Centurion Appreciation Society

[LugNut]

so now whaddayagunnadoo?

[singlespeedscott]

I have finally acquired a Centurion Professional after looking for 5 years. This is a 60cm ctc so exactly the right size for me. It is a 1972 model made in Mexico by Windsor. This was the first model Centurion ever made as far as I know, and is effectively a rebadged Windsor Professional, which is a Cinelli SC copy. The later Centurion Pro from Japan in the later 1970's was very much the same and also a Cinelli SC copy. I know of only one other of these in the USA (Mine is shipping from the USA). Centurion was a US brand, with the frames mostly made in Japan with the exception of these very early frames. I don't know what happened with Centurion between 1973 and 1975, and I have never seen any. it may be that those 2 years were taken preparing to bring the Japanese sourced range to market.

This one has had 2 owners that were friends. I am told the bike is original apart from saddle, bar tape and other consumables. Notably no Centurion downtube decals and apparently there never were any. This is also the case on the other one of these I have seen.

Mate that looks great. Looks a bit bigger than a 60 ctc to me. That frame must be pushing 24 1/2" c-t.

I look forward to your finished pictures. I am sure it will come up a cracker like all your others.

[rogerrabbit]

Um, 60cm ctc is about exactly 24.5" ctt . So you are spot on.

It will be a few months to restore. The frame may go to the UK for a stove enamelled finish by Argos or Mercian, which is very hard wearing.

Cheers
Roger

[singlespeedscott]

Um, 60cm ctc is about exactly 24.5" ctt . So you are spot on.

It will be a few months to restore. The frame may go to the UK for a stove enamelled finish by Argos or Mercian, which is very hard wearing.

Cheers
Roger

I would have thought a 60cm c-c would equal around 61cm or 24" c-t.

I have always believed the c-c measurement for seat tubes to be a useless way to determine bicycle size.

Wouldn't it be cheaper to send your frame to Star Enamellers or Joe Cosgrove for a repaint?

[rogerrabbit]

Yep, you are right. I am a bit off on my Maths. It is a 24.5" which is closer to 61cm than 60cm ctc.

I have had a few frames sprayed by Star. They have a nice but fragile paint that chips very easily. Stoved enamel is long lasting and hard. I also go to the UK regularly so no freight cost, and the paint job is actually cheaper at Mercian or Argos too.

[singlespeedscott]

I have had a few frames sprayed by Star. They have a nice but fragile paint that chips very easily. Stoved enamel is long lasting and hard. I also go to the UK regularly so no freight cost, and the paint job is actually cheaper at Mercian or Argos too.

Interesting.

What sort of prices do they charge?

[rogerrabbit]

Mercian gbp 135 without decals.

http://www.merciancycles.co.uk/renovation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Argos is about the same

[singlespeedscott]

Man that's cheap. Might be worth shipping it there and back.

Why are they so cheap? Or more to the point, why do we pay so much for frame painting in Australia?

[munga]

labour costs in .au are more expensive i reckon. that, and volume.

[find_bruce]

& exchange rate - looked a lot more expensive when it took 3 Aussie battlers to buy a £

[Paddles]

Hey FB, the Ironman rides very differently to the old Shogun, I haven't compared the dimensions of each but it must be a lot less rake up front as it changes direction really quickly, yet somehow it still stays quite stable on our bumpy roads, I've only been for a steady 20km ride with it so far (just a quick burn with my munchkin this morning) and have just now run the tools over it to nip up everything but it rides fantastic, i'm very pleased, another mid/late 80's machine back on the road with period parts.

[familyguy]

I have finally acquired a Centurion Professional after looking for 5 years. This is a 60cm ctc so exactly the right size for me. It is a 1972 model made in Mexico by Windsor. This was the first model Centurion ever made as far as I know, and is effectively a rebadged Windsor Professional, which is a Cinelli SC copy. The later Centurion Pro from Japan in the later 1970's was very much the same and also a Cinelli SC copy. I know of only one other of these in the USA (Mine is shipping from the USA). Centurion was a US brand, with the frames mostly made in Japan with the exception of these very early frames. I don't know what happened with Centurion between 1973 and 1975, and I have never seen any. it may be that those 2 years were taken preparing to bring the Japanese sourced range to market.

This one has had 2 owners that were friends. I am told the bike is original apart from saddle, bar tape and other consumables. Notably no Centurion downtube decals and apparently there never were any. This is also the case on the other one of these I have seen.

Spectacular, Roger. I'm guessing it was a long and chancy search? The early Centurions were much, much more of a quality bicycle than some of the later bike boom stuff they put their name to. Aside from yours, I've not seen any other quality early ones over here.

Jim

[rogerrabbit]

All the early high end ones in Oz seem to be under brands other than Centurion. I have seen a couple of 1982 Centurion Aero Pro's with Bennett branding, a few Pro-Tours with Shimano branding, a Semi-pro with Suntour branding, and similar examples in the UK.

I did acquire a Centurion branded Semi-Pro in a large size locally a couple of years ago, but that may have also been imported by someone.

Centurion was a US brand and mostly were in the US in the 70's.

I think the 1972 version was probably US only, and I suspect was very low volume with only the Pro model as far as I know.


Cheers
Roger

[muzzie]

Hi, here are a few pics of my centurion i found in the clear up. All i had done for these photos was take the tri bars off, old Time pedals and some elbo grease! A sweet find!














Ive since got it sand plasted and powder coated white. In Retro-spect I wouldnt have. Its still running the full 105.

[muzzie]

And here it is now, 3m bar and stem, quill adaptor, speed play pedals, 2 new bottle cages and no replacement stickers yet!
Its my main road bike and I love it, done about 1000km on it since the re spray, love the suicide shifting in traffic!

[sled]

Muzzie nice bike, might see you around the northern beaches im often on my centurion turbo

[rkelsen]

I have finally acquired a Centurion Professional after looking for 5 years. This is a 60cm ctc so exactly the right size for me.

Congrats on the find. It looks to be in pretty good condition for a 40yo.

I probably wouldn't do much other than clean, lube and replace consumables. And then ride...

[rogerrabbit]

The Centurion Pro has arrived. 6 days from Minneapolis door to door!

Well packed at first glance. I will be able to unpack it tonight

[singlespeedscott]

Excited?

[sled]

The Centurion Pro has arrived. 6 days from Minneapolis door to door!

Well packed at first glance. I will be able to unpack it tonight

Pics Mr Rabbit

[rogerrabbit]

Since you asked

The bike apparently has its original parts, apart from brake levers, stem (extra tall version), saddle, chain, freewheel, pads, rear rim/spokes. All the campagnolo parts are very clean and it has early logo Christophe toeclips too.

I have communicated with the previous owner, who bought it off his friend, who bought it new.

It definitely needs a respray, sadly. The paint is a solid orange, rather than the later metallic orange, and with the relative lack of decals and the mint chrome it will be relatively straight forward.

[LugNut]

Since you asked

Super, super nice. It's good to know that a bicycle like this is in the right hands, I can't wait to see this one fastidiously restored. Original matte orange, metallic orange, or different colour entirely?
Or maybe just keep us hanging until after the UK trip, it will be worth the wait.

[munga]

knowing rogers builds, it'll be as god intended. solid, non-metallic gloss orange, but not too glossy.
may we all have the patience to build bikes as nicely.

[singlespeedscott]

So nice.

[QuangVuong]

Centurion Carbon-R


Centurion Carbon-R by Quang.Vuong, on Flickr