mandrake

Good find, you are killing me. It appears to be factory original and my size, the rear rack is missing. I will keep an eye on the bidding, but I think I can resist. Breath in slowly, breath out, while counting to 10...
How could I ever decide which one to ride? It would be torture!

mandrake

Sounds like the voice of experience. In fact, I have 4 bikes (road [CF Trek 2300], touring (Centurion) and 2 mtn. bikes (GT). The road and the touring bikes have their roles and it is easy to decide which one to take. The mtn. bikes though present a problem when it is time to go off-road. Additionally, the space in the garage is maxed out for bikes now, as there is competition for space (biking is not my only addiction).
I have given some thought to the PRo Tour, and it would be a step up, I don't think I would have much trouble selling the Elite GT, so I will watch the bidding and may engage. After all, full cro-mo beats three tube cro-mo.

mandrake

Add another one to the DB. N6P8311. Dave Scott Master Ironman. Any idea what year it is?
Picked it up last night on CL. It needs a good cleanup, polish and minor adjustments, but it is all there and except for tires, saddle, bar tape appears to be original. All 600 components, including hubs. It's a rider.

mandrake

It's a Master for sure, I thought it might be an '87. I will keep an eye on the derailleurs. I would not mind going with friction shifting as I am used to it and there is not that much difference to me. You mentioned in another post that your IM has Wolber Alpine rims, were they original? That is what is on my IM.

I will keep the Elite GT, esp. considering the price penalty I would have to pay to get a clean Pro Tour (on eBay at least). Like you say there is not that much difference and I have the Elite GT setup the way I like.

mandrake

Time will tell about the RD.

In the meantime, I plan on riding it.

jswigal

Hey guys...I just picked up this LeMans Centurion bike for free.....serial number IE05728.....the deralleur however is marked as a 74 according to the vintage trek site, (all suntour componants, v-GTluxe rear, lx front).....make any sense to anyone?

curbtender

Nice article. I was wondering why this bike didn't recieve any comments. Does anybody else own this vintage/model? It has a downtube mount so I figure it wasn't sold with barend shift.

curbtender

Thanks, with the parts that look original it's a match. That seat post was missing parts so it had me wondering how it was set up. That "pearlized orange" is a great color but is going to be a bear to touch up. Ran across this site with some good links: https://equusbicycle.com/bike/index.html

jswigal

I would put some pics up, but the file size limit is too small, (unless you want me to upload thumbnails)...: (tourney crank) (stem says SR on it) (dia compe brakes), the serial number is stamped very clearly in the downtube.....had a good pic, but I cant upload it....

axelfox

Serial No: N7E0166
Model:Iron Man Dave Scott Master ("Quality from Japan; Designed in USA")
Color: Teal, White
Tubing: Tange # 1, I think.
Major Components: Shimano 600 RD, FD, crank arms, and brake calipers; Shimano 105 DT shifters; Nitto quill stem; Sunsin hubs, Matrix rims.

I'll try to get pictures soon. I've already stripped most of it for an overhaul or perhaps new paint job.

AlMoto

Yesterday's flea market find:

Ironman Expert Dave Scott Edition

Serial No. begins with: N8M

Frame: Tange No.1 cro-moly

Color: All black

Shifters, derailleurs, hubs, brakes, crankset: Suntour GPX; number 88 on the inside of each crank arm

Pedals: Shimano 105

Bars: Winpista

Rims: Araya Super hard 700c-20c CTL 370

Tires: IRC Triathalon Duro 700-20c

Saddle: Vetta Gel

It was a bit small for me at 58cm but for $80.00 I couldn't pass it up. The paint is chipped here and there (with blue showing through), there was a layer of dirt and dust on all upper surfaces and the front tire was flat but other than that it really didn't have any issues. Even the bottle was still in the cage! I cleaned it off and took it for a short spin when I got home and it rode very nicely. I'll replace the tires as they have a lot of age cracks and the saddle as well. Other than that I'm just going to enjoy.

AlMoto

Hi A. Winthrop,

Thanks, I was pretty happy about it! The seller had several bikes there, a cheapo mountain bike and several kids bikes, I guess you could say this one was a diamond in a coal field .
Thanks for the info, all my research (especially this thread) had me leaning toward it being an '89 so I'm glad to have it confirmed. The color is all black but everywhere there's a scratch or a chip in the paint blue paint shows through. Is it possible that a frame made and painted in '88 could've been repainted and assembled as an '89? I would guess that many '89s would've been manufactured in '88 anyway so they could be shipped out for sale in '89. That would certainly explain why so many frames have an '88 serial number but are otherwise '89s, it would depend on just when the model year begins I would guess.
I don't have a photo of it yet but I did find one in another thread. It's message no. 24 and was posted by CardiacKid, here's a link (sorry for the inconvenience!):

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ight=centurion

My bike is identical to the one in the top photo with the exception of the reflctor being missing and the bar tape being a different colr on mine.

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread, it's been an education!!

RobbieTunes 

No question, it's an '89 Expert with Black Dog potential. Black, white lettering, "involved" decals and Suntour GPX. I have a 56cm and a 62cm (frame only, now). And I'm looking to buy a 58cm.

rogerrabbit

I sighted a Centurion Professional frame earlier this week. I had heard about it hanging in the back of a shop in NZ. It is pretty scruffy with a slightly bent fork steerer, poor chrome, and a slightly bent left seat stay. The serial number started with MD6. I dont recall the rest of the number. I assume this is from Feb/March 1976. It has the Cinelli copy features, but unlike the 1978 ones I had owned, this one had gear cable guides on the BB and a cable stop on the chain stay.

Roger

AlMoto

Hi Robbie,
Yup, that's the one . I'll see if I can get some photos of mine over the weekend and post them here. At 6' 1" I wish mine was a 62 but I'll have fun with this one for a while, at least until one closer to my size turns up.

AlMoto

Hi A. Winthrop,

lol, $80. is all he wanted. While I was looking it over he must've thought I needed some more incentive telling me he could take it to Boston the next day and sell it for $125.. I could only agree......

RobbieTunes 

Al, I have the same frame/headset/fork in 62cm and you can have it for shipping if you can trade me something interesting
If you do, and like it, just give me a crack at the 58cm frame before you sell it for millions.....

I love this site...

RobbieTunes 

I think the '89 Expert is the only thing I've ever seen Suntour GPX on.
I've just compared the weights of the Suntour GPX set with a dark grey Dura Ace. Pretty darn close, and for my riding (and budget), a no-brainer.

ndbullet500

Hi, all. Long time reader, first time poster.



Just wanted to add my two owner (including me) Centurion Sport DLX to this great thread. I was given this bike by a friend. He purchased it new ~1990 in Georgia. The serial number (71122156) indicates that it has a frame that was manufactured in 1987. It was, "Made in Taiwan. Designed in U.S.A."

Components:

FRAME: Tange Infinity
HUBS: KK (King Kong, I think)
WHEELS(RIMS): Weinmann 622/700c
BRAKES: Dia-Comp side pulls, not sure of model
CRANK: Sugino VP
DERAILEURS: Shimano Light Action

WEIGHT: 27lbs. This is slightly lighter than the 1984 Centurion catalogue listed Sport DLX weight of 28.5. The change to a double butted Tange Infinity frame, aluminum handlebars and fluted aluminum seat post (both spec. steel in '84) apparently slimmed the Sport DLX down a little by '88.

I spent a few days going over it, and just need new toe clips to be more or less done. Just before nightfall today, I decided to ride it about 100' down the street to make sure it felt fundamentally ok...two wheels, brakes that sort of thing. 200' later I was heavily cursing and slightly bleeding. I had been too lazy to change my shoes, despite a moment of hesitation, and wore the Crocs that I wear around the house in lieu of bedroom slippers. That Croc foam material seemed to very grip well indeed when I tried to remove my foot as I came to a stop. To add a cherry on top of my not-cool sundae, one of my neighbors drove by as bike and I tipped over, feet and pedals seemingly bonded as tightly as a pair of Emperor Penguins during breeding season. I took one for the team, and lay on my back with my legs holding the bike aloft until I could finally wiggle free without dropping the bike. And, yeah, I still feel pretty stupid about it.

I'd seen this bike many times before it became mine, but never really LOOKED at it. Centurion was not a name I knew, so I assumed it was not anything special. Going though the bike has made me appreciate it much more than I did initially, and I called up my friend and told him so. Turns out he rode it across Georgia and did his first Century on it. Now that we both live in Northern Indiana, with out winter bombed roads and lack of dedicated bike lanes, he decided to replace it with a Giant MB, and thought that I would make good use of the Centurion since; (1) I wanted a bike that was better quality than most of the big box stores offer, and (2) I am a freak about taking care of my mechanical possessions, and appreciate quality in design, execution and materials.

While I am no illusion that MY Centurion Sport DLX is cutting edge, or was a very high end product even when new, it IS a solid package that has much more value to me than my expenditures so far.

Total cost so far: ~$45 for new Panaracer Pasela tires and new tubes.
Anticipated necessary expense: $? for new pedals/toe clips. The attachment for the toe clips is odd to me, securing horizontally to the pedal (if looking with pedal in riding position) instead of vertically like the generic toe clips at the local bike shop. Worst case scenario is not that bad, I suppose, if I buy complete new pedals. I would prefer to keep it as close to original as possible, but it's not that big of a deal.

If you would like to see more photos: https://gs261.photobucket.com/groups/ii74/4P3ZUBTUR2/

rogerrabbit

Hi Alan,

The Professional I saw last week was one I had mentioned in my earlier posts that I was hoping to buy, but I hadn't had the opportunity until now to be in Wellington so I could have a look at it to see if it really was what I thought it was.. It is about a 57 or 58cm, so a bit too small for me, and more relevant, he doesnt want to sell it (yet).

I am already keeping an eye out for a Windsor, or perhaps even a real Cinelli.

curbtender

64cm Proffessional if someone in the SF Bay Area interested...$175 https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/bik/751809899.html

sluglug

Here's my wife's bike:

Model: Centurion Ironman Dave Scott
SN: N5S1032
Tubing: Tange 1 Double Butted
Fork: Tange
Headset: Shimano 600 HP-6207
Derailers: Front: Shimano FD-M700, Rear: Shimano 600 SIS RD-6208
DT Shifters: Shimano 600 SL-6208
Hubs: Shimano 600 HB-6207
Wheels: Araya 700c (they have a gold tint)
Cranks: Shimano FC-6206 (Biopace)
Color: Gray/Silver
6 speed shimano 600 freewheel MF-6208
Forged Drops

RobbieTunes 

Killer bike, best looking Sport DLX I've ever seen.

rogerrabbit

Thanks Curbtender for the heads up on the Professional. It isn't a Professional though. The Professional had a Cinelli style seat cluster and vertical dropouts with no eyelets. Maybe a Pro-tour? Sounds nice anyway, but too big even for me.

AlMoto

Hi Robbie,
I'll definitely keep that in mind. I don't remember the specific model but a couple weeks ago I just missed one on the local CL in 62cm. And the guy only wanted $100. for it too, apparently they grow on trees around here lol.

I love this site too !