fahrrad streber

That looks like a really fun find, and in excellent condition as well!

I really loved the pictures, what were you shooting with?

akcapbikeforums

Yes, the bike shows up brilliantly against the snow. Nice work... and nice bike.

bibliobob

Nice one. Congrats!

Love that curved brake bridge. I have older Gran Compe brakes on my Cherubim, and they work amazingly well.

Chicago Al 

Pics taken with Nikon D40x, 18-70 kit lens. Manual exposure so I could deal with the extreme contrast. Minimal Pshopping on some. I am a cinematographer by trade and have shot stills since jr high, though I try to keep that on the amateur/fun level. Can't help myself with the shallow focus and off center compositions though.

I keep finding reasons to go to the garage to check the bike out again. Serial # confirms 1984 date, first letter is the 'N' which most Centurions have, according to T-Mar's database. The bike has a sticker reading 'Designed in USA, Built in Japan,' a slogan I think Centurion kept using into the Diamondback years. So who actually made the bikes for Centurion?

btw: garage is guarded by a very large dog, who does bite. In fact he has two heads, and both of them bite.

roccobike

Al,
Please, Please, do not break up that bike. Examples like that need to be preserved by the folks on this forum.

Chicago Al 

No worries, Rocco! I might at some point trade this bike for a better fitting one, but not only will I not part it out, I wouldn't knowingly sell it to someone for that purpose or for 'drewing.' I'm not hardcore about this, but it doesn't even make economic sense to alter it from original. I have a couple of vintage guitars and have collected some antiques and art...bikes aren't quite the same thing, but a clean+original+rare example of something great is always worth preserving.

In another thread, Robbie has detailed a rather mean joke I pulled on him by PMing that I was going to the basement to take a grinder to the Turbo. I thought that was so over-the-top that it was not even believable, but he bought it.

And now I have to buy him a new keyboard as apparently puke contains an acid that fries out electronics.





Okay, that's a joke too. I am a sick puppy.

But the bike is safe with me.

turtlemilk

You better not stop at any stores and lock that thing up with a big freakinf lock..

akcapbikeforums

H. Tano of Kobe Japan

cb400bill

I call dibs!

Chicago Al 

Okay, let me know when you've got a Turbo in 52-54cm, and I'll drive over.

[added] Actually, you might...you have had a funny way of spotting bikes for me!

guygadois 

I think I had a 1983 Centurion Turbo. It had a badge on the headtube and had Cyclone II components. It was a silver and black combo that was awesome. It rode really nice and I want it back.

someday, I will find my Centurion Turbo again!

Guy

Doohickie

Nice.

I happened to be looking at a Centurion catalog.... that was the top of the line, probably comparable to a $1500-2000 bike today.

cb400bill

Sshhhh! You're not helping the negotiations.

lowlux

Ya, my sports car was the best there was 25 years ago... there was noting on the road that could beat them, there are still very few cars that can.... its in MINT shape.... but i can't sell the ****ing thing for even 500$....

Chicago Al 

Lowllux: Surely someone will give you $500 for that 928s?

A.Winthrop: Naturally the first thing I looked up when this bike surfaced was your article on Sheldon's site. As you know there's not a lot else out there about Centurion, but with that article and the scanned in 1984 catalog I was pretty well set. Well, that and some encouragement from Robbie.

Mitchell Wiener is deceased, but has anyone tried contacting 'Cozy' Yamakoshi to ask him who exactly they contracted to build the bikes? It would be very convenient if the N in Centurion SNs stood for 'National' ie Matsu****a/Panasonic.

RobbieTunes

There was a great article in an older Bicycling magazine about 20 years ago that pretty much laid out Panasonic as the frame maker behind a ton of brands. One of the guys from Centurion was a Cinelli fan, and the Turbo and the Prestige are a lot like the Super Corsa and the Cinelli/Centurion Equipe. Others have opined that the Centurions were copied by the Cinellis, but I don't know. The paint was sure a lot better on the Centurions, and that was a Panasonic trait.

And there is credibility to the statement that Panasonic made the best Italian bikes of the 1984-85 era, the Team America (Dura Ace) and the Team Europe (Campagnolo)....

My guess would be Panasonic, or someone they were using, made the Turbo/Prestige, for they, like the Team America/Europe, was chrome underneath the paint. As far as 1984 quality, the Turbo had Suntrour Superbe, and the Team America had the last friction Dura Ace....could be a tossup as to which bike was better, the Tange Centurion or the Columbus Panasonic, but for the value, I know where my bet would be placed....

As for 1985, same situation, Prestige chromed frame and indexed 2x6 Dura Ace on the Prestige, and Columbus SLX/Campy on the Team Europe. Price-wise, not sure, but I'd bet the Centurion was cheaper....

Doesn't change the notion that the best Columbus frames in 1984 and 1985 may well have been Panasonic, because great tubing was made into a high-quality frame, and unlike the Italian builds, the Panasonics had great paint quality.

This is my opinion, convinced and persuaded heavily by discussions with A.Winthrop, the article I mentioned above, and valentinodel. T-Mar probably contributed, but those guys are so knowledgeable, I get confused. I only provide blissful ignorance, enthusiasm, and words, tumbling over each other.