jetboy 

re:erich wow you are up late with some issues. go ride a bike and post less and you might feel better.

ErichVonCartman

I am on a Service outage call at the moment. Just trying to multitask!

I do love to ride! and I do love to post. I just feel that my posting should be 50% of my riding, and at the moment I am way behind posting

texaspandj

Looking at it now. I don't think it's your size jetboy. Still, great example of a stock MV. But perhaps I should wait til Saturday to start my rebuild.
One last thing jetboy (if i may) before we don't respond to it anymore. Goodnight erich wherever you are, and welcome to the club.

ErichVonCartman

thanks Superman. and good night to you to. and you don't have to wear a dress if we go drinking together. you can wear whatever you want. I travel a lot for work, so just let me know what town you are in and I promise to take care of the first 2 rounds... dress or NO-dress, I will treat those first 2.

texaspandj

I bought an 88 master yellow fade and was so impressed I bought a 88 same size frame purple haze to turn into a tri bike . I had a 86 for years albeit a bit bigger 54cm.
I rode my 88 purple haze last week. A short 25 miler. And although I'm only in 50% Condition, that bike allowed me to get 100% out of my current cardio,aerobic condition. I am not exaggerating. I maxed out down hill then had to turn around and go up the same hill. Admittedly I was in my smallest gear, however I didn't need another one. And it helped me up that hill. This is the route I normally take cause it has the most hills. And I'm able to judge my fitness based on that hill. RT once stated he thinks the 89 is the fastest of all the CIM. That may be, but I don't have a 89 to compare it to. Til then this frame to me is the fastest overall rider. I know my my 86 is the slowest could be those city tires. And my Miami Vice is very fast on the flats. But whoever gets this will be happy.
I have stock wheels on my 88 tri and that may be what makes it fast. We all know wheels and tires make the biggest difference. When I get enough money I'm gonna put those tires on all my CIM to make a better comparison.
Centurion 57cm Frame Ironman Master Dave Scott 80s Tange 1 | eBay

fleslider 

There is different Geometry for the 1989 models . i compared the 1989 and my 1987 Expert and there is some differences in angles the top tube is tighter on the 1989 and more relaxed on the 1987.

RobbieTunes

I second that. I had an '89 Expert it simply felt quicker. Another Ironman owner had both an '86 and an '89 and he thought the same thing. A couple of magazines reported that Centurion told them there was a "tweak" for '89 but Centurion never supplied numbers. So, all I have is my "feelings" (cue the song...). However, as many Ironman bikes as I've ridden, I think I would notice a difference. If it's all in my head, well, then it's as real as anything else in there.

The balance is the same, the agility, to me, is a hair quicker. Get a bit sloppy at the end of a century, and the '89 will let you know a bit quicker that you should be paying attention. Not as bad as a Super Corsa will, but it gets noticed.

By the way folks, I kind of dig the Ignore feature lately, ifyaknowwhatImean.....

ErichVonCartman

Yeah, because you should always IGNORE someone after him giving you his personal opinion, and calling him out.

ErichVonCartman

My apologies Mr. Superman Ranger Sir! Now I understand why you get mad when someone like me prefers Carbon Frames now. Had no idea you were a Pusher for steal frames! Can't have some wise guy with NO Motive whatsoever go on the forums giving his personal opinion!

seypat

On Christmas Eve, instead of not opening my business I keep it open half the day. I know I won't have any customers. Instead of working, I work on my bikes instead. I was finishing up lacing a new set of wheels for the Ironman. Got to the rear hub/rim, and 8(out of a 50 pack) of the new Wheelsmith spokes would not take nipples. AEBike gave me a credit, but I still had to order more to finish the job. I noticed I had the cable stops on backwards. It's been that way for 2 years! I put all of the Campy NR back on the Crescent since it won't be the SOTR bike in 2016. The newly acquired SR Semi Pro will be the 2016 SOTR bike. The Shimano barcons went onto the SR so now the new cable housing and bar tape can go on. It was a good Christmas Eve morning.

Speaking of SOTR, I think they are capping it at 750 riders this year. So if you are thinking of riding it, you better sign up. It's becoming an annual classic for some of us C & Vers. There are some dedicated threads about it on the bike forums site.

Here is the website: https://stormingofthunderridge.org/

Hoss Cartright

Thought I might help to turn this thread back toward the original theme?

In summer 2014, I scored another MV identical to the one I already have. (At the same LBS, and once again dirt-cheap.)
This one was a trade-in for a typical hybrid and they had almost nothing in it, and were glad to see it gone. It was a little tall for the Nephew, but he went in there with me to scope it out. He thought it was pretty cool, he is interested in bikes and tinkering, so we brought it home with us for $50.00.
When we got back to my shop, we took it completely apart. (He did almost all of the work, I was showing him the proper tools, the steps, "bagging and tagging" the parts etc.
Then I schooled him on the fine arts of cleaners, de-greasers, the soft cotton towels, and McGuire's polishes, then turned-him-loose. He took the frame home and worked it over in the bedroom, polished it to perfection. (This bike is actually very nice, with only a few small scratches and obviously not a lot of miles)
Little by little we cleaned and polished every part, and systematically put it back together. Washed all the bearings and re-packed them, put all new cables from my huge stash of leftover stuff. lightly used Continental tires from my stash, new tubes. Tried some different saddles from my box of those as well. Threw those goofy tri-bars onto a shelf and put her back to regular drop bars. As he is not an experienced road rider, he elected for typical pedals which he prefers. The bike was a little tall for him, but knowing he still had some growing to do, I figured it might fit him in a year or so.
In the end, we had just under $125.00 in the bike and our labor.

Fast forward to this year and he is actually much taller, now 16 years of age, very much into the video gamer culture and the bike is sitting at my place. We went on a few easy 20 miler bike club rides in the fall of 2014, and he decided it is not his thing.
But, for a 14-year-old, it was a nice experience to take something that was ugly and tear-it-down and rebuild it into something that was quite nice. In today's throwaway culture, I think this is something that more young folks need to see. And he now has a better perspective of the difference between quality second-hand classic well-made things and cheap China chain-store junk.
I enjoyed very much the adventure of showing the kid the ropes of finding, negotiating, and buying on the cheap and then trading labor time to recondition something and in-the-end, saving a lot of money. And I think he got some experience in observation, looking at a mechanical thing and judging it for its potential, looking through the dirt and neglect, and envisioning the final result. He was very proud of his work and rightfully so.
Images from the summer of 2014, the bike as found, the process, and the final result.

Mine has the yellow tires, his has the black tires..

seypat

Great story!

Now you need to start on the beater bike that he will take to college. Cause, you know he is going to show up on your door step in a couple of years wanting the IM for college.

RobbieTunes

The confidence of having done, and ridden, the Ironman will stand him well. In many ways.

fleslider 

Long live the MV Ironman's!

Happy holidays.. my friends of the Ironman thread!

seypat

Right back at you!

Here is some questions for the forum: For any given year/model excluding Non USA models, was there only one standard TT decal? Or were there multiples color schemes that were coordinated with the frame paint scheme? It seems like it is the latter.

RobbieTunes

I would opine the latter. 1989, for example, had an orange Ironman logo on the Hard Rock Master, but yellow on the Red Menace Master. The Black Dog Expert had a lavender-ish logo on the TT, and I believe the Smoke on the Water Expert had orange-as well. Maybe the same orange as the Hard Rock, but it didn't seem as "orange."

attylah

Any recommendations on a good touchup paint for the pink on a Miami Vice Ironman? And what prep needs to be done to the chipped area before applying said paint? Thanks for any advice.

texaspandj

+1 on the paint/nail polish.
While we're at it. Yellow too.
I thought I'd find it somewhere on previous post, but no luck. Nor on information thread.
Didn't need it before on my 56cm but definitely need it now on my 54cm.

triitout

Just finished touching up my Vice with the little Testor's enamel bottles.

For the yellow, I used #1114 Yellow straight up.
For the magenta, I had my daughter "the artist" custom mix #1187 Magenta with #1111 Dark Blue, and #1114 Yellow. Probably could have been slightly lighter if I added some #1145 White but for my purposes, it was close enough. I'm not going for the showroom, pristine look, so discount everything I've posted if that's what you're after. No special preps either. Just paint and go. It helps to be nearsighted so that imperfections are out of focus anyway!

I'll post pics when I'm done. The bad thread on the fork was thankfully sorted out. It's got a recycled wheel set. I pulled my Mavic Ksyrium Equippe wheels off a bike I'm upgrading to Vuelta Corsa Lite after a good Nashbar sale, and put on a 7 speed 13-28 HG-50 cassette. No problem going 130mm. I've got a 1055 7 speed index shifter on the way to stay down tube. Hopefully it all works when I throw on the chain. I found a nice Biopace Shimano 600 crankset in my parts bin that was in much nicer shape than the 105 so on it went. It's winter, so no rush.

RobbieTunes

Great info, and thanks. Welcome to the forum. Kestrel 500 is a hard to find bike....
The Testor's yellow looks dead on in the bottle, but mine always comes out a bit light. I wonder if I don't shake it up enough. Someone told me one drop of orange in there would produce the right tint, but I don't experiment like that. Matching up the magenta on there, and the green on the others, that would be a feat worth sharing, for sure.

I did use Rustoleum's Rust Remover first, then I dab a little primer in the scratches. Duplicolor has a "scratch kit" that has a very fine little sanding tip that can be used to remove excess around scratches, even after painting. I've been averagely successful (if that's a word).

texaspandj

Wecome back. I'm glad the mechanic was right. I'm impressed with your patience. Frankly I'm impressed with everyone's patience,when it comes to building up any Ironman. After only three days of soaking a stuck seatpost ,my patience ends today.
Keep us updated. Pics would really be appreciated. It's inspiration for folks like me. Are you still going original at this point?

OldsCOOL

Let us know about that seat post. My thoughts and hopes are with you.

oddjob2

Fuggedabout a hacksaw, takes hours. Use a large tooth wood 10" blade in a reciprocating saw, be done in minutes. Just go slow and easy. For the most part, the blade's big teeth will chew through the aluminum, but leave the steel alone.

ErichVonCartman

Just Checkin In! Looks like the Von-Cartmann Hatefest has ended. Well just to let you guys know, I am still here to be bullied on if you still want to beat me up for having my OWN personal preferences.

I hope I am still part of this Cool Kids Club!

ErichVonCartman

This here post here is dedicated to any "Smart Guy" who thinks someone would make up having a paper route and owning a Centurian Ironman! Trust me when I say, I do NOT think anyone would make up having a paper route and owning a Centurian Ironman! HAHAHAAHHAHAHA