I wanted to get a steel bike with Down Tube Shifters a few months ago and I posted on C&V Forum asking about the New Bianchi Campione http://www.bianchiusa.com/bikes/road/steel/campione/ or a New Masi Strada http://www.masibikes.com/bikes/steel/strada-2012

With the suggestion of the members here in particular TheNomad to get a Vintage bike instead and with some upgrades I could build something better, and lighter than the above, I set out to find a suitable bike for my project.

I determined that in order to get an affordable bike for my project i had to go with a TANGE tubing instead of Reynolds or Columbus.

In the end I got a Centurion Lemans that i picked up on CL.

Here is a picture of the seller



When I got the bike, I determined that i wanted to replace most of the components. The RD and FD I decided to sell, as I wanted this new bike to have 10 speeds as opposed to the original 7 it came with.

Here is a picture after i got the bike. It was a White frame with Purple fade.



Here is the frame after I took the parts out



It has Tange 2 tubes, i weighed it, and it weighs 2225 grams (56cm Frame)



The whole bike was about 25 lbs. Much heavier than i anticipated for a Tange 2 Frame bike.

The saddle, seatpost were heavy, so those had to go.

Wheelset was Campagnolo, but hubs were only 126mm, so i got a new set so i can mount a 11-28 10 speed cassette.

Crank, was Biopace, so i also got a compact to better match it up with the rear cogs.

Handlebar is only 39cm, as most vintage bikes are, but I am used to 42cm, so I sourced a new one from Dimension.

Brake levers did not have the hoods, so i got a new set.

Brake calipers are actually only 285 grams a pair, quite light weight, but i needed them to have that little switch to open them up, so the wheels are easy to take out. I actually will be doing a lot of that as i switched my wheels from my main ride to this one, as the set I bought will not arrive until my brother brings them from Taiwan, Nov. 8

Here are a few pictures after i got the frame powder coated to Satin Black, I got the stickers from Velo Cals and I only wanted DT stickers and a Tange 2 decal, didn't want to put too many graphics on this bike.





Thank You to RobbieTunes for the wealth of information he has provided me in my project and also for the color suggestion.