I recently picked up a Semi-Pro. The serial number is M7M26627.

It has had some equipment upgrades, but most of it matches the 1979 catalog that is posted on Velobase. https://velobase.com/Resource_Tools/CatalogScans.aspx

Here is a pic of the bike as I received it. The Centurion and Semi Pro decals are missing but the OEM pin stripes look great.

I wondered if you got it, and can now sleep at night. Insanely nice bike. Normally, I like decals.
For that year, I think the bikes look better without them, to a point.

Since it's got the awesome headbadge, maybe JR will print you just the DT decals from the Turbo sheet.
They'd look pretty cool in dark brown, dark blue, or black. Great score, and I'm glad it went to a good guy.

Thanks again for your help in IDing the bike for me. Based on the seller's sketchy details, I felt it was a bike to check out. After I saw that beautiful pearlized yellow paint, it had to be mine.

If I ever sell, you're first on the list.

Someone needs to pick this up....
Ironman Road Bike - $250 (Cary)

[HR][/HR]Date: 2012-07-02, 8:12PM EDT
Reply to: kn4gs-3115236742@sale.craigslist.org [SUP][Errors when replying to ads?][/SUP] [HR][/HR]
24 inch front wheel (really 520c, but it's the cleanest OEM Wolber I've seen in that size, ever)
27 inch back wheel (really 700c, but like new)
Barely used

how's it going guys. nice to see a few pages of nice bikes added since i last checked in

nothing really new here.. except i haven't been riding my centurion much.. it's a bit too big for me. gotta hunt down a replacement here in socal.

thought 53cm would be nice for me but apparently.. the top tube is too much for me to handle lol.

Hi forum!

I bought this rusty Centurion yesterday and am hoping to find the date here. Most parts look original, save for wheels, and are Japanese made. Not sure about the engraved handlebars either.

Serial No: U200, found underneath seat post






Lots more graphics here: https://imgur.com/a/avYUm

Thanks in advance for the help.

_jamie

looks to be one of the earlier centurions, i know more about the ones from 1985+

i believe the serial should be under the bottom bracket? maybe someone that knows more about your year can add some more information

welcome to the forum : )

Looks like a mid 70's Lemans with a few borrowed parts. It wouldn't have been a 14 speed.

Came OEM as a 2x5 friction, and not in the class of the European bikes of the era, for the most part.
Depends on what you want to do with it, but cables/housing, hoods will set you back $20.
If you have to pay someone to repack the hubs/headset/bb, probably not worth it in the long run.

However, if you like doing that, de-rust it, tune it up, and it's a fine commuter and entry level bike.
Just be wary about getting over the $50 range on expenses, unless you simply like the bike and the hobby.

met a guy locally around here in socal selling one of these for $150. looks like it was barely ridden. not that it's pristine. its pretty dirty and seems uncared for. handlebar tape and tires are aged to death. funny looking bike in person, a lot smaller than appears in pictures. i thought for a second what it would look like riding around on it being a regular sized guy. lol. what was it made for, riders 5'2 and under?

Frame designed by Georgena Terry for women. One of the first women-specific designs, especially for shorter riders. No sacrifice in speed with the 700c rear, but ample standover and short reach for riders of shorter stature. Some have been turned into somewhat aero tri-bikes, but I'm sure they handle funny. The 520 front gave the bike quick steering, as can be expected, but every woman I've met that had one thought it was the best bike she'd ever had. I see a pair of them at local triathlons in the summer season here, a mother and daughter have them.

They more than hold their own, even against many tri-bikes today. They're not very heavy, because they're not very big. The major drawback is if something happens to that front wheel. The high-end 520 rims are pretty hard to come by, and the Ironman came with Wolber Super Champion Alpine rims, no slouch even by today's standards, about 420g for the 700c size, and eyeletted.

Next up is racing tire availability. A 24x1 will generally not fit. They say the recumbent dealers may have the rims and the tires/tubes. I simply don't know. These frames were offered by Fuji, Nishiki, Trek, Terry, Centurion, Miyata and others. The Ironman version was Tange 1 and was an Expert. I bought a Terry Despatch model for a slightly used helmet, and parted it out.

I've always hankered to buy an Ironman version and build a tri-bike out of it, lend it to some shorter rider for a triathlon, and watch her mow down a good bit of the field on a steel Tange 1 mini-beast. I'm sure I could get the weight competitive with a disc rear and judicious use of the right modern components.

awesome information on its history.

another question in the next post..

was the issue of the black ironman frames ever figured out? i notice mine has the same round-un-dimpled stays. was this peculiarity also found in the red ironman frames? are they prestige frames in disguise? lol

The Panracer Pasela was the only tire I could find in 24x1. At least they are common, cheap.

Yes, it's definitely from the 1970s and the best candidate is a LeMans. Unfortunately, I can't tell you the exact year, as I've been unable to collect sufficient data on the Centurion from this period. However, the headbadge indicates pre-1979. The graphics are typical of the mid-1970s and the code on that front derailleur dates it to June 1974. Of course, that assumes the derailleur is original. Dia-Compe centre pull brakes, SunTour VGT rear derailleur and Shimano Tourney crankset were OEM on circa 1975 LeMans. The Huret downtube shifters are obvious replacemnt (OEM would have been SunTour stem shifters) and I suspect the wheels are too.

The 1989 ironman frames almost invariably turn up in the marble paint jobs. While I don't have any objective evidence of the black being offered, WSI often offered a more restrained finish for the traditionalists, so it's possible that it is an OEM domestic market finish or maybe a foreign market model. What I can assure you, is that the pictured frame is not a Prestige in disguise. The Prestige frame used fastback seat stays, as opposed to the semi-wrap style used on the Ironman models.

awesome! found a album of someone's centurion prestige on flickr showing those stays. cool bike.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/meadowa...n/photostream/

I purchased an '86 Dave Scott Ironman (red and white w/ Shimano 600) brand new in February of '87. I also convinced my father shortly after to buy an '87 (purple and yellow Shimano 105).

I tore out an article from Bicycling Magazine's Feb '87 issue back then, and filed it away with my bicycle "stuff".

At almost 91 years of age my father has given up cycling, but was rocking the Scott clip-on aeros on the Centurion well into age 87!

I relocated the bike to my garage, and last month when my wife bought her first ever road bike (a brand new Madone) I figured my 24 years of riding exclusively 26" bikes while the 700C steed stayed parked were done.
I'm now rehabing both Ironmans, and have enjoyed reading this thread!
I just found the article praising the bike as well as the "brand new" 105 componentry.
"Centurian speced it with less costly 105 components. Less costly, but with features you can't even get with Dura-Ace, let alone 600."
A picture of the RD and dropout and freewheel is captioned:
Shimano 105 SIS shifts like Dura-Ace, costs less than Shimano 600, and looks like a million bucks."

The title of the article is More Features, Less Money
and the subtitle is " Shimano's New 105 Components and Centurion's Ironman Expert Make the Magic Happen by
John Kukoda

Shimano New 105 was introduced for the 1987 model year. Consequently, it had some new technological advances over New 600EX (introduced 1984) and New Dura-Ace (introduced 1985). Most notable was the SLR brakeset with better modulation due to a lower rate spring in the caliper and the addition of a return assist spring in the lever. Many riders installed them on Dura-Ace and Super Record equipped bicycles. Most of the other "new" features were actually trickle-downs from new Dura-Ace.

The Prestige in 1985 had the real thin "wrap" line that went around the front of the top of the seat tube, over the top tube. They were smooth, not chrome, but polished, and had the word "Centurion" on them. The 1985 Ironman had almost the same stays, but they did not have the thin "wrap" line; the stay ended at the rounded tip. The flat of the cap was also polished, with the word "Centurion" on it. Sorry for the blurry picture.

This model was purchased as a frameset, as the owner wanted a whopping $200 more for the wheels and group. I built it with Shimano 600 tricolor and a mismatched front wheel. Now, of course, I realize I should have paid the full price ($400 shipped). I kick myself. I'm almost glad it didn't fit, but not that glad.


You, sir, have provided the first measurable proof of changes in the black 1989 Ironman Expert that Centurion hinted at to Bicycle Guide magazine in 1989. Centurion told the editors at BG that they'd "tweaked" the geometry for 1989, but provided no specs, and the editors did not measure or gauge the angles on the black 1989 they'd been given to test. They merely mentioned it in the article, and went on to deplore the Technova II tires (which were labeled both as 700x19 and 700x18 on the same tire) and discuss the GPX drivetrain. Since they had none of the new specs available, they published the older specs.
Until you posted this, the only thing I had to go on was my own opinion, and that of BF member lsdmt. We both have owned the black 1989 models at the same time as we owned other Ironman models. In his case, a 1986, which he declared "absolutely smoother."

In my case, I had both a 1989 Master, a 1988 Master, a 1985 Prestige, and the black 1989 Expert at the same time. I found the black Expert to be a bit more aggressive, enough that I built it as close to 20lbs as I could get, raced one triathlon on it, set a PR for the bike leg, and sold it to a guy who won't sell it back. Yes, that is the Suntour GPX FD and RD working just fine with 9-sp Sora shifters and a 9sp DA cassette. For the triathlon, I mounted the Sora's as low as I could get them on the bars, in order to reach the thumb shifters. I highly recommend not using Michelin Dynamic tires at speed in corners. I didn't lose much time, but front wheel "drifting" is not something I envisioned doing on a bicycle.

Yeah, they mentioned that in the article as well. Reminded me how swapping stuff can create problems, i.e MY 600 levers don't have the springs, so they would not be compatible with the 105 brakes on my Dad's..
I would have thought rode levers were road levers.......

Welcome to the forum. Another great feature of the 6-sp 105 was the UG freehub, which could be swapped for an 8/9/10 UG freehub, allowing for upgrades to a modern drivetrain without buying wheels. Glad to have you on board, and don't forget to post your "Miami Vice" Ironman, as well as your '86, when you get them ready. We'll send you your certificate, because we're certifiable.

I think they'd work, and I don't think the 1986 levers are Shimano 600. They should be DiaCompe's and they had a spring in them, too. The main issue pre/post SLR, I believe, was the amount of pull required, not the returnability of the lever (most caliper springs were more than enough to return the lever). One model, if I recall, would almost hit the handlebar when used with an incompatible caliper, or the other way around. T-Mar will correct me if I'm wrong on the SLR/non SLR issue, but I'm certain the red/white '86 had DiaCompe levers.

Yes, MINE is the red and white 600 and Diacomp levers. Dad's is the magenta and yellow 105.
Same as the one pictured above, but still with the original black saddle, black tape, and black brake hoods.
My first adult bike purchase, other than the college years department store 10 speed with a frame WAY too big for me.
Both Centurions are 48's. You can imagine how much seat post was showing on the 10-speed. Zero of course. Still have all my original pelvic components intact though.

I had folded mine, and besides, your scanner is better as well.
Happy to see I'm not the only hoarder around here!