Originally Posted by A.Winthrop

Hi Mandrake,
.
Well, the Elite GT makes it an '84 model for sure as that
was the first year it was offered. The GT was sort of an
economy version of the Pro Tour, very similar but slightly
lesser frame materials and components. The '84 Centurion
catalog scans on the Velobase site (above) will let you
compare and contrast the two models. The GT is listed just
after the Pro Tour in that year's lineup.
.
Now all you need is an Elite racing model. There are two
on eBay at the moment, a large 1980 and a small 1986. The
'86 model shows marked improvement of frame materials and
components from 1980. There's another '86 Elite posted just
a half dozen posts up from here that sold on eBay for $235
last week (or something like that).
.
Very nice bike, your Elite GT. I'm still envious, even if
it isn't a Pro Tour. :-)
.
Oh, almost forgot. Tange 900 tubing was said to be for all
intents and purposes the same as Tange #2. There was a
different manufacturing process but it speced the same, I
believe. BF's T-Mar discussed this somewhere here, maybe
in this thread, can't remember.
.

Originally Posted by A.Winthrop

Hi John,
.
Good question about Tange 900 and whether it is seamed. As
I recall it was NOT seamed (like Tange's Infinity tubing)
but I believe T-Mar or someone else said it was produced
using a different process than other seamless tubing. Try
T-Mar on this one or you might hit the link on the Centurion
Bicycles website to Jalon Hawk's bike tubing page. There is
a lot of information there on Tange and other Japanese and
European tubing.
.
Complete specs for your Elite GT are also on the Centurion
Bicycles website, either on Sheldon Brown's site or the
Velobase site (above). It is the same article on both sites
but the Velobase version is a minor update. Look for the
1984 Centurion catalog scans at the end of the article. Look
at the specs page and the geometry pages and, of course,
the Elite GT specific page. That's your bike, for sure. And
it is Tange 900 tubing (three main tubes), according to the
specs page.
.
You can see the seat tube sticker on the GT in the catalog
scan of that model. And on one of the geometry scans, you
can see a closeup of the Tange 900 CrMo sticker. Also in the
geometry pages, you will note that the GT's geometry is the
same as the Pro Tour and weight is only about 1.5lbs more.
.
Among the scans is information about Centurion paint jobs
too, among the best of the '80s Japanese bikes, according
to T-Mar.
.
I've got two Comp TA's from that year. The Elite R\S was the
economy version of the Comp TA. I liked my silver and black
one so much, I couldn't resist a red and silver model when
one showed up on eBay in excellent condition, all-original
and in my size. The Comp TA was only offered in two colors,
which means I have no excuse whatsoever to buy another one.
.
So enjoy that nice Elite GT. Love that below-the-downtube
bottle cage! I thought that nailed it down as a Pro Tour
for sure. Not so. Live and learn.
.
PS - Correction: Tange 900 tubing WAS seamed. And it did
have the same wall thickness as Tange #2.
.
T-Mar's take on Tange 900:
.
[90]T-Mar
.
Senior Member
.

Join Date: Nov 2004
.
"... Tange 900? It would have been about 4th in the Tange
lineup at the time. Wall thickness was equivalent to their #2
set but it used seamed tubing. Don't be concerned. The mid-
'80s seamed tubing was good stuff, just cheaper to produce."
.
In another reference to Tange 900 here, T-Mar notes that
this tubing was double butted CrMo and, as suggested above,
was the same weight as Tange #2.
.