Picked up Another Centurion - Now I Have Two!
 

Hello. I am a new frequenter of the BikeForums.net. I currently have a 1985 Centurion Ironman bike that I bought new and have not ridden much for about 15 or 20 years. I recently brought it out of mothballs and am riding it again. I love riding this bike. Anyway, I have been looking around for another bike to use as a winter rider with fenders, wider tires, etc. So, I happened on the 1984 Centurion brochure on Sheldon Brown’s site. As I was looking through the brochure, I thought that the Pro Tour 15 looked like it might fit the bill. Then I was poking around the C&V forum and saw a thread that asked about good touring bikes. I was a bit surprised that the Pro Tour didn’t seem to be making peoples lists. Then I saw the response from LASCAUXCAVEMAN regarding his ‘84 Pro Tour and that it was for sale (!).

Also of note is that he is also a NW Washington (state) resident (about a 1 hour and 20 minute drive). I notified LASCAUXCAVEMAN that I was interested in his bike. We began the dialog and I went and looked at the bike last Sunday. It looked great, took it for a spin around town (including a steep hill), seemed to be a fine bike so I bought it. I won’t say the price, but I think it was fair for both of us (the problem with buying from Forum members is that they know what they have and you won’t get the screaming deals that sometimes come along on Craigslist). The bike is in good condition with the usual patina of paint chips and scrapes, no dents though.
After getting it home, I took it on a short ride. I noticed that the Freewheel would not shift into the highest (smallest) gear so I had to adjust the rear derailleur (come on LASCAUXCAVEMAN, really?). From the start I am struggling to get used to the backwards operating front derailleur (move the lever forward to go to a larger chainring). So far I like the SunTour top of the down-tube mounted shifters, they operate smooth and easy (IMO they do look weird though).
The bike is not all original. The rear derailleur is a Shimano Deore XT (instead of the original SunTour LeTech). The handle bar and brake levers have been replaced. And where did those cheap pedals come from?

The changes I am planning are… First get some decent pedals; I have a pair of Shimano 600 pedals coming from an E-Bay auction (then they’ll match my Ironman). I also want to go to a new Freewheel, the 14-32 tooth 5-speed is a bit noisy, but OK. I think an upgraded six or seven speed unit would be better (to me). I may attempt to replace the handle bars and brake levers at some point (I kind of like the non-aero levers with the cables coming out the top) – we’ll see.

So, now I am a proud owner of two (2) Centurion bikes – I like them both!

You're on a slippery slope now. N+1

^^Roger that, N+1! I had a tough enough time convincing my wife that I need 1+1.

That looks great. I wish my '77 had internal dynamo wire routing.

Sloops are only slippery when they are healed more than 15 degrees going to weather in a choppy sea.:)

If you can't get to the high gear, your cable is probably too tight.

I can now get into high gear fine. Just needed to adjust the high gear screw on the derailleur (I think I spelled that right - I guess I could have said RD). Thanks for the thought though.

Looks good, now you have sport bike and a touring bike. :thumb:

Ooh, baby. Those Pro Tours really press my buttons! If I ever find one for sale around here, I'm gonna snap it up and cull the herd later. Love the color on this one, and that crank is dead sexy. Many happy miles!

And you'll like the third!

Oops, my bad! I had a different rear wheel on it the last time I rode it earlier that week, with a 6-speed FW. I took it for a (very) short ride when I swapped the wheel back and shifting worked fine in all five gears for me. I did have to adjust the limit screw for the small cog, IIRC, maybe I only got it close?

Any, I'm glad you like it :thumb: I definitely would have kept it if it was bigger!

All are just as I got it from the original owner, another Seattle area C&Ver from whom I bought 5 bikes and misc parts in one big package deal. He said he's put some serious miles on the bike, including two trips down to California and back.

When are you going to install that gem of a Nitto front rack you snagged? That would have been a high point in your photo essay :)

^^No worries. I was just poking a bit of fun... Thanks for the bike!!

I like what Ashley Wright says about the Pro Tour on the Sheldon Brown site about Centurion bikes...

"The Pro Tour also appeared in the late 1970s and survived into the mid-1980s. It is a gem, perhaps the nicest mass-produced touring bike ever. It can be seen as the touring version of the Semi-Pro but with a slightly stronger Champion #2 frameset and the touring versions of the Semi-Pro's nice mix of Sugino and Suntour components. It weighed in at 26lbs, not bad for a touring bike of its day."

Cool!

And thanks for helping me thin the herd. You can make darn sure I made of big deal of telling the wife I sold a bike for once. And the Visa bill is a whopper this month (eldest child just went to college this month) so the cash is much needed as well.

BTW, don't toss those old pedals; if you're not going to use them for anything, just bring them back to me when you cash in on your free night at the hotel. You saw my junk room full of projects, I'm sure those pedals could easily enough find their way onto one of the old MTBs I'm fixing up to give away.