Centurion 24" frontwheel
 

A friend of mine just bought this bike. Its an 89 (?) Centurion Iron Man Dave Scott. Its wee little at 47cm. I feel like a giant riding it. Its her first bike in 10 years, so its a bit out of her league. But, she's doing great at getting used to the tightness of a road bike. I was wondering if you guys had any info on this bike. It currently has mostly Shimano 105, 105 hubs, and, oddly a mountain crank and a Lord of the Rings mega stem. I think the Iron Man was a higher level model, and I suspect it was a time trial bike. But I'm not really sure. I also get a kick out of her getting a Centurion, because I owned a Cavalleto and my buddy owned an Accordo, both red/white fade.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...efsIronMan.jpg

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...sIronManBB.jpg

She can't stop talking about the bike so I hope you guys enjoy it too.

jim

Many people refer to those as "proportional" bikes. They were popularized by Terry. The smaller 24" front wheel is usually found only in the smaller sizes. Similar bicycles were made by Bianchi and some others. The idea was to build the bike with a smaller front wheel to get the frame size small enough (usually down to 41cm) without the problem of "toe overlap" . More info on smaller women specific bikes can be found here.
http://www.terrybicycles.com/

Zagnut

That's a nice bike! I have a similar one; a "triathalon" model sold by KHS in the 80s. Similar paint scheme too, except green where yours is red. It makes you wonder if they were built in the same factory. It was perfect for my son when he was 5' tall. Check on that stem installation. Unless it's a Nitto Technomic or something similar, make sure that there is enough of the stem in the steerer.

Yup, its a technomatic.

Your friend's bike is a 1987, I think. It's had the chainrings replaced--they should be BioPace

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...IMG_0328_2.jpg

This is mine. I think it only came in salmon/white.

East Hill