s14pat

i bought this centurion recently for $50. it was a somewhat complete bike. just missing a seat and pedals. had different probably non stock seat and pedals i picked out. kyokuto pedals with christophe special toe cages and a brown suede selle italia. stock.. the bike came with a SR stem, sakae custom road champion handle bars, tourney SR cranks, and suntour derailer components so im guessing late 70's, early 80's. i still have no idea what it is. all i know is.. its japanese of course. it was a 10-speed. i want to convert it into a fixed gear but im not sure if i want to start hacking stuff off right away before i know what it is.

bbattle

Why hack anything off at all? Leave it on there so that when you decide you want another frame, you can sell this one and make your money back and then some. If you hack stuff, the frame becomes worthless.

Good fixie candidate; long horizontal dropouts, standard bottom bracket and headset dimensions. Stamped dropouts and no tubing stickers so not an expensive frame. Still, no need to be grinding braze-ons off. If you want a frame with nothing on it; eBay has a ton for ~$125. Track geometry, too.

due ruote 

+1 And if you hack stuff off, then you have rust issues, or have to re-paint. Just build it up as is.

RobbieTunes

I'm perfectly willing to trade you a decent 52cm Lemans RS frame, great for single speeding, if you'd send me some pics and give me a chance to restore that bike. Cash could be involved, and some of my spare parts for your SS, like a Shimano 600 crankset, bars, etc. PM me if interested.

cuda2k

If you don't take Robbie up on his offer (a reasonable one at that!), I 3rd the question, why cut anything off? The rear brake cable stops run under the top tube at a 8 o'clock position, so it's not likely you'll catch your self on it often. Or, buck the trend and actually run a brake!

You've got yourself a good looking (can't say what tubing quality though) 70's Centurion. While not the rarest of frames out there, its not every day you see a centurion of that age come along. Do the bike, yourself, and the vintage cycling community a favor and leave the frame be if you want to build it as a fixed.

John E

How about actually using the brake cable stops and having front and rear caliper brakes for safety?

mparker326

If you are going fixed, you will have to run a different crank if you only want a single chainring. That Tourney crank has the smaller ring attached to the larger ring.

Grand Bois

It's a low end frame that will never be of interest to collectors. It's a good candidate for a fixie because it has minimal braze-ons, long horizontal dropouts and no derailer hanger. Do what you want with it. It's your bike.

nick burns

^^ I agree. Perfect frame for fixed gear conversion.

cudak888 

Fixie troll post...no replies

-Kurt "Don't Dremel It" K.

nlerner

I'm perplexed why the "should I convert it to a fixed gear" posts end up in C&V and not FG/SS forum. Wouldn't the label "classic and vintage" imply that hacking up something "classic and vintage" would be a bad idea in these parts?

Neal

Poguemahone

For starters, the knowledge here is pretty much superior to that on SSFG (sorry, SSFG guys), especially in reference to older frames. And taking an old bike you wish to convert to fixie these days may get you flamed (recently the SSFG guys seem borderline obsessed with frame geometry as the sign of a "real" track bike. Guess they've never seen Major Taylor's bike). Here we just grouse some about braze-ons and grump a bit, but in general the advice is much more spot on. And we are far, far gentler here.

Sigurdd50

oh the old-bike-becomes-single-speed can of worms (ducks and places tongue firmly in cheek :^)

the way I see it... there are probably a lot of nice old steel roadies, with all their original stuff, hanging off hooks in dry garages and cellars... with years of dust on the lugs, and every once in a while the aging owner looks up with pride.

On the other hand, if there is a way to get a bike/frame back on the street so it can be in use, I say do it! I love old bikes, I've ridden quite a few over the decades... and if ditching the Weimanns for some useable Tektro Aero brakes, or upgrading a changer, or making the shifters bar ends makes me USE the bike more, I say... Seize the day! (my '71 Dawes Galaxy sat unused for 20 years until my daughter convinced me to let her FG it... it's retired again, but she's a craker jack bike mechanic now because of the work she did on that bike... and when I look at it, hanging on a hook in the garage, I think about what a great biker she is... like her old dad!)

nlerner

I have no problem with upgrading old bikes and am not a slave to tradition. There are lots of bikes, particularly from the 70s, that are most valuable for their frames. The components weren't much to begin with, so no big deal to ditch them for upgrades. So definitely, yes, getting bikes on the road is what's most important. And, fwiw, I must have seen a dozen SS/FG mods to old steel road bikes today, and that's fairly average for the Boston area.

Neal

RobbieTunes

If you want to single it, send us pics. I like riding mine as much as any bike, period.

My motives to swap are purely selfish; I have this 89 LeMans frame with no interest in it, and just bought a groupset that goes with your frame for .99 on eBay, and I already have the wheelset.
https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN:IT&ih=009

Plus, the newer LeMans would look silly with old components, and my wife would criticize my ability to "accessorize."

Neither frame has the shipping cost in value; hence the trade idea.

In fact, I think some bikes are worth more as forum topics.

RobbieTunes

If you decide to make it a fixed gear, here's a nice example. (Not mine)

DUC_TAPE

Uhh ohh, I guess this is another torture chamber for all of you guys again /=

nlerner

It would certainly look much better with a top tube pad.

Neal

s14pat

this topic has been getting a lot of attention.. your responses got me thinking. for the sake of all those who don't want me to do a hack job on this.. its not really a "hack job." i handle my bikes with care.. EXTREME care and precise with detail work. the frame has some spots of rust which was why i wanted to repaint it. i decided not to cut anything or repaint it yet. im gonna ride this frame for a while and see how i like it. i ride all the bikes and frames i own.. i see no point in collecting something and not using it for its purpose. who would be able to appreciate it, other than myself, if its just hanging in the garage. if suits me and i decide keep it. its probably gonna be repainted and the braze-ons grind down.. for the sake of keeping pants, well.. pants. in any case, i'll be sure to post some pictures for your viewing pleasure. oh.. and if i do decide to sell the frame and fork. you'll be the first to know Robbie!

bibliobob

It'd be a much cooler conversion if you leave the original paint. Let's put it this way. I don't glance twice at the thousands of generic powdercoat/stealth ss/fg conversions that float around Chicago. But, if I saw this bike (fixed or geared) riding past, I'd strain my neck trying to get a better look.

dusty99

The paint doesn't look too bad, at least from the pics you've posted. What about simply cleaning, prepping and spot painting the rusty areas? If you can get a decent color match (I use Testors), then lightly sand and clear-coat, the results should be fine.