Originally Posted by
VintageTTfan
What is a Simpson lever chain?
By the way you I believe are the resident expert on Asian bicycle serial numbers and Centurions along with Robbie Tunes. I have tried to get German Centurion to email me back and tell me the Centurion Turbo TT bike story....why was it made...for who....for the general public...was it a an abandoned team project? What ideas do you have on it?
See the above post for a link that will direct you another of my posts with history on the Simpson lever chain.
Regarding the Centurion Turbo TT, it appears to have been a Centurion (Germany) project. All the samples that have surfaced are from European markets and were manufactured by Yamaguchi of Japan in 1988. Given the wide variety of builds, it may have been a frameset offering. In my opinion, it was marketed an an entry level TT-style bicycle for the average consumer and not as a competition model. The main evidence supporting this is the construction using seamed Tange Infinity tubing, which was typically found on upper entry models. The S-bend top tube is also a cost concession allowing it to built using standard lugs, rather than custom angle lugs or fillet brazing. Finally, how many pure TT bicycle do you see with rear dropout eyelets so that it could accommodate a fender or rack? Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any literature that has surfaced to provide a definitive answer. For a more detailed discussion of this model, please see
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...n-experts.html