Tag Archives: Centurion

Vintage Bikes from Days Gone By

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I’ve enjoyed riding, restoring, and selling many vintage bicycles.  Some of them are not as well known as the more popular marques or models.  Here are a few of those examples.

Austro Daimler:

1976 Austro Daimler Mixte with BCM lugs

This nice A-D mixte came with a Suntour drive train, SR cranks, and a Regina freewheel. It weighed in at 26 lbs.

Centurion:

1976 Centurion Super Le Mans mixte, with Shimano Arabesque shifters and derailleurs.

The Centurion mixte, with its iconic orange paint, is one of my favorite restorations. I sold the bike a number of years ago, but miss it now.

Schwinn:

Huret Duo Par rear derailleur

1986 Schwinn Passage Touring bike – Columbus double butted tubing, forged drop outs, and lots of braze-ons. A very nice touring machine.

Trek:

A beautiful 1984 Trek 830 “mountain bike” which I converted to a city commuter. Reynolds 501 frame with lovely lugs and fork crown.

This Trek was really fun to ride, with its long wheelbase and stable geometry.

Davidson:

1984 Davidson with Campagnolo dropouts

I toured on this Davidson all over Oregon. This photo is from a trip to the cranberry bogs in Bandon, on the Oregon coast. The frame is made with Tange Champion tubing.

Rudge:

The iconic Raleigh Rudge headbadge.

This early 1960’s Raleigh Rudge 3 speed was in excellent condition. I donated it to a charity auction and I hope its new owner is having fun with it.

Peugeot:

I have worked on many Peugeots dating from the 1920’s to the 1980’s. This is an especially nice looking 1985 mixte. It is built with Carbolite 103 using internal brazing- a technique mastered by Peugeot which eliminated external lugs and brazes, for a clean appearing joint.

Peugeot Crank with built in chain guard.

Raleigh:

This 1974 Raleigh Sprite was  fun to ride – very “sprightly”.

While this bike looks like a non-performer, I found myself keeping up with road bike cyclists while commuting. The bike is a conundrum, having a relatively heavy frame and components, but feeling responsive while riding.

Nishiki:

Nishiki headbadge, Dia Compe centerpulls

This Nishiki International touring bike included a SunTour drivetrain and Sugino cranks, as well as other quality components of this era.

There are more bikes that are equally worth considering for restoration, but I hope the examples above serve as inspiration for the cyclists and restorers who want to preserve and ride these quality machines.

Resurrecting an Old Friend: a 1976 Centurion Pro Tour

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1976 Centurion Pro Tour

I rode my 1976 Centurion Pro Tour for over 20 years before I crashed it back in 1999.  In fact, that crash and the resulting quest for a suitable replacement bike is what has led me here – to an appreciation of the rarity and quality of hand made vintage bicycles and to a side career as a bike mechanic, collector and restorer.

When I hit a car that had suddenly stopped in front of me while going about 20 mph, my front wheel collided with the car’s back end and I went down hard on the trunk.  (Thank you, helmet.)

fork damage

The fork legs were pushed back and the steerer tube was bent right above the crown.

fork damage

You can see the tell-tale paint cracks which clearly indicate a sudden impact.  The fork was definitely toast.

frame damage annotatedframe damage annotated 2

The frame itself sustained some damage to the downtube (left photo) and top tube (right photo).  You can again see the tell-tale paint cracks right at the lug points, but the cracks are not very pronounced.  And, looking at the tubes and holding a straight edge up to them, I cannot see any significant bends or twists.

2013-09-27 001 003 2013-09-27 001 004 Suntour dropouts 2013-09-27 001 017 2013-09-27 001 005

The rest of the frame looks great, with plenty of “buesage” evident in the scratched paint and fading logos.  But, overall, this is one nice frame.  If I could bring this bike back to life with a new fork, and any needed repairs to the tubes, I would be overjoyed.  Interestingly, this frame is “too big” for me – at 54 cm, but I managed to ride all over the place in tremendous comfort.  I did install a stem with shorter reach, plus rando bars (which my Pro Tour did not have originally), and that gave me a comfortable position.  After all, with the really tall frame my stem didn’t need to be tall because it was already even with my saddle height.

Once I remove the paint (to reveal the fully chromed frame underneath!!!), I’ll know for sure the extent of the damage.  Since I am really fond of that baby blue color, I might still decide to paint it again after stripping it, but it will be sad to lose the Centurion logos.  An experienced painter may be able to recreate them.  If all goes well, I’ll be riding this amazing bike once again.

Touring in the San Juan Islands

Centurion Pro Tour – San Juan Islands – c. 1985