Planning to rebuild my Centurion 12 speed. Steel frame about 1985 vintage. Advise wanted. Especially on conversion to carbon fork, component set, wheels. Have been out of biking for 14 years & just want a get back in shape bike before buying a new one. Is this plan more expensive than buying new? Please skip the snide "why" comments. Thanks.

Do you want it to retain it's classic look or does it not matter?

55/Rad

One thing to consider might be the rear dropout spacing - aren't the older dropouts 126 mm? This may only allow you the ability to put a 7(?) Speed rear hub on that bad boy. Road bikes have pretty standard dropout spacings of 130 mm since what (vets help me out here), the mid-nineties?

So building up that frame would be nice with nicer older components, but that limitation may be serious since that affects hubs, which affects cassette, derailleur, chain, chainrings, cranksets, front derailleurs, and possibly shifters.

Pros and vets, lambast me if I'm completely off base. Just throwin that out there!

It can be more expensive than buying new yes. But if you like the old frame you can build up a real nice bike too. You may need to spread the frame to take a modern 9/10 speed cassette which you can do yourself but may be better in the hands of a good mechanic. I say go for it and post pics.

[edit] sirshane13 beat me to that but like I said it can be spread.

I too just recently purchased an Elite RS, with 600 components. Would love to hear what you have done and how successful it goes. And would love to see pics.

Good luck,
CC

Thanks for the interest. Classic look is not of prime importance. Rear spacing is 126. Did not know you could spread frame to accomidate newer casette. How is this done? Have access to most tools short of a machine shop. Would anyone comment on buying an older bike on ebay with better components to rebuild my bike.

For what you want to do,the 'plan' makes no sense, especially a CF for on older steel bike that probably rides pretty well to begin with.Clean it up, ride it and put the money into a better bike when you decide to buy one. You would be surprised at the 'mileage' you can get out if an old bike if you 'just go do it'.

It all depends on how much money you are willing to put into the rebuild. I have no doubt that the frame is steel so spreading the rear triangle shouldn't be a problem. A carbon fork is going to cost you at least $100. A decent set of wheels will be at least another $250. Let's see, new derailleurs, new crankset, chain....

You know what; for about $600 you can buy a Giant OCR3.

Sheldon Brown has a method of permanently spreading the rear triangle. You can also just spread it by hand, cram in the wider hub and ride it....Why don't you just buy a better bike with the stuff on it you want? Not that it isn't possible to rebuild the Centurian from the ground up with Campy record 10, CF fork and high bling wheels if you want, have the know how,tools, and deep enough pockets,but WHY?? Also remember,There were different flavors of Centurians.Some were better left as is rather than dumping a small fortune into upgrades.

sydney is right. You would be much better served to just buy a new bike because you are in effect only retaining the frame which honestly doesn't have that much value. The economy of buying everything at once i.e. a complete bike, will offset the cost of buying parts piece meal and you would end up with your old frame that isn't as good as many contemporary steel frames and still requires to be cold set to 130mm and aligned. My view is classic bikes are best left to be classics and not reinvented as there is very little return on investment or value added.
George

Does it look kinda like this:



Just give it some cleaning and care and ride it!

You may want new brake pads and/or tires depending on their condition. Also check that brake cables are not deteriorating.

Al