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06-30-06, 02:01 AM
Hello all! The bike I'm asking about isn't so much a classic, but I figured you all would probably know the most about it.
I found a bike for my girlfriend on Craigslist. She wanted a reliable around town bike (had been riding a wal-mart bike) and also wanted it to be a road bike, as she wanted to give them a try. But she didn't have much money to spend, so new or even recent used was not an option.
We found a barely-used Diamond Back Centurion road bike for $100, which seemed to fit her well. As far as I can tell, this bike has not been ridden at all: all the teeth on the gearing look unused (Biopace on the front! ;)), the chain is unworn, the brakes are shiny, etc. The components are 300EX and from what I gather from searching the forums this bike is a 1990. The bike shifts beautifully - as crisp as my 9-speed 105/Ultegra, to be honest, although the brakes don't compare. I measure the bike as a 48 cm frame.
The tires were old and needed to be replaced. This is where things are kind of funny. We bought new tubes and some 700x23 continental ultrasports, which seemed like a good choice for general use. The tire change was a bit difficult for the rear wheel, but I got it done (it was strangely tight though, at least compared to my limited experience with road tires). The front was impossible. It was very difficult to get the old tire off, and it was impossible to get the new tire all the way on (first bead yes, second bead no). Superman could not have made this work. Finally, thinking I'd go into LBS and try to sort that out tomorrow, I figured I'd just throw on my front wheel from my Trek 1500 (700 x 25) and try the bike out a bit more. Now here's the weird part: the tire rubs on against the frame at the top of the fork (not against the sides of the fork, but against the top, as if the tire were too large). Come to think of it, I heard some rubbing when I was looking the bike over, but assumed that the brakes were poorly adusted or that the wheel was out of true.
My main questions are: both wheels said they were 700s (although they were different, and while the rear one looked unused, the front looked as though it had been used a fair bit, so it must have come from another bike). The front was 15 mm wide I think? How could the same tires fit one (albeit marginally) but not the other?
Is it possible that the bike has the wrong tire size? It seems like a 48 cm bike ca. 1990 would have come with 700s, but I'm too young to know. There's plenty of clearance for the 700 in the rear. Is it possible that the bike originally ran 650s or something else? Or could it have been spec'd for different sizes in the front and the rear? I just don't know these things.
Thanks for any knowledge you can lend!
I found a bike for my girlfriend on Craigslist. She wanted a reliable around town bike (had been riding a wal-mart bike) and also wanted it to be a road bike, as she wanted to give them a try. But she didn't have much money to spend, so new or even recent used was not an option.
We found a barely-used Diamond Back Centurion road bike for $100, which seemed to fit her well. As far as I can tell, this bike has not been ridden at all: all the teeth on the gearing look unused (Biopace on the front! ;)), the chain is unworn, the brakes are shiny, etc. The components are 300EX and from what I gather from searching the forums this bike is a 1990. The bike shifts beautifully - as crisp as my 9-speed 105/Ultegra, to be honest, although the brakes don't compare. I measure the bike as a 48 cm frame.
The tires were old and needed to be replaced. This is where things are kind of funny. We bought new tubes and some 700x23 continental ultrasports, which seemed like a good choice for general use. The tire change was a bit difficult for the rear wheel, but I got it done (it was strangely tight though, at least compared to my limited experience with road tires). The front was impossible. It was very difficult to get the old tire off, and it was impossible to get the new tire all the way on (first bead yes, second bead no). Superman could not have made this work. Finally, thinking I'd go into LBS and try to sort that out tomorrow, I figured I'd just throw on my front wheel from my Trek 1500 (700 x 25) and try the bike out a bit more. Now here's the weird part: the tire rubs on against the frame at the top of the fork (not against the sides of the fork, but against the top, as if the tire were too large). Come to think of it, I heard some rubbing when I was looking the bike over, but assumed that the brakes were poorly adusted or that the wheel was out of true.
My main questions are: both wheels said they were 700s (although they were different, and while the rear one looked unused, the front looked as though it had been used a fair bit, so it must have come from another bike). The front was 15 mm wide I think? How could the same tires fit one (albeit marginally) but not the other?
Is it possible that the bike has the wrong tire size? It seems like a 48 cm bike ca. 1990 would have come with 700s, but I'm too young to know. There's plenty of clearance for the 700 in the rear. Is it possible that the bike originally ran 650s or something else? Or could it have been spec'd for different sizes in the front and the rear? I just don't know these things.
Thanks for any knowledge you can lend!