So a little backstory behind this build. My housemate who is my first friend at university and also one of my closest friends in general recently had his bike stolen. The bike was heavy and had more issues than he wished to deal with but was still really upset when he had his bike stolen just because it held a lot of sentimental value to him. This holiday season I decided that I wanted to get him a classic centurion road bike. He loves vintage road bikes and was planning on saving up for one in the long run. So I scoured Craigslist and found a sweet deal on a Centurion CompTA. I was getting it for a really low price so I was expecting rust to be everywhere but when I went to pick it up, the bike was in almost immaculate condition. After Googling how to properly clean and polish the parts, I recabled the brakes and shift cables, threw on some matching brown bar tape and swapped in new Vittoria Zafirro tires. The bike came together really well and when we presented it to him today (early Christmas present because some of the contributors are going home after finals), he was left speechless and in tears. So I hope you guys enjoy the build! I'll put some before and after photos of the bike build.


The Final Result:

Looks great, nice first time refurb. They are awesome bikes. Here is mine pretty much in OEM shape, other than new tires.

Nice!

Let's put it this way:
-great bike
-great build

And now, it looks as intended, fast just sitting still.

Great find and a great gift. I'm sure your friend will enjoy the new ride.

Very nice looking bike - and great gift!

Great bike, OP=a great friend.. and great story overlooking the stolen clunker. Way to go man, we need more stories like this around here.

nice bike from a good friend with a big heart!

Very nice job.

I have the brother to your centurion sport dlx in the back there except mine was probably built as a frame set rather than stock. Can you tell me more about it?

Guess I'm in the brotherhood too with my 84 Turbo

Is that the bike that was for sale in Holyoke, MA a few weeks ago? If it was (or wasn't) good for you, nice bike.

Thank you for the kind words everyone. Him and I went for his inaugural ride today and I must say, him and his bike are pretty quick!

Oddjob, I actually saw images of your bike and I was actually really torn between brown or black hoods. I ended up going with black hoods and brown bar tape in the event that he might want to switch over to Brooks Leather bar tape and a Brooks saddle down the line.

It's awesome seeing other bikes from the Centurion Class of 1984! I was aiming to find him a Dave Scott or a Turbo but I found this in near spotless condition AND its his favorite color scheme so I couldn't say no! Also, Narhay, I don't know too much about Sport DLX's but if you're asking about this bike build, what would you like to know about it? It has the original Shimano 600 groupset EXCEPT for the brake levers which are Shimano SLR brake levers from another Centurion I owned but converted to modern components.

Finally, I actually found this beauty in Southern California! The poster put it up that night and I got to it within 24 hours of him posting it up.

I accept people thinking Centurions are a brotherhood.
That simply fools them into thinking we're human.