zs3889

Update for my purchase 2 weeks ago! First time working on a bike, the tutorials on youtube have been really HELPFUL!

Things that I have replaced so far:
Saddle
Bar tape
Brake hoods
Brake cable and housing

Things to do next:
Clean and lube the chain, chain ring, cassette and derailleur
Add a read fender
Clean the bike thoroughly and maybe wax it after that
New tyres


https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...Ironman-Expert

Before:



Poorly done bar tape, missing brake hoods.







After:

New bar tape, new brake hoods, new saddle, new brake cable and housing.


Wrapping bar tape for the first time, not bad eh? Fitting the brake hoods without removing the levers was pain in the ass, had to use some cooking oil as lubricant...


I also polished the stem with some metal polish, it's more shiny now, compared to previous photo.

RobbieTunes

Good job on a bike that'll never let you down.

xn7

is that rear tire one of the continental indoor trainer tires? lol. same bright orange.

jealous, that is the ironman i wanted when i was shopping for one.

big_heineken

Looks good, but your rear brake cable is on the wrong side of the stem. The bend is too sharp.

Grand Bois

And the front one is too long.

The Golden Boy 

Polishing the stem made a HUGE difference.

It's looking great- clean up those cable routing issues and it's awesome!


The first time I was wrapping my bars, I must've watched 20 Youtube videos. Since I'm not using tape with a whole lot of adhesive, I have a lot of leeway for making mistakes and being able to go back and correct things.

Every time I run cable housing- I check other pictures of how other people have done theirs. I think about how to make the bends as gentle as possible and enter and exit straight. I still make mistakes.

Good Job!!

zs3889

Hopefully, thanks!


I am not sure what kind of tire is that, it came with the bike when I bought it, and I am new to bicycle so... So which ironman did you end up getting?


Thanks guys! Weird, but I measured the front cable housing with the old one before replacing it...


Yea the tape that I bought didn't have very strong adhesive either and it allowed me to unwrap when it went wrong. Otherwise, it would have been truly terrible.

Also, I would like to have the entire handlebar (not the stem) to be black in color, does anybody have any good idea? Besides painting it black, like using a sticker/tape or some sort.

Another problem that I have with this bike is the front derailleur. So the front derailleur of this bike is controlled by friction shifter. Sometimes when I shift my rear derailleur, the chain comes into contact with the front derailleur and I would have to play around with the front derailleur so that it would move away from the chain. I hope I phrased everything correctly. Is this normal for friction shifting? Or is there a way to fix it?

Thumpic

But before you go undoing all your work, see if you can remove the entire stem/handlebar assembly from the fork and slip that rear cable under the stem to the other side of the steerer tube.

The Golden Boy 

Yes, that's called "trimming the derailleur." Pretty much normal.

TugaDude

I wouldn't go for all black bars, but that's just me. I like yours as they are now. BTW, next time you can try a bit of soapy water to help get the hoods on. I'd stay away from any oils on them. Have fun, enjoy a great bike.

gaucho777 

Yes, exactly. Though you do also want to check that the front derailleur cage is parallel to the chainrings. If it's not parallel (besides not shifting as well) the chain's movement in the front derailleur will be slightly more limited and you'll have to "trim" more often.

xn7

Well if it doesn't say continental home trainer tire on it you should be fine. If it is a trainer tire it can be dangerous on the road.

I ended up with a black expert. Nice looking bike and in great shape just not the one I was hoping for. There was a blue white expert like yours maybe I should have driven the 1 1/2 hrs to pick it up lol

Oh I remember why I didn't make the drive for that one... it was a 50cm or something. Is yours a 52?

zs3889

Thanks for the suggestion, I was gonna remove the brake cable and route it to another side of the stem. But yea I removed the stem and slip the cable under it instead, much easier!



Yea I don't think it says home trainer tire on it. I have never seen a black expert before (I mean online, never seen any ironman expert in real life before)! Got pics?

The seller wasn't entirely sure if the bike is 52cm or 54cm. But it feels more like 54cm to me, I am 5'9 and it fits me perfectly after some adjustment. How do you measure the size of your ironman expert?

xn7

c-c on my bike is 53cm. it has the nub for a tire pump though, yours does not, i'm not sure if that indicates that your ironman is a smaller frame?

shoota 

It certainly does.

xn7

that's what i always thought, but sometimes i'm confused by ironman claimed as 52cm that have the pump holder as well, perhaps it has to do with differing geometry for different years:

shoota 

I bet it has more to do with how people are measuring the frame. i.e. C-T-C or C-T-T.

RobbieTunes

Centurion measured theirs from c-bb to the lowest part of the "scallop" on the side of the ST, which is pretty much c-top, and they were even. The first size with a pump peg is 54, peg centered on the back of the HT. No pump peg, 52cm. OP's Expert is the "Smoke on the Water" edition, and the black one has been called "Black Dog." They are the two '89 Experts offered. Nice to see both of them on one thread. Suntour's GPX was nice kit, but too late to the game to save the company. Still some of the nicest calipers you'll find out there. I believe the chain rings were 52/42.

First Centurion frame I ever raced was a Black Dog with black 9s 105 and black wheels, Sora shifters mounted far enough down I could shift from the drops. Great bike. I loaned it to a guy for his first triathlon while I built him an '89 Master, and he wouldn't give it back. I set a price and he bought it. He also kept my shoes and helmet. That Master went to eiopp01 and new resides, I think, with rccardr.

xn7

robbie always has the best centurion stories. haha. i guess i'll stop calling my bike a 53cm