fleslider 

Thanks texaspandj and RobbieTunes

I just picked up a interesting frame. its a Diamond Back Carbon Fiber Road frame, which has a 1990 Diamond Back Headbadge decal on it. looks like it is original to the bike. Now as far as i know Diamond Back did not continue on the Carbon frame (at least here in US) it has a 12/88 Date stamp on the NDS inner Dropout. with a 4 digit Serial number. that looks to be stamped not dot punched as it sounds like the Carbon Centurions have. The bottom Bracket is Dura Ace 7400 and the headset is Tange Novel.

These are the sellers pictures. I got some other parts with it but it is a totally hodge podge of parts thrown on this thing. I will get it cleaned up and get some pics of it. was there anyone riding for Diamond back in triathlons in 1990?

texaspandj

I've got video of Pros Mike Pigg on a steel blue and white DB circa 1990. Also I think same year Dave Scott on a Carbon like the one pictured basically no decals. And finally in 90 or 91 Australian pro Triathlete Michellie Jones on one, but I'm not sure she was sponsored by them.
One note, the forks on your frame are Not what was on the U.S. distributed Ironman/carbon-r....at least not in '88.

seypat

Fleslider got himself another pro bike? DANG! He must be going to confessional daily, sitting in the front pew on Sundays and carrying his keys on a rabbit's foot keychain. Or maybe he went the opposite way and met Ol Scratch at the Crossroads. Whatever the case, he has the Mojo working.

fleslider 

lol seypat it might kind of help that Centurion had a big warehouse down in Denver. not that im tripping over centurions .. and this is a DB..lol

Well with that info from Tony, it might be another pro bike. the big gold sticker on it is from Community Cycles a bike coop in Boulder Colorado, which is also the city where "The Man" Dave Scott lives.

Also it does have some sticker similarities with the Zunow frame it has a Shimano sticker on the top tube and a Diamond Back sticker on the fork blade. I know they are stickers but who knows

seypat

It's got a stamped on serial number. That probably means special. You da man!

fleslider 

RobbieTunes texaspandj Does your guys carbons have the Date stamp and a CF## stamp. at first i thought it was a partial or a short Serial number but now that i think about it. It maybe the size stamp for the dropouts. and stamped date is dropout creation date?

this frame is about a 59-60cm frame so a CF60 stamped in the drop on both sides i would guess denotes the size/Material frame the dropouts work on.

here is my inside of the NDS dropout.

VintageTTfan

That is a nice frame! I really like how (maybe I am wrong) the carbon texture is showing instead of painted over. I wonder how rare this frame is. That is going to look killer when you build it up......Looking forward to seeing the pictures. What are you going to put on it? I am hoping period correct vintage but that is just me.

fleslider 

I think it is a rare frame, dont think it ever made production, and whether it was a race frame or display? i dont know.

As for the Carbon showing it was pretty common in those early CF days. I know the Centurions, Treks and Early Specialized all had bare Carbon look frames. but cool none the less.

It will probably get built up with Dura Ace 7400 7 speed and tubular wheels

T-Mar do you have info on 1990 Diamond Back road bikes? was there a Carbon model?

texaspandj

Serial number on NDS dropout. There aren't any dots. However this is a '88 production Carbon Ironman.

BB shell. Not sure what these numbers mean but my Carbon Ironman is definitely a 54cm.

fleslider 

Thanks Tony,
Interesting the dropouts are different, and mine definitely does not have a SN there in that location.

my BB shell has 60 x 63.8 cast into it probably angles of the lugs?

RobbieTunes

...to my Carbon R, except it's not in a dumpster.

RobbieTunes

It's how much bigger you feel on an Ironman.

seypat

Definitely more swagger.

seypat

https://madison.craigslist.org/bop/d...031675392.html

50 dollars! Maybe RT has a contact.

RobbieTunes

I'm not sure it was a frame failure. I think it was a Robbie failure. So here's the deal:
The bike was darn near perfect in OEM trim, tricolor all the way, when I bought it. Hell, that wouldn't do.
So, I went from 6400 to 7700 and then to 9000. The 9000 in black/polished accents looked great on the bike.
It rode well, and smoothly. Compliments, conversation piece, and performance. Hell, that wouldn't do.
So, I get this sweet Ritchey carbon fork, 1" threadless. Bad Ass. It happens to be black, with white letters.
I pick up some Bontrager RXL/TLR wheels. Black, with white letters. The Carbon-R was, wait for it: black, with white letters.
So idiot me goes out and gets a 1" threadless headset, and decides "We'll just go with black. With white letters."
Oh, and then I started thinking about weight. 18 lbs was not good enough. You know it. All together now: "Hell, that wouldn't do."
So I take off the pristine peitite pretty aluminum fork, and the DA headset, and the quill stem, and Nitto B115 bars. Bye' bling.
Dumb Ass Thing To Do.
I add the wheels. I add the headset, I add the carbon fork, a modern carbon stem and bars. It's a crescendo!
Boy, am I ever cool.
But, you see, threadless headsets work differently. You put everything together, then put the cap on, and crush the sucker.
Because it seems hard to overtighten to the point where it's hard to swivel. Ain't no balls in them bearings.
So I adjust it tight, go for a ride. I feel a little wobble/shake. So I get out the 5 metric and tighten it some more.
What I was doing was crushing the pretty alloy lugs onto the pretty carbon head tube. And at least one cracked.
But I didn't know it, and when the crack got worse, it got loose. So I tightened it more. And crushed it more.
So, one day, I'm braking to a downhill stop sign, and I'm just normally, routinely, grimly pissed at the vibration.
The wheels are fine, gotta be the headset. The caliper is fine, gotta be the headset."
I get home, I don't even look at the headset. I put on my big boy pants and crank it down tighter.
On the repair stand, no play, nice swivel action. Elvis would be proud.
Next time I'm grabbing brake for that downhill stop sign, she goes. Like RF now she goes. I and over I go.
My tightening did NOT break the carbon tube. It broke both the top and bottom lugs, and they decided to free up the down tube.
My guess is that when the bottom one let go, that sent me "wide left." No Good. 'twasn't the bike, 'twas me.

So, if you see an Ironman Carbon, or a Carbon-R, just inspect it, then get it and ride it.
Just don't let me work on it.

I felt I owed Ironman Nation this explanation. I don't want them thinking the bike is bad.

I wasn't done. I put the threadless fork/headset on my Cadex CFR-1. You know, a lugged carbon/aluminum bike.
Idiot. Like the Carbon-R, It had a beautiful OEM aluminum fork. I rode it once. Someone said "shame you made it modern."
I got to thinking about what I'd done. Swapped back. So now that threadless fork/headset are on a Ti bike. Pewter. No letters.
Save the carbon.

rccardr 

That's the bitter sound of experience speaking, right there.

texaspandj

@fleslider What does the blue sticker on the Centurion Carbons seat tube say?
Also I'm beginning to believe you have Dave Scott's Pro Carbon bike. Looking at the 1990 Nice triathlon video. It has the same head tube DB decal and the same top tube Shimano sticker, and possibly headset. However Dave's downtube has a Diamond Back decal on it. Still I think a probability not possibility.

riva

Appreciate the shareage there.. Not that it helps but each step was making perfect sense to me all the way to the end of the story!

If I spot one locally you know you're getting a PM a minute later...

TriBiker19 

Of course, digging at all ends up with links to this forum from years ago, including one entitled "Centurion Carbon Project, I hate this thing" from 2007.

Perhaps this is why I ended up on this forum in the first place? All roads lead here.

riva

https://aroundthecycle.com/collectio...ike-frame-teal

Not that the price is right for "frugal guys" necessarily but this socal shop does wheel and deal in trades. Love this year/color!

fleslider 

texaspandj funny you mention that , there is some adhesive and some clear sticker residue on the downtube where a long decal had been ...

Im going to assume that the Dura Ace bottom bracket and the Tange Novel headset are original. (never even heard of the Tange Novel headset.. its nice though) i pretty much got the bike mostly complete minus the wheels/seat. although the rest of the parts would not have been on a race bike. It did go through a coop at one point so alot of times they put on there what they have to get the bike workable and then out it goes, not worrying about originality

Not sure about the Carbon R or the Carbon Ironman, but this one says "100% Carbon" is this the same decal as the Centurion Carbons ?

madpogue 

If they'd posted a couple weeks ago, I would have been 1/2 hour drive away last week at our cabin. But Splattsville is a two-hour drive from Madison. Seller would be better off posting on Dubuque CL (if s/he didn't already). Not to mention, it's really a frame, with some VERY used (and picked-over) components.

And they're not always roads....

texaspandj

My Carbon Ironman doesn't have that. At the bottom of my seat tube is this.

RobbieTunes

I know Platteville, and it looks like he/she rode it in the winter.
That's a messenger's 1-season bike if there ever was one.
Pass, even at $50. 1 ton salt/mile per year in that area.
There's a good bike shop there, and if one of those guys doesn't think it's worth $50... it's not.

seypat

Sad that it's too far gone. How about this one?

https://eugene.craigslist.org/bik/d/...025368343.html