sokito

I got this bike yeterday.
It's Centurion super elite from 1979 I think, with Tange 2 tubing.
Thinking of converting it to 650b. Probably velo orange zeppelin fender + Gran bois Hetre and some racks.

Original Setup:


Test fitted with panaracer col de la vie:

sokito

Got these hubs 32holes front and 40holes rear.
Ordered rims from velocity but they sent a wrong rim, 32holes for rear. Ugh!

There is no marking for freewheel threading. Seller mentioned he is 99% sure that's italian, but when I tried italian threaded regina freewheel on it it was slighly too loose. I am thinking either British or ISO. ISO freewheel is 0.1mm bigger in diameter than British. Should there be a problem if I use ISO freewheel on it? I hope not.

Velo orange constructeur racks are out of stock. Are there any other source for similar looking racks?

whatwolf

Any bike shop should be able to order those racks off QBP. Nice hubs!

RobbieTunes

I'm diggin' it.

pcb 

Looks like a great candidate for 650b conversion, oughta swallow Hetres without too much trouble.

whatwolf

Ew! Gross.

But yes, highly recommended.

sokito

I ordered a set of Hetre's today. Can't wait!!!!!
I brought the wrong rim back to the shop and the 40 hole rim is on its way. I will receive the fenders soon too.


Now the question is whether to polish or not to polish the rims...

ironwood

Looks nice, are you going to use Dia-Comp 750 CPs, or long reach Tektros, or have you found some MAFAC Raids? Measure carefully, because on my conversion, the Tektros didn't have enough reach, but the Dia-Comps did. What is the bb drop on the Centurion?

sokito

I am using Weinmann 750 CP's. Brake reach is 750mm for the front and 730mm for the rear. So Tektro's are out of questions and I like centerpulls. I like mafac's too but mafac raid is hard to find and expensive. I got the Weinmann's for free... and there are a bunch of people who are trying to get rid of those old centerpulls....

Small bikes generally have high bottom bracket you know... with original 27" wheels BB height was something like 280mm o.O
With Col De La vie's BB height was something like 263mm if I remember correctly... I guess the BB height will be in the range of 265~270 with Hetre's and I think the BB drop is about 65mm. I will install a triple crankset with arm length of 167.5mm. I expect no toe overlap since the front-center is 605mm.

Do you mind posting a link to the pictures of your conversion? Thanks.

ironwood

I'm away from home right now so I can't post a picture. I'm also in the process of converting a 1983 Trek 630 To 650B, It isn't as good a candidate as your Centurion because it has a low BB; the drop is 72mm; I hope it isn't a problem. Also it can' take Hetres. Where'd you get a 167.5mm crank? TA still makes them, and SunXCD, sold by SOMA makes them; but I don't know of any others.

sokito

Here are photos of the finished bike. I will replace the crankset with specialized triple crankset as soon as I find the rings I want. I was also thinking of putting Brooks Professional on it, but I need a long setback so it may not work out.

BB height is 270mm after conversion and I needed to put a bunch of washers below the fork crown like some other people did for conversion.

Fork has kind of high rake when I measured it. Most likely no less than 60mm.

I am thinking of racks now.... most likely velo orange racks...


Centurion Super Elite 650b conversion by S Jeong, on Flickr


Centurion Super Elite 650b conversion by S Jeong, on Flickr


Centurion Super Elite 650b conversion by S Jeong, on Flickr


Centurion Super Elite 650b conversion by S Jeong, on Flickr


Centurion Super Elite 650b conversion by S Jeong, on Flickr


Centurion Super Elite 650b conversion by S Jeong, on Flickr

Narhay

Nice, the tires look comfortable. I can't help but think of an insect carapace when I see your bar tape.

Lamplight

Man, that looks fantastic, and I bet it rides so smoothly. One thing I don't like about having cantilever brakes is that I'm essentially stuck with the wheel size I have. I actually have a set of older Velo Orange Constucteur racks, back when they were chrome plated fillet brazed steel, but the tangs are drilled specifically for my Univega so they probably wouldn't fit your bike quite right.

sokito

Hmm can I at least have a look at some photos of the rack? And mabe photos of the univega with racks installed?
Oh and thanks for you compliment

Lamplight

This is the most clear shot I have of them mounted to the bike. The rear rack probably wouldn't be a problem, but the front is drilled and cut to mount to eyelets on top of the dropout, so I'm not sure they'd reach far enough to be mounted on the bottom eyelets. And the tang where it mounts to the fork crown is bent and cut to this bike specifically, so any difference in head angle or fork rake might cause problems.

bikemig 

That is a really good looking bike. I've been tempted to do a 650b conversion on a bike . . .

balindamood

Man those Hetre's are nice!

sokito

Haha thats funny.

sokito

You have to try at least once. I once converted 90's miyata 914 once. Loved it. So I planned this conversion and was looking for a frameset that meets the requirement. It took two month to find one... now it's my wife's turn lol. She has a slightly newer centurion le mans mixte with metallic champaign color that I will convert too. I hope it will be a perfect match of his and hers.

bikemig 

What are the requirements for a conversion?

sokito

Obviously the clearance and bb drop is no. 1 issue. then the brake reach. and eyelets are good if you want fenders and racks.

for 650b tires widest spot is about 320mm away from axles and you need at least 2mm on each side. A lot of old bikes take 38mm tires but not 42mm hetres but 38mm is fine. It took me so long because I was looking for a frame that will take hetre with fenders. that requires fork and stay inner width of more than 48mm at least. Some bikes have narrow fork crown that wont work. Also a lot of older raleigh bikes have rear brake bridge that is too high so they won't work with 750 centerpull brakes.

For BB drop less than 70mm drop is ideal. Mine is 65mm drop and it gives 270mm bb height with hetre.

And this has nothing to do with conversion, but a lot of smaller frames have very high seat tube angles and it's very common to find the seat angle 75 degree or higher for a frame smaller than 52cm. This makes things worse with Brooks saddles. I wanted at least 74 preferably 72~73. Mine measured at 74 degree, which I find is at the borderline. I don't think Brooks will work for me unless I find a seat post with more setback.