Centurion Appreciation Society

[drubie]

Cobbled up this weekend from the motliest collection of parts - all things I wouldn't use on other bikes (no slight on the Centurion frame, it's actually pretty nice Tange Infinity from Taiwan). The 10 speed campagnolo cranks are out of place but meh, they look nice and I'm unlikely to use them on anything else. Was a sort-of "easter challenge" to see if I could build a bike without visiting a bike shop. I ended up having to cheat because the bars I was going to use didn't fit the stem I had, so once I cannibalised the bars and brakes off another (not currently ridden) project I didn't feel too bad.

Exage hubs/7 speed cassette on Araya 700c rims, 3ttt bars and stem from my ghetto fixie (back to flop'n'chops for that bike), Suntour Honor(?) rear derailleur and suntour stem shifters adapted for downtube use by cannibalising some very awful plastic Shimano shifters from another bike. Campagnolo Mirage brake levers. Stock Centurion saddle (very turbo). Rack and bags from my old commuter that I was ashamed to ride in the rain because it's too nice to ruin. No-name dual pivot brakes again from the ghetto fixie. Ghetto fixie I have decided to go full internet fixie-man on because it was too tasteful the way it was set up. I like this centurion a lot as a goods hauler, just have to find a front rack to fit it.

Now, post some good ones!

[hitchhiker]

Nice work getting the Cavaletto back on the road

Now, post some good ones!

I've got a Centurion sitting in the corner of the garage but it fails the "good one" test

[HappyHumber]

thumbs up to thread idea, drubs... nothing to contribute, but love the sentiment...
(flicking through my wardrobe of 80s Ricardo/Leisure Product frames for similar purpose)

[drubie]

Nice work getting the Cavaletto back on the road

Now, post some good ones!

I've got a Centurion sitting in the corner of the garage but it fails the "good one" test

You should never have sold me this one Hitchiker - I did have some grandiose plans for it that involved Fulcrums and a 10 speed campagnolo setup but I had a sudden hankering for downtube shifters and I realised the 7 speed cassette was in serviceable nick so wanted to use it. I suck at downtube shifters though, nearly lost the tip of my finger changing gear this arvo

[xerlex]

Here's mine, it's an early Pro Tour that I scored off ebay. It was poorly listed with bad photos and I wasn't exactly sure of what it was until I came across some pics of a Pro Tour when I was researching different Tange tube sets.

As I got it:





Initial cleanup/rebuild:



I'm going to change the wheels to 700c with a front dyno, maybe indexed 10 speed barcons and some decent derailleurs.

[drubie]

Oooh, sweet Centurion xerlex - although I'm publically begging you to keep the suntour bar-end shifters on it, only because they're so cool (and useful). My centurion is getting some bar-ends as soon as I get liquid again - my older Europa commuter has them and outside of brifters there is nothing easier to use on a loaded bike.

[hitchhiker]

Nice bike xerlex. I'm starting to see a theme here, two Centurions fitted with racks and panniers, the retro of choice for commuters?

You should never have sold me this one Hitchiker - I did have some grandiose plans for it that involved Fulcrums and a 10 speed campagnolo setup but I had a sudden hankering for downtube shifters and I realised the 7 speed cassette was in serviceable nick so wanted to use it. I suck at downtube shifters though, nearly lost the tip of my finger changing gear this arvo

Unfortunately that frame was far too big for me, it's much better with someone that can use it.

As nice as those Campagnolo cranks are, that bike needs Biopace!

[xerlex]

Oooh, sweet Centurion xerlex - although I'm publically begging you to keep the suntour bar-end shifters on it, only because they're so cool (and useful). My centurion is getting some bar-ends as soon as I get liquid again - my older Europa commuter has them and outside of brifters there is nothing easier to use on a loaded bike.

Cheers! Don't get me wrong, I'm a total Suntour fiend and I'm stoked to have some suntour bar end shifters, but I was wanting to run indexed shifting on this (and a quick search tells me I'll probably be running 9 speed not 10). Unfortunately the original Cyclone mechs were both replaced with lower end Shimano and thrown out

[pentlandexile]

Nice solid bikes these. At the risk of being accused of hijacking the thread, I've got a 51cm Centurion Le Mans frame (Tange 2 tubes), fork and Bio-pace cranks I'm looking to offload ... if anyone's interested, flick me a PM.

Ben

[rogerrabbit]

Here is my 1975 Centurion Semi Pro. I have another one of these (1976) in very scruffy condition in the shed. My search for a mid 70's Centurion Professional in a 60cm continues....

[drubie]

As nice as those Campagnolo cranks are, that bike needs Biopace!

Retro cool, yes. In my box of "bits I bought from BNA", uh no. I may have to buy a 9 speed chain though, the 6 speed one with the exposed pins I found in shed #2 fouls on the outer chainring of a 10 speed when cross chained. Should I be shifting the big ring with my right hand?

[drubie]

Here is my 1975 Centurion Semi Pro. I have another one of these (1976) in very scruffy condition in the shed. My search for a mid 70's Centurion Professional in a 60cm continues....

DAYUM. Now *that* is nice.

[munga]

mmm all first gen da in black. hubba hubba, mr rabbit!

[rogerrabbit]

Close with DA, but it is actually ( original) Cyclone gears, Gran Compe brakes, Sunshine hubs, SR royal bars, stem, post and cranks.

[munga]

[hitchhiker]

Now to lower the tone, I present to you a Centurion Swagman. Given to me by a girlfriend in about 1991 to replace a Dodsun that was stolen from Uni (ignore the seat position, that was the only way I could squeeze on a kiddy seat)



This bike arrived at about the time that bikes ceased to be my main form of transport, I'd go as far as to claim it's likely to be the finest example of a Swagman that you could find...

This picture shows off the fetching speckled paint work

[rkelsen]

Nice one Drubie. I like it.

[drubie]

Nothing wrong with that Hitchiker - looks as tidy as it is useable. I have a very similar looking Giant ATX frame - they look like they could be twins.

[drubie]

Nice one Drubie. I like it.

Someone made me an overly generous offer on it today at work...I am considering it even though I like the bike a lot the money could go towards funding some other projects that need finishing...

[munga]

swap out the crankset first!

[utedeej]

Rogerrabbit, that is a nice looking bike. Better than the old Centurion Sid Patterson frame that i've got hanging around - it would have to be the dirtiest white bike ever.

[utedeej]

Here is a Centurion Mountain Bike that i've got sitting in the shed. I bought it as a potential touring mountain bike build up. It's got braze ons everywhere. Its a MT 1800 with Tange Triple Butted Mountain Tubing.

Every time i ride it it reminds me of when i first started riding mountain bikes. Check out those handlebars

[koen]

Been keeping this bike for a while even though its way too small for me. Even found some porcupine tyres and a u brake to get it looking like the state of the art racer it was in 1989. Shimano did some good things with indexing but that U brake was heavy and less useful than canti's.


Paint scheme is close to original and managed to keep some of the decals when I touched up the frame

[pentlandexile]

I put the little Le Mans frame on the Marketplace thread if anyone is interested, or just wants to have a look at it.


IMG_3054 by benatherton71, on Flickr

[wqlava1]

Well I'm impressed seeing this thread. i was for a time going to get rid of my old Centurion Sport DLX (there's a thread from a couple of years back somewhere) but have made it into a fixie for riding around on the flat in Adelaide. It's old enough to have been a 10 speed with 120mm rear axle, and the best remaining feature is the "Centurion Cycle Works" badge on the head tube.
http://s736.photobucket.com/albums/xx7/ ... _badge.jpg
http://s736.photobucket.com/albums/xx7/ ... ugwork.jpg
Xerlex and Rogerrabbit might have the same badge but have not pictured their head tubes front on. 26.0mm seatpost, so not too light, but it has the right geometry to be a comfortable ride. I'll post picsof the bike now after I get back to work next week. There are nice comments by Sheldon Brown about Centurions - he wrote a section of his website about them. Mine I would guess was nearly the bottom level bike they offered - I scrapped all but the frame, forks and headstem. It's labelled "Made in Japan" on the bottom of the seat tube though. I like the silver pinstriping.