EddyR

Robbie and Winthrob
Here are the before pictures. The first shows the bike at a distance and it looks good. Up close it is a mess and it had been taken apart many times and had a mixture of parts and wrong fitting parts.The brake cable was corroded to the frame and had to be cut out.The bike was more corroded than rust. Rust tends to run all over and look worse than it is. Some of the paint lifted off in long pieces up to 2" long.The fork was the hardest part to get clean as it is rather crude welding. The chrome one I had was very smooth compared to this one. I thought about a carbon fork but the weight savings was less than 2 ounces. I am not building a replica just a look a like of the 1987-88 7/11 bikes. The Rims are Mavic open CD with aero spooks.Handlebar was a Scott and the stem is a Record 84 I think. I have the correct stem from another Centurion but I need the long neck for my long arms. This bike was a keeper as soon as I saw it. Way to much work to be resold. I had another Centurion Expert in new mint condition 60 CM that was much to large for me and it killed me to sell it and the day I sold it I bought this one.
Ed

EddyR

I didn't answer all your questions. The crank Is 105 and the chainwheels have been changed as they are not bio-pace. Small one is Sergio and large is Shimano maybe 600.the seat is a Cinelli that came off my 87 Cannondale. Two local guys have seen pictures of the bike and thought it was the Andy Hampsten Grand Paradiso frameset. I did a lot of research on the Hamsten and Bob Roll 7/11 bikes and this bike is pretty close to what they rode. I talked to Bob after the TDF last year and got a lot of good information from him about his 7/11 bikes. I was hoping to have it done for the races this week end in Charlotte as I would have taken down and ride it around the watching areas as that is the kool thing to do. I do not live to far from Greenville and I plan to go over for the Armstrong and Hincopie family ride at the time of the USA cycling pro meet August 30th. I should get a lot of turned heads during that ride.
Question would you put blackwall tires on it or maybe redwalls on it?
Ed

solbrothers

there doesnt seem to be any serial numbers on this bike .

T-Mar

Centurions were made by a number of different manufacturers, so it could be just about anywhere. In addition to the traditional BB shell placement, check the bottom of the seat tube, around the front derailleur. This was fairly common on earlier models. Also check the rear dropouts, head lugs and top of the seat tube. If you still can't find any, the head badge style will at least allow us to establish an era.
If you're looking for an ID you'll have to post pics so we figure out the model/level, so you might as well post pics of the headbadge.

solbrothers

will do!

RobbieTunes

Ed,

I definitely remember that bike in it's original form, think I posted on it when you first showed it.

If you want to ride fast, some ProRace 2's in red (save some $ over PR 3's). If you want a great all-around tire for good price, with some red, the Panracer Stradius on sale at Performance for 14.99 is a very nice tire for that price, and has rain grooves.

Something tells me that bike won't see a lot of rain, though.

I've decided I need to get another Ironman frame and figure out a theme.

See what you've started.....

EddyR

Robbie I have a set of the Pro-3 on this Cannondale. They are a nice race tire, very soft. I will look into tires this week. I have bought a lot of tires from Performance as we have one of there stores here. I have a Bike Line not to far away and he will meet any internet price so I have been buying off him also.He will order anything I need and he knows older bikes well so he knows what I am talking about on old bikes. I weighted the Centurion to day with all the parts on it except tires ,chain, break levers and it was under14 pounds. I think it will be right at 19 pounds when it is done. I watched a race in Harrisburg this morning and Charlotte tonight. My wife took this picture of me and my 1987 Cannondale SR2000 Dura-Ace this afternoon after I came back from a 10 mile ride.I was pretty beat but don't look to bad for a 69 year old fart. I still have my Special Forces legs but the rest is shot. The Dura-Ace shifters and break levers are coming off the Cannondale this week and going on the 7/11 Centurion. I have new Shimano ST-500 STI levers coming to update the Cannondale. I had the Cannondale at Harrisburg and I had 3 offers to buy it for serious money.I am picking up another one on Tuesday.
Ed

solbrothers

nah. i dont think theres a serial number on this bike lol. but it DOES have the cross headbadge

T-Mar

Meaning it is pre-1980 but that's about all we can say without pics.

solbrothers

haha ok, got the dslr out of my car. pix will be up in a minute

solbrothers

T-Mar

Yes, it certainly does appear to be a rebadged Windsor Profesional made by Acer-Mex. In fact, if we assume that it's just a re-badging, then we can date it pre-1975 by virtue of the Universal 61 center-pull brakes versus the Universal 68 side-pull. It also appears to be missing the brazed-on bottle boss that the Windsor Profesional had by 1975, Finally, it's a different fork crown.

I've never heard the name Robert Mateo associated with Acer-Mex. The name that is usually associated with these bicycles is Remo Vecchi, who had worked for Cinelli for over 20 years prior to joining Acer-Mex.

Additionally, I wonder about the exact relationship between Acer-Mex and Cinelli. If these bicycles had Cinelli's full support why was the integral, fully sloping crown not used and why weren't they being produced under the Cinelli banner, like the Mexican Benotto and California Masi? In fact, from what I've read, Windsor was not even an Acer-Mex brand but contract manufactured for a US company.

Regardless, it would seem we now have anecdotal evidence to state that Weiner originally had the Centurion Pro made in Mexico, prior to moving manufacturing to Japan. Certainly, the database has no records of Japanese built Pro (or Semi-Pro) prior to 1975. It would be nice to get the serial number and some components codes to substantiate this sample.

Too bad the wheels are non-original. I'm suprised there is no downtube decal and would really like a good look at the strange looking decal under the top tube, where the Columbus decal would normally be.

T-Mar

Ok, it's got a swaged SR Apex 5 crankset, what appears to be a SunTour Cyclone deraileurs (?) and the North Star headbadge. That would place it late 1970s. If you want to narrow it down further, there will be component date codes on the back, which you can decypher using the info on the components page of the Vintage-trek website. Please post the results. TIA.

As for the model, I can't provide anything definitive. It's better than a LeMans but not as good as a Semi-Pro. Possibly a Super Lemnas or a Super Elite?

Stangely, I saw a very similar bicycle two weekends ago at a regatta. There was no model name and the only thing the owner rembered was buying it in the late 1970s. I was able to confirm 1978 based on the serial number. The frame did have a Champion butted tubing decal. I wonder if yours is the same. Can you check the diameter of the seat post? It should be marked, though you may have remove the post. TIA.

solbrothers

thanks so much for all this info! ill check the components right now! iirc the seatpost is a 25.9?

Chicago Al 

As I see T-Mar is checking this thread, would you like the serial # and description of the Miyata I recently bought? I can't PM you with it but if you'll PM me I'll be happy to send it to you. Based on what you've already contributed here I think ours (SN start OQ) was built 17th wk of 1986.

curbtender

Check the Downtube, my 70's bike had the serial number on the non drive side.

solbrothers

my brother has a centurion with a round headbadge and it clearly has the bb stamped with a serial number. ill check the nds of mine

JunkYardBike

Well, here's the finished product nearly a year and 4 months since A.Winthrop's post.

As I've related in the "Vintage Rides" thread, this build was a bit of a struggle. The LBS cracked the original cartridge bearing hub by trying to wedge the wrong size replacement in it. I wanted to keep the original derailleurs (which were both Suntour Cyclone MKII as they came to me, though I replaced the beat originals with a couple in nicer condition), but change the chainrings to a more useful wide range setup. The BCD on the SR Aerox is an odd 118, but I was able to locate an NOS 40T ring thanks to the ubiquitous SR Apex crank. Sadly, the FD would have nothing to do with a 52/40/28 setup, so back to the half-step gearing with the 46T middle ring. The brakes were a nightmare, due to the narrow spacing of the canti bosses up front. I couldn't get the originals to work with modern pads, so I went through about 3 other sets of brakesets until I stumbled on a set of blue anodized Dia-Compe 987s. To my 80's sensibilities, they don't look half bad! Then I went through three more sets of brake pads to minimize the brake squeal from the front. On a positive note, looks like the Dia-Compe's could handle a conversion to 700c from the original 27" rims.

At any rate, here you have it. Other modifications are Nitto Technomic stem, Nitto Mod 176 bars, Tektro R200a brake levers, Avocet Touring I saddle, 6 speed Suntour freewheel 14-28 (guess it's a Pro Tour 16 now?), new Sram PC-850 chain, and Malibu blue brake cable housing.

Oh, and I returned shifting duties from the supplied Suntour barcons to the spec'd Suntour Symmetric levers. This is one smooth shifting friction system!

stonea

Thought I would through this one in here. I will have pictures in a bit. Bike was given to me by a neighbor and is in need of a little TLC.

Make: Centurion
Model: ?
Year: ?
SN: R579
Frame: Steel
Rear Derailure: SunTour V-GTluxe
Front Derailure: SunTour SL
Crank: Tourney? (Only marking)
Brakes: Centerpull Dia Comp
Shifters: Down Stem attached SunTour
Paint: Burgandy Red (once)

I know absolutely nothing about this bike. I will try to get pictures up of the badge and drivetrain later today.

RobbieTunes

Scintillating. Incredibly good work.

dit

My new toy. Ser#N6N6702....Ironman expert, Shimano 105 with Wolber rims. Hope the pics show up, I used the smallest file size the camera would take.

RobbieTunes

For those really into Centurions (that fit):

There is a Centurion Prestige on eBay right now, 54cm, full 600 tricolor group, with Dura Ace headset. It's a little worse for wear since I sold it, but not much.

If it fit and I had my druthers, I'd get it back. Tange Prestige frame, chrome under the paint. He's also got a set of Dura Ace/Mavic wheels.

EddyR

Here is one that just poped up on Charlotte cl. It's not mine.
https://charlotte.craigslist.org/bik/1340533346.html
Ed

thenomad

She's got a new home now. Sold her on Ebay fairly easily. Maybe they'll find this forum in the future.
Now to keep looking for the next one.

RobbieTunes

That model Lemans should be 700c, but maybe he made 27's work or doesn't know. All I know is, no Ironman came with Mavics. Could be a great bike, looks like 56cm...I'm so tempted.