Help Identifying these bikes…

[Schwinn Sales West]

The 1980 Schwinn catalog says that the Super LeTour is made in Chicago and the LeTour has an "American built" frame. I think the Greenville plant opened in 1980, if memory serves. @Schwinn Sales West

Schwinn catalogs, 1971 - 1980 (513 of 579)

Sorry @Oilit , my catalogs are not currently available to me for reference.

John

 

[GTs58]

The 1980 Schwinn catalog says that the Super LeTour is made in Chicago and the LeTour has an "American built" frame. I think the Greenville plant opened in 1980, if memory serves. @Schwinn Sales West

Schwinn catalogs, 1971 - 1980 (513 of 579)

 

[Oilit]

View attachment 2056437

If Greenville opened in 1981, then it sounds like the LeTour and the Super LeTour were both built in Chicago.

 

[GTs58]

If Greenville opened in 1981, then it sounds like the LeTour and the Super LeTour were both built in Chicago.

So then Schwinn would’ve had to of hired frame builders just for those frames for part of 1980 before the strike?

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

So then Schwinn would’ve had to of hired frame builders just for those frames for part of 1980 before the strike?

Why?

The frame's were all made by cast Uni-Lug's. No tubing needed to be mitered, only cut straight to the specific length. The frames were built in a fixture. The Schwinn Janitor likely just worked a few hours of overtime putting the loose parts into the fixture and removing the brazed frames. They were designed to require "no hand work" = "cut labor costs" = "make it possible to build low-cost lugged frames in America".

John

 

[Oilit]

Why?

The frame's were all made by cast Uni-Lug's. No tubing needed to be mitered, only cut straight to the specific length. The frames were built in a fixture. The Schwinn Janitor likely just worked a few hours of overtime putting the loose parts into the fixture and removing the brazed frames. They were designed to require "no hand work" = "cut labor costs" = "make it possible to build low-cost lugged frames in America".

John

Are we talking about Chicago or Greenville? Was Uni-Lug construction developed in Chicago?

 

[Oilit]

From the 1980 catalog on the Waterford Bikes site, the Super LeTour description says "torch brazed lug", the LeTour says "brazed lug", same frame with different equipment?

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

Are we talking about Chicago or Greenville? Was Uni-Lug construction developed in Chicago?

There were two factories, Chicago, and Greenville. The Engineering Department was only in Chicago, originally at Kostner/Kildare, then it moved to the new building at 217 Jefferson as the factory was closed. You could say that the Uni-Lug frames started in Chicago, but over time all of that style of frame construction moved south to Greenville. I would be my guess that Schwinn never intended to keep the Uni-Lug models sourced out of Chicago even though they developed the technology in the Chicago factory. They not only needed the lug frame bikes, but they needed a lower labor cost location to produce the new frames.

John

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

From the 1980 catalog on the Waterford Bikes site, the Super LeTour description says "torch brazed lug", the LeTour says "brazed lug", same frame with different equipment?

View attachment 2057090

View attachment 2057092

I think maybe we are reading "too much" into what is written by an Advertising Department person that never picked up a torch in their life. There's no difference in Torch Brazed, or Brazed Lug. It was just a heat source, A FIRE, that brought the metal up to a temperature that melted a small brass slug that was imbedded into the tube under the Uni-Lug. If you were to section a frame in half you would find a small square dent in the frame tube. In this dent, was placed a small brass slug and it stuck to the tube. Then the tube and the lug were placed into a frame fixture, the entire head was heated at one time with like six torches to the temperature that allowed the brass to flow between the tubes and the lug. This is what was referred to as Torch Brazed, or Brazed Lug. It was not a frame builder, with Hilda hand brazing each joint one at a time, like was done on a Paramount/Waterford frame.

The Uni-Lug frame design produced a quality frame set for a low to mid-price point model. We never had any serious frame problems with this Uni-Lug design. The biggest problem in Greenville built bikes was in wheel building.

John

 

[Oilit]

I think maybe we are reading "too much" into what is written by an Advertising Department person that never picked up a torch in their life. There's no difference in Torch Brazed, or Brazed Lug. It was just a heat source, A FIRE, that brought the metal up to a temperature that melted a small brass slug that was imbedded into the tube under the Uni-Lug. If you were to section a frame in half you would find a small square dent in the frame tube. In this dent, was placed a small brass slug and it stuck to the tube. Then the tube and the lug were placed into a frame fixture, the entire head was heated at one time with like six torches to the temperature that allowed the brass to flow between the tubes and the lug. This is what was referred to as Torch Brazed, or Brazed Lug. It was not a frame builder, with Hilda hand brazing each joint one at a time, like was done on a Paramount/Waterford frame.

The Uni-Lug frame design produced a quality frame set for a low to mid-price point model. We never had any serious frame problems with this Uni-Lug design. The biggest problem in Greenville built bikes was in wheel building.

John

John,
Now that I think about it, it makes sense that Schwinn worked on this in Chicago before moving it to Greenville. But until you explained it I never thought of it. Thanks for the insight!
Joel