Schwinn Le Tour Single Speed Conversion Questions

[elitopus1]

Hi
I have been into mountain biking most of my life but have recently picked up a 1975 Schwinn Le Tour 10 speed. I ride around in low gear all the time (its 14t/52t sprockets). I would like to keep the factory crankset and 14t rear sprocket. Does anyone have experience with these bikes and know if this is possible without getting a new crankset? From my research it will be difficult to find a single speed crankset with a large 52t sprocket.
This bike has semi horizontal rear dropouts so I should be able to tension my chain just fine with the single speed.

 

[babbitt398]

At the beginning of the summer i starter converting my 78 le tour 10 speed to a single speed. To my knowledge there is no way to keep any portion of the rear sprocket. I had went with a 16t 1/2 X 1/8 drive. However i was able to keep the original schwinn crank.

Fun project to finish for next summer.

Hope this was helpful.

 

[babbitt398]

I forgot to mention that the schwinn use bearings that last forever, i still replaced the hub with sealed bearings. As well as the super light weight rims with sealed bearings. The bearings in the neck are original tho, with a greasing of course, gotta do maintenance, but like new none the less.

Also, Semi horizontal rear drop outs played a key roll in my conversion.
Do you have the 1020 alloy frame?