Centurion Super LeMans project
 

I'd been keeping my eye out for a small-sized bike that could be set up as a light tourer for my wife, when a fellow coop volunteer pointed out a rough-looking Super LeMans while we were doing some organizing.

I noticed it had SunTour bar end shifters SunTour derailleurs, so I brought it home and started tearing it down tonight.

It looks to be a 70s model, 1976? Serial No. is 6H0562.

The seat post and stem came right out and the brakes and drivetrain seem to be in surprisingly good condition considering the general state of things.

My plan is to dissolve the rust, clean up the frame, fork and components and put it all back together. I'm probably going to replace the original Sakae Road Champion "Randnnrs" with some Nitto moustache bars and upgrade to a Cambium, but the rest of the original components will be there.

Enough blather. Teardown pics:


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Changing it to upright bars is a great idea. These old bikes are great cruising bikes. It's got eyelets for a rear rack too. You should probably go ahead and put a riser stem on it too. Just my $.02. Be good & have fun.

Great looking frame. I can tell right away I'm going to like how this turns out. Only thing I'd think about is combining upright riding with a Cambium. They always felt like they were designed to be ridden leaning forward to me, but that's just personal experience.

Good thoughts, thanks. I'm not totally married to a Cambium, just wanted to give her something comfortable that she won't have to worry about in the rain. We'll probably try a few out to find the right fit. I really want her to ride this when it's done. :)

Always loved the look of old 70's Centurions. Good luck with the build.

Thanks.

This is my first from the 70s, though I do have one ironman and a comp ta. They're really nice bikes, especially at the prices they originally sold for.

Hey, good for you! That is a worthy bike to put back on the road. Cool color! So it came with centerpulls? Even better! I have to admit, I was sorta bummed the Suntour bits weren't included in your photos...I'm such a Suntour fan-boy. I fully expect that your wife will love stylin' around on a re-habbed vintage.

Thanks. I think it's going to clean up fairly well. I started working on cleaning the paint today and it's coming back to life—a bit of metallic sparkle in the orange. A good chunk of the chrome is shot, but it'll just add to the patina once it's dissolved.

Didn't mean to deny a SunTour fan photos. I did take pictures of the components—here's the SunTour shifter and derailleurs:


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I'll be watching this one with interest. I hope you post your progress and keep us updated! I bet that orange is gonna be great.

Cool. :)

I plan to keep this thread updated. She's currently riding a '74 Peugeot single speed conversion, but we've been wanting to do a camping trip, so something a little more suited to longer rides will be ideal.

A bit crusty and rusty, but pretty nice bones for sure :thumb: Orange is good.

Does she ride her other bike in an upright position? I would think that most ladies of the female persuasion would find the Cambium saddle too narrow for that kind of riding.

Yeah, this is the bike she rides now. I was going to replace the 80s stock Motobecane seat with a sprung brooks, but she says it's comfortable so it stayed.

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Look out, these Centurions take an undersized "Schwinn size" stem for some reason.

Thanks for the heads-up. Luckily I have the stock stem, so as long as the bars fit it'll be good.

Spent today dissolving rust and rebuilding the brake calipers.


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From the looks of your wife's super neat Peugeot, i'd say the little Centurion is in a much better place now with you than it was in before :beer::beer::beer:

So what's your rust removing recipe there Robo?

+1 more than once.

Thanks :)

I'm dissolving rust with naval jelly. I think it's a pretty standard item in most C&Vers' garages. It's helped me bring back chrome I thought was beyond help more than once.

Frame & fork are looking better. Too dark in the bike cave for pictures though--I'll take some tomorrow.