I'm new to bicycles, especially vintage bicycles but I've fallen in love with this 89' Centurion Lemans. Its $200 and I'd love to use it to ride to work (8 mile round trip) most weather permitting days.
Am I getting myself into a world of extensive work with this bike?
What should I expect for maintenance on an older bike?
Thanks for any and all advice, suggestions, or thoughts!
Specs Per Listing
(I don't yet have the know how to verify these are right based on the photos but I'm working on it)
Lugged Chromoly Range #2 Tube Frame
22.5" Seat and Top Tube
32" Stand Over Height
Shimano Exage Sport Group set
12 Speed
Bronze Anodized Araya Rims w/ Stainless Steel spokes
by MorganJosephJacobs
19 Comments
’89
The bike looks like it is in good shape, and Japan-made late 80s and 90s Centurions are good quality and fairly light. late 80s japanese bikes are straightforward to maintain, and many used parts are still available. The spacing should allow you to upgrade the rear wheel to an 8 speed cassette wheel fairly easily , but the araya rims are fine as a starting point if your ride is only 8 miles and not too much grade change (as long as they are fairly true and the spoke nipples aren’t frozen).
Zig-zags, dots, AND squiggles!? C’mon, now! Absolutely love the peak 80s graphics. I have an ‘80 Centurion Semi-Pro that is a delight to ride, though with decidedly less cool decals.
These bikes are pretty straightforward to maintain, especially if you’re willing to get a few specialty tools and familiarize yourself with the intricacies of loose ball bearings.
There isn’t really anything terribly unusual about this bike that would make it difficult to fix: it uses the same English threading standards that are common and normal today. The only thing that *might* be outdated on it and difficult to replace is the rear wheel- it may have a freewheel (although I think hyperglide cassettes may have existed by then, not sure,) and the rear locknut spacing might be 126mm, which went obsolete around 1990.
As far as maintenance- its hard to say based off of this picture. Tires are a big one of course, do not ride on old tires. Get the wheels trued if they need it. Some of the other things vare optional: I usually clean and replace the grease of the old wheel, bottom bracket, and headset bearings, but to be honest that’s often not necessary, and if you drip a few drops of Tri-Flow oil into these areas it seems to rehydrate the old, dry grease.
I also often totally replace cables and housings, but that’s often also not necessary, and you’ll probably be fine just dripping some oil into the housing.
Otherwise, put a bit of oil on the pivot points like brake calipers (keep oil away from brake pads and wheel rim, though) as well as derailleur pivot points.
Also, vitally important: make certain the seat can be adjusted up and down, sometimes they get stuck and it’s a real pain to fix. Also, wrap new bar tape on the handlebars and PLUG THE ENDS. Otherwise you will take a core sample of yourself in a crash.
Lastly: at least in my area, $200 is sort of a high price in today’s market. It would have to be in very good shape to warrant that price.
Looks like all it needs is handlebar tape. This is a fine bicycle and a good deal too.
I have an 87 centurion lemans. It’s a pretty decent bike for its day and still pretty good. Mine had steel rims so I ended up getting different wheels for it.
this looks like great simple vintage fun. No problems maintaining it unless you want to be an obsessive purist. Downtube shifting can be tricky if you are blazing ahead at 30mph and shifting at same time. Cool colors and I like the black rims…. fair deal too. Enjoy
Buy it, ride it. Old or new but still compatible parts are readily available especially on eBay. Looks like a beautiful bike.
1988 catalog
https://vintagecenturion.com/literature/catalogs/1988_Centurion_Catalog.pdf
The spec sheet says 6 speed Exage Sport, which I believe still used a 6 speed UniGlide cassette. That is obsolete tech which will be be more involved if you ever need to replace the cassette.
https://www.disraeligears.co.uk/site/shimano_-_the_new_system_component_family_for_every_riding_style.html
I have an 86 LeMans RS and it’s a great bike that I’ve had to do very little on. I love the wild style on the one you’re looking at and it seems to be in great shape. Probably would benefit from some fresh grease.
I had an ‘88 in the magenta and white 2-tone with stock Shimano Exage parts – except for an updated 7-speed rear wheel. Mine was in horrendous shape and was scarred and rusted. It was also an AMAZING ride. It may have been built to a price point but someone forgot to tell that bike it was a budget ride – it felt like a full Reynolds 531 bike on the road, and I’ve owned enough vintage bikes to know it. I foolishly sold it, and it is one of a tiny handful of bikes I regret selling. If it fits garb it – and I think you can squeeze 28mm tires onto it. Good luck!
This will be a solid bike for commuting. I rode to work at a school for 37 years (teacher, then counselor) on a very similar Specialized bike. Almost exactly the same distance as well. I recommend fenders for when the roads are wet. They’ll do wonders to keep you and the bike clean. Have fun!
The only advice I have is to try and find a Centurion Iron Man from the same era. Just nicer parts all around. However, these are great bikes. Still enjoyable to ride (maybe with a taller stem, but that’s me), and really good value. Especially in the stupidly soft market we have right now.
Nice saddle. I’ve seen polka-dotted white bar tape to match, that would be sick. Downtube shifters can be weird for a newbie. I’d love to have this just for the paint job, and upgrade to a 9-speed STI setup.
I have 2 1989 Centurion Bikes. The Ironman Master and Expert.
There is nothing to worry about with these. They are incredibly bombproof. Other than dripping some oil on the spoke nipples, just ride it and enjoy.
Centurions are great everyday bikes. Depending on where you live, you might look into fitting a set of fenders to it for rainy days, they help. As far as taking care of it, just check your ABCDs regularly (Air in tires, brakes adjusted and in good shape, chain clean and lubed, derailleurs adjusted well). Other things like hubs, headsets, and bottom brackets take a little more doing, but it’s nothing too difficult. See if there’s a community bike shop in your area, they regularly host classes and can be a source for parts and general knowledge. If you’re concerned about future rust on the inside of the frame you can use a lanolin rust protectant like PB Blaster Surface Shield. The bike looks to be in really good shape. Take care of it and it will outlive you.
I remember when these came out. Dave Scott and Scott Tinely were Ironman athletes who were “rivals”. Can’t remember who endorsed this brand, it may have been Tinely (he was kind of a jerk), and because I had a choice between this and a Raleigh Professional in pearl white and red/blue Olympic trim colors with chrome fork and rear triangle with a better gruppo, I bought that. This ride was comfortable, but too soft for me, at least for racing.
This is a good purchase for $200, but a couple of things to think about:
1) the older the bike, the more challenging to find replacement parts. Thinking drivetrain mostly, but also hubs/axles/rims.
2) check frame for paint bubbles indicating rust inside the frame, that’s a deal breaker. But based on images, this frame looks pretty good.
3) noticed a stiff link on that chain (top, about six inches before the cassette), a little penetrating lube (motorcycle chain line works great for a temporary fix) and a little “side to side” – grip chain on either side of stiff link, thumbs on the stiff link and push/pull gently like you’re trying to break the chain – and you should be good.
4) cool matching pump! Most of that era had a leather gasket that would dry out, rendering the pump inoperable, some light oil to rehydrate the gasket and you’re back in business!
5) you’ll need new tires soon. If you have a preferred brand look at the widest tire you can fit (25-28) and ride those.
6) looking at the rim sidewalls, I can’t tell if they are dirty or have wear spots between the spokes. I’ve ridden wheels like this for years with no problem, but one sidewall decided to fail on me as I was rolling out. Fortunately, no crash, but it scared the crap out of me.
7) I see (maybe) minor surface rust on the headset races. Hit it with 0000 steel wool to clean that off. Also, that rust may be a good sign to check headset and bottom bracket bearings/races and replace the grease.
Check your community for a local “do it yourself” repair place (where I am we have a “recycler” organization that runs a shop a few days a week and also puts on repair classes. That will be a great way to spend time with your bike.
Even if you have to take it to a local bike shop and ask for a tuneup — which basically means 1. replace things that wear out (cables, chain, brake shoes, maybe tires); 2. grease things that might lock up (bottom bracket, headset, pedals); and 3. Adjust derailleurs and brakes, and true wheels — you will have invested $300-350 in a machine that will be usable in that state for free for a year or two.
If you want to weatherproof it, you can ask the bike shop to put on fenders for (probably) another $100 or so.
Not only do you get a free commute, you also get healthier, more time on your hands, and better in bed.
In the medium term, depending on road and traffic conditions, you might want to consider:
– installing the widest tire you can get in there.
– changing to a modern road brifter (2×7 microshift is very affordable.). Downtube shifting kind of blows in comparison to modern one-unit brake lever shifters…
OR:
– changing to an upright bar. In 8-9 miles one way the difference between drop bars and upright bars isn’t such a handicap. (It can be on a long ride like 50+ miles, though ). But you gain a lot of visibility and (perhaps) maneuverability.
I have the Ironman. Converted to single speed and clocks 42km/hr at 130 RPM and goes up 6% knee breaking mountains and weighs sub 7.2 kgs. Tange 2 is almost as good as Tange 1. Single speed it – you won’t look back. Just get the gearing ratio right. I didn’t even change the front chain rings.