Centurion Lemons RS
04-10-06 | 11:09 PM
#1
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From: Sierra Madre, CA, USA
Bikes: Trek 5300
Centurion Lemons RS
I have acquired a Centurion LEMANS RS. Its body is black with yellow head tube and seat tube. The front fork has a paste on label on each side which says “Manganese Alloy Tubing, 2001, TANGE”. The rear derailleur is “Shimano Light Action” on a six gear freewheel and the brakes are “Shimano L”. The large chain ring says, “Computer Designed Drive System Biopace, Shimano”. The chain ring is mounted in the wrong position so it is probably not part of the original equipment. On the seat tube there is a damaged label near the top that I think says, “CR MO Seamless TANGE Dual”. At the bottom there is a label that says, “Quality from Japan, Designed in the USA, Mangaloy, Manganese Alloy Tubing, TANGE”. The serial number is K6288. What is the meaning of “TANGE”? What is the meaning of the “2001” on the labels? It cannot possibly have anything to do with the year. What else can you tell me about this bike?
I owned three Centurions over the sixty and eighty decades, so I have all of the tools to work on this bike and in fact I am sure I know more about working on this one than I do about working on my Trek 5200T even though I never owned this model of Centurion. It needs service badly and in particular the bottom bracket.
I owned three Centurions over the sixty and eighty decades, so I have all of the tools to work on this bike and in fact I am sure I know more about working on this one than I do about working on my Trek 5200T even though I never owned this model of Centurion. It needs service badly and in particular the bottom bracket.
04-11-06 | 03:36 PM
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It's a late 1980s model, around 1986/1987. There should be two more characters to the serial number, preceding K6288. The first character should be an "N". The 2nd caharacter will be a number indicating the year of manufacture.
The frames for the LeMans RS were typically Tange #2, which is a good, seamless, double butted, chromium-molybdenum tubeset. The forks were often Tange 2001 which was a seamed, double butted, manganese-molybdenum tubeset. I haven't seen an RS with manganese-molybdenum used for the main tubes. Regardless, Tange is the name of the manufacturer. #2 and 2001 are model names/grades of their tubesets. Manganese-molybdem (Mn-Mo) is an alloy that lies between the hi-tensile steels found on entry-leverl bicycles and the chromium molybdenum (Cr-Mo) found on middle and high bicycles. Typically, it was found on lower, mid-range bicycles. The better the tubing, the stronger it is and therefore can be used to produce thinner tubes and a lighter frame.
An RS from this period would have cost $325-$425 US, depending on the year.
The frames for the LeMans RS were typically Tange #2, which is a good, seamless, double butted, chromium-molybdenum tubeset. The forks were often Tange 2001 which was a seamed, double butted, manganese-molybdenum tubeset. I haven't seen an RS with manganese-molybdenum used for the main tubes. Regardless, Tange is the name of the manufacturer. #2 and 2001 are model names/grades of their tubesets. Manganese-molybdem (Mn-Mo) is an alloy that lies between the hi-tensile steels found on entry-leverl bicycles and the chromium molybdenum (Cr-Mo) found on middle and high bicycles. Typically, it was found on lower, mid-range bicycles. The better the tubing, the stronger it is and therefore can be used to produce thinner tubes and a lighter frame.
An RS from this period would have cost $325-$425 US, depending on the year.
