. It's definitely worth it if you do a lot of bike work.

Don't use duct tape on your handlebars, this took more than half an hour to remove:

On a final note, make sure your inner tube valves are straight before you inflate them, otherwise this happens (and it's not fixable):

My next post will show how to put this Schwinn back together in much better working order. Cheers!