T-Mar

The predecessor to the Ironman Dave Sott was the Comp TA (Competition TriAthlon). However, that was an infingement on the trademarked name of one of B.F. Goodrich's tires, so WSI had to rename it. They took the legal lesson to heart and bought lisences to use the Ironamn and Dave Scott names.

RFC

Robbie, that MV looks kind of familiar.

RobbieTunes 

1983 Comp TA. I built this for, and sold this to, a former NCAA tailback and he used it to rehab his knees. He can be found in some SC criteriums now, on his carbon Raleigh. At 6'2 and 245, he's probably hard to miss. He got the bug from the Comp TA. The 6-sp group easily converted to 9-sp friction shifting.


Yep, learned my lesson on riding 58cm, sent it to a much better home.......

RobbieTunes 

1984 Lemans RS


Repainted 1985 Cinelli Equipe Centurion


Incognito Ironman


1987 Expert using Georgena Terry's 700/520 design for shorter riders:



1989 Ironman Master


1989 Ironman Expert (this bike changed the way I approached the Ironman)


1988 Ironman Expert

RobbieTunes 

1987 Ironman Masters




1985 Ironman


1986 Ironman


Rare 1989 Ironman Master

cehowardGS

Yup, for good or bad, Roobie Tunes has put the Centurion Ironman as a bike of high repute!! Robbies examples of the Ironman are IMO,masterpieces!!

Here are mine, that has the Robbie sig on them..






I am currently waiting on a 3rd one, that will be a black one. Although I won't turn down red one in my size for the right price!

I am glad that most of the crowd are into Paramounts, Professionals, and the high end Italians.. All vintage.. that leaves the Centurions for us..

Bikedued

When did BF Goodrich start making the Comp TA tire? I don't seem to remember seeing them before the late 80's or early 90's, but I guess they were out that early?,,,,BD

cehowardGS

Now, this is kicking butt all the way! IMO, the blending of the black parts and the white parts, with just the right amount of each,and perfect placement!!

RobbieTunes 

That frame started in Texas, went to a powdercoater, and ended up on the west coast in the hands of a true artist: thenomad.

It is, by and large, one of the nicest treatments of any setup I've seen. We used to call that "bang on the money."

ericzamora

Wow, nice Centurians! I had a Lemans back in 1980. I worked at a local toy store and was hired to assemble bikes by my cousin the manager. When i selected that one he said Oh No! that's a serious bike! and tried to dissuade me from buying it. I think it was around $250 and was dark blue with that tan and pale yellow pinstriping. Nothing special to it in the end but it was my first "real" bike. kept it in my bedroom all of the time and learned how to disassemble it and repack everything (suntour components if i remember correctly)... until it was stolen from the bike rack at high school. Next up, my 82-ish Bianchi Campione D'Italia, which i still have.

eric
fresno, ca.

frantik

looking at those two you can really see the head tube change of the 89... much steeper

i hate to be blasphemous but my Centurion gets ridden the least of all my bikes.. but the bike that gets the most saddle time is probably still a WSI product, just with a Diamondback label

orcas island 

New find - 1979 Semi-Pro. Also, some photos of my 1984 Pro-Tour.

eippo1

A lot of it has to do with the fact that they designed the bikes well and the high end Tange tubing was as good as the Columbus SL etc that was found on storied Masi's, Colnagos etc. I'll post new pics in a few days after I finish recabling mine. It was time for new cables and I also managed to find some 10 speed Chorus shifters that I'm throwing on there.

And holy crap, these are some great pics.

calamarichris

Hear, here! Lovely pics.
When most of us were young, everyone joked about the shabby quality of Japanese-made products. Japan worked very hard to overcome that stigma in the American market, especially in the 80's and especially on bicycles. There was a lot going on in Japan, not only the quality of the frames, but also innovation with Shimano's indexed shifting.
My own nipponophilia is of a slightly different strain than Robbie's, but I confess even though I have all the bikes I want and more than a one bedroom condo can hold, I still check Ebay from time to time, just to make sure no one is selling a 63cm Miami Vice Ironman.


It's not a must-have like my Pelotons or my Look, but it's a lingering, smoldering burn that just won't go out. Funny thing too, I disliked that paint job back in the 80's about as much as I disliked the gender-confused music of the time, but now I love both, perhaps because they represent that bizarre, confusing time of my youth.

cehowardGS

Please don't compare our beloved Asian bikes to those Prize Colnagos, Masis and all the other high end Italians, you want those owners to beat you up?

Not only that, we will have them hunting our Centurions too...

oddjob2

Here is my Comp TA in as purchased condition, uncleaned.

T-Mar

It appears that WSI and B.F. Goodrich came up with the name within a very short time of each other, as I was able to find a 1984 advertisement introducing the new tire model. I'm not a car guy but my understanding was that the 1984 Corvette introduced a new wheel size and that the Comp TA was developed for that new wheel size. Consequently, it was probably available in the autumn of 1983 for the new model introductions.

Regardless of who used the name first, it appears that B.F. Goodrich trademarked it first and that's what is important in the USA legal system. Even if WSI had a legal precedent to dispute the trademark, they may have decided not to. B.F. Goodrich undoubtedly had much deeper pockets and could probably have bankrupted WSI by dragging out the court case. In the end, it worked out better for WSI. Sales really took off with the new Ironman Dave Scott name.

RobbieTunes 

Because of that ad, Dave Scott was often mistaken for one of the Village People.

RobbieTunes 

Now that's a Plan B that worked.

Though there were other similar models, the Ironman helped convince people that they could train and enter triathlons without a ton of money, or a need for specialized bikes. A lot of swimmers and runners decided to try riding, and the quality of the bikes (plus clinchers and indexed shifting) had a lot to do with many of them sticking with it.

I have to say, when I was running, I thought most cyclists were a little strange, as they did us runners. We mixed well, and of course, resented the swimmers. I thought I looked good in a Speedo, but no one else seemed to think so.

T-Mar

.

How ironic, given that your claim to fame is wearing a skinsuit from the Centurion women's team!

cooperryder 

Mention of 1983 Comp TA is confusing.

https://sheldonbrown.com/centurion/index.html#compta

This info mentions only made in 1984.

https://sheldonbrown.com/centurion1984/index.html

Was there a 1983 model as well or was that just a typo?

I have a formerly red 25" Comp TA frame/fork with a so so chipped white powder coat job
setting here and I am trying to decide what to do with it.
It seems so similar to my 81 Nishiki Pro.

T-Mar

The article on Sheldon Brown's website was written by a former forum member using data that I provided to him about 3-1/2 years ago. It has not been updated since. The article was based on known models and timespans at the time. I believe the article contains a disclaimer that the timelines are restricted to confirmed occurances but may extend further in either direction.

The article was intended as a guide for Centurion owners, given the apparent lack of surviving catalogs. It was not intended as a complete and accurate reference. I continue to expand my Centurion knowledge via the tracking of Centurion in this forum's Centurion Serial Number Database thread. I doubt if we will ever have a complete and accurate history of the Centurion models, but we get a little closer every year.

RobbieTunes 

I thought we were not going to share that one.

RobbieTunes 

Don't be confused. Let me be the confused one. It probably was '84.
1984 was a very good year of Centurion models: Lemans RS, Comp TA, and Turbo.
1985 may have been the top year of their run: Elite RS, Ironman, Prestige, Equipe.
1986 was no slouch: Elite RS, Facet, Ironman

Bikedued

Dammit now I am wanting a Comp TA, just because they exist! So did Schwinn have a deal worked out with Chevrolet to use the Corvette name?,,,,BD