cb400bill

Looks like you have a 1978 in Pearlized Coffee. Photo courtesy of Vintage-Centurion.com https://vintage-centurion.com/literat...on_Catalog.pdf

jforb427

Thank for adding the pictures, and for the brochure.

I put new tires and brake blocks on....it all works very well now.

daidalus

Hi everybody. And T-Mar.
I have recently built up a Frankenstein from a frame I purchased as a forkless re-painted structure. There was no knowledge of the brand nor the model.
The bike has a serial number on the headtube above the downtube lug. The serial number is WAKB043503, there could be some misreading, but rather in the end part of the number.
As I have understood from the conversation above and elsewhere it is a Centurion imported to Denmark by Age Kroll. The number, however, is not entirely consistent with the Danish VIN structure. Which has left me pondering.
The frame has been light blue originally. It has brake cable braze-ons, but no downtube shifter brazed-on posts. So somewhere 1981-84?
It has 26.2 or 26.4mm seat tube - 26.2 seems to have a bit of play but fixes fine. The size is 60cm C-T.
I have called it LeMans, but I have yet to see a frame with similar seat-stay upper ends, so not really sure.
If. If someone could provide a better educated guess, I would be grateful.
As a newbie I can not share images. Somewhy. But with some patience one can repair - https colon slash slash drive google com/drive/folders/109xEhaNEXywiNaUmELmlEJG8j5WQjUXg?usp=sharing
Thank You

Classtime 

1985 red Ironman. 6207 components with a Tange BB, Technomic stem 42mm B115 bars. 60cm center to top edge of seat lug and 57cm TT CTC.
N4P0265

BTinNYC

Centurion Prestige
63 cm frame and fork plus Shimano 600 headset
1989?
sn 89B2317
Money shot. The other side had significant surface rust.

tjfastback66

Centurian Super LeMans serial NON5770 made in Japan Champion #5 tubing
Suntour components, barcon shifters...

tourneur

1984 Elite RS (silver)
N4A5075

1987 Ironman Expert (MV)
N7G8041

1989 Ironman Master (red)
N9D5048

fvernon

Currently cleaning up & getting ready to rebuild this 1981 Centurion Pro Tour. SN M1F15682

I believe this means the bike was built in 1981 for a 1981 sale--the 1982 sale models had all switched to cantilever brakes, no? It seems like the Centurion Pro Tours existed as 3 groupings: the 1976/1977 grouping with partial chrome fork & stays, the 1978-1981 grouping with the full chrome under paint & pin-striping, and the 1982-1984 grouping with cantilevers and 'Pro Tour 15' decals.

BTinNYC

Nice, and I really like the pinstriping on these.

Peruano

Like the above bike, my recent purchase appears to be in the mid evolution of the Centurion ProTour SN M8B01504, oddly it also has stamped on the bottom bracket in larger font size 072558 of unknown significance. Mine is the pearlized silver, with barcon shifters, triple crank (Sugino AT 46, 36, 26 which may not be stock). It too has the pin striping, and all chrome tubing. I will start another thread to detail the bike as found, but suffice it to say it has the "fat" C head badge, and chrome lugs to set it correctly in the 79 range even tho the sn suggests a 1978 build. It was at the evolutionary transition. and has been further upgraded by previous owners.

Centurion Pro Tour 1978/79
The chrome lugs are beautiful.


but why were the seat cluster lugs partially painted?

I have a 7 speed freewheel on Campy record hub so 126 spacing and a Suntour xcsport 7000 DR

I'm wondering whether the Sugino AT with low gearing 46, 36, 26 was OEM or a mod?

eafgl

I have a Centurion Super Le Mans. Bought in 75 or 76. Serial N5270. Have not found anything yet that pinpoints the year based on that serial.

JacobLee 

I just found this Elite 12 at an estate sale. I'm pretty sure the brakes, levers, pedals, and maybe the seatpost are the only original components. Even the seat binder bolt has been replaced with Italian (Miche). Pretty sure this is an '83 because that was the only year for these. N3M6094

Prunesquallor

The thread seems to have stagnated, or perhaps its purpose has been served. Anyway, picked up this frame on eBay.

Obviously an 89 LeMans. Frame seems to be in great shape although the paint is iffy and there are few rust spots to be fixed. One of the mysterious F3 Taiwan frames.

It’s going to be a “neighborhood” bike for my wife. She wanted something upright and “simple”, so I’m thinking about a 1x7 with mostly parts bin components.

The wheels shown are some pretty new no-name freewheel clinchers I had from a previous build that should work fine. I found a 7-speed 12-32T freewheel and a Shimano 1055 crankset with just a 42T inner ring (not a Biopace) should give a pretty good range of gear ratios. Some Shimano 1050 calipers look like they’ll fit.

Romany275

My 89 IM Master non-lugged frame - serial number 89D2966. Gotta be close to one of the last IMs made.

steve212

Greetings!
I just acquired an old Centurion LeMans, S/N F9059903
Can anyone tell me the date of this bike?
The colors are primarily white, with some purple on the fork and front/back of frame.
At the back of the top tube it reads "Avenir Equipped".
Thank you.

Hummer

Hello Prunesquallor,

yes, members were all Centurioned out during Covid.

I would suggest that the serial number is F8105450. The "3" is a poorly struck "8". The frame was manufactured in year 8 and month 10, October 1988.

Prunesquallor

Well, maybe. Hard to prove. It seemed very clear and distinct “3” to me.

curbtender

If you look at some of the other examples of 3...

Hummer

For the purpose of identifying the bicycle by serial number if stolen it is probably best to use F3105450, because that is what it looks like.

When dating the frame using the serial number it is another matter. The serial number is for a frame made by Fairly Bike of Taiwan. There are many examples of serial numbers from Fairly manufactured frames. It is generally observed that the date of manufacture is encoded in the serial number, as is true for many of the Taiwan bicycle manufacturers in the 1980s.

For Fairly serial numbers the first digit is for the year of frame manufacture.

The striking of the serial number characters into the frame is not always clean and precise. Then the frame is painted. Because of this serial number characters are not always clearly definable at first glance.

Hummer

Hello steve212,
The serial number is for Fairly Bike of Taiwan. The first digit is for the year and the next two digits are for the month of frame manufacture.
Year "9", month "05" is May 1989.