[CR]Super Letour 1981

(Example: Racing:Wayne Stetina)

From: "garth libre" <rabbitman@mindspring.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2001 17:33:33 -0400
Subject: [CR]Super Letour 1981

I owned a Super Letour that I bought new at the San Francisco Schwinn shop in 1981. It was black with red decals and acsents, and very attractive. It was a ten speed with braze ons and all Shimano Altus (remember that?). That vintage of Shimano was very good in the shifting department, and it was the first bike that I owned that was really functional with no badly performing equipment, and a real step up for me from Peugeot UO8 and Atala- Valentino equipped stuff. If I recall it was high ten, but I am not sure that it wasn't Cromemolly db. (anyone know?). Anyway I sold it for about $260.00 only two months after I bought it for $280.00. It was a sport touring bike and I thought I needed wide gearing for the San Francisco hills. I bought it only one month after having arrived in Frisco, and my girlfriend kept dragging me into one hip intellectual coffee shop after another. In short order, I realized that a sport touring Super Letour was not going to cut it in a town like Frisco. Absolutely anyone who was anyone owned a full race Lotus or Fugi, or Rossin or Univega or Cologno or Bianchi in San Francisco, and rode them with Duettos or Duegis. In Berkely you could get away with a Schwinn or a Centurion or a Fugi S-12-S, or Shogun and tennis sneakers. I swear, people would dress up in their full bike shorts, jersey and waddley shoes, just to get coffee and discuss world socialism or Beat poetry or Alan Watts' Buddhist philosophy. The sight of a full NR Cologno leaning up against an outdoor table at a Richmond coffee house while its owner waxed philosophical, was enough to make you fall in love with biking, coffee, reading and San Francisco all at the same time. I couldn't afford anything Italian, so I bought a brand new Team Fuji, which really did look just as hip and to tell the truth was one hell of a cheap version of a high end bike. $500.00 bucks with a Suntour Superbe upgraded brakeset, and the rest was Sugino, Sanshin, Sunshine and Perfect, and Fuji's DB CMolly tubing, bought you a real roadbike ready for any impromptu race or a heated session at anyone of 1,000 local coffee hangouts. That Fuji was chocolate Brown with gold anodized rims, fully eyelited, and gold trim and tape. The seat was a Concour imitation, which gave it an ultra modern look. We have a list member that just bought one for a song, and seems to be enjoying it for its classic value. Garth about to take his monday evening workout, wish me luck, Libre.