Originally Posted by
mrbrklyn
. In 1987 the economy
Ironman Expert Dave Scott model, with its Shimano 105 groupset, appeared and the "Master" designation was added to the original
Ironman Dave Scott to distinguish it from the "Expert." The frames of both models were identical, featuring the same Tange #1 tubing, itself renamed from Champion #1. At about this time, a
TIG-welded fork crown replaced the more graceful, semi-sloped
investment cast fork crowns of the
Comp TA and the earlier Ironman models. My 1988 Expert weighs about 21lbs.
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From
http://sheldonbrown.com/centurion/index.html
I know that article better than anybody. I worked closely with the author and provided most of the research.
From the same article, in fact the preceding sentence, "
The Ironman Dave Scott model name replaced Comp TA in 1985 ". In 1987 they added a second Ironman model and used the supplemental names Expert and Master to distinguish between the two, but the original Ironman model dates to 1985.
In fact, Centurion had a triathlon model in 1984, the Comp TA, but changed the name to Ironman in 1985, due to copyright infringement on the B.F. Goodrich's tire of the same name.