no67el

Yeah that's what keeps getting to me: these bikes are sitting out there.... and even when "market priced" at $200-$400, they are hundreds (perhaps thousands) less than a similar steel frame would cost new....

...thus I end up with more bikes than I can ride, even when I ride a different bike every day of the week. And the total spent is less than my one titanium bike cost new. What a luxury!

N

markwesti

Red touch up paint for the 86' Classic IM , perfect match .

RobbieTunes

Sweet madness.

DMC707

Im recalling Lance on the Litespeed Blade TT bike painted in Trek colors

riva

If the red stripes on that sign were salmon, I would buy it.

seypat

The neatest part is some of those Zunow bikes are out in the public. One was found/outed up thread some time ago. It's like hunting for buried treasure.

ddeand 

Here are a few pics of the Miami Vice Expert I picked up this week. Got a pretty good deal, and now I need to decide how I'll proceed with the project. First up will be a thorough cleaning followed by paint touch-up. then, I'll need to ride it a bit and decide if I keep it and sell my Miyata Pro or sell the Ironman. It's nice having first world problems like this! If any of you have suggestions or opinions regarding working on the bike, please feel free to offer your ideas.

seypat

I went back and looked at my red/white loaner IM. The serial # is N5S6320. Must have been produced late in the year.

markwesti

Here is a 85' seypat , too bad it was the wrong size for @texaspandj
https://ventura.craigslist.org/bik/d...948775810.html

markwesti

+ 1 on the black , black , black . Also If it were me I would get rid of the dork disc and the reflector , but that's just me .

seypat

I have it's distant cousin in the same paint scheme.

ddeand 

Keep in mind that this is how I got the bike (although I immediately removed the reflector from the seat post bolt and inflated the tires). If this bike becomes one of my two “riders”, I will likely swap the Dura-Ace 8-speed group on my Miyata Pro to the Ironman. I agree with the black parts, too, but we’ll see how things shake out. It appears that the non-original parts are the rear wheel, the seat, the cables, bar tape, and the pedals. I’d love to tear into this project immediately, but I need to get my 1974 Raleigh International project painted and sanded before it gets too cold here to do that stuff.

markwesti

Define "if".

ddeand 

That sounds like a solid plan going forward. What I generally do when comparing bikes is set both up similarly in terms of seat, stem, bar and seat height, and wheels. Then I ride both bikes for a few days to see how they feel. I’m much more tactile than specs oriented, so I usually trust my feel on the bike. So far, the 1980 Miyata Pro has been the most comfy of my steel bikes. But the Ironman may be a tad lighter, overall. I’m looking forward to getting a few longer rides in on the Ironman, although I’m not totally comfortable with the down tube shifting (at my age, I like to keep my hands on the bars). BTW, my informal family polling indicates a strong preference for the Centurion. They mostly look at the bike, then at me, and roll their eyes.

no67el

Someone was asking for a picture of the Prestige a few posts back...... and in keeping with the "Black Parts" idea...... :



The bike came to me with the black Cannondale-badged seat post.... and I noticed black lettering on the frame, so..... ..... and the bike is a bit on the small side, so I'm trying the black Nitto Dynamic 0-degree stem... Jury is still out for me about the look, but the slight rise of the stem has certainly made the fit just about perfect....



The one good place in my yard to take pics of bikes....


Is this marble or smoke?


Black HG cassette on a FH-M525a freehub body....

The bike arrived with a leg-killing 12-22 cassette on it.... and it came from a female triathlete who must have been SO strong (or just liked to pedal at 50 rpm?) The freehub body was UG only, so I've fiddled with putting on a new freehub body.... Shimano FH-M525a fit great, and a new (black) 7-speed HG cassette went on. I had to put a few spacers behind the large cog to fill up the space, and the chainline moved outward a bit requiring front derailleur repositioning.... but it plays very well now with the indexed 600 shifters! Only issues are that the original UG hub axle is a little short-- I removed the spacers from in between the cones and the locknuts, and now I think there's enough axle for the dropouts to rest on... the other issue is that the drive-side freehub dust seal from the UG hub would not work on the HG freehub body, as it interfered with the last cog/lockring threading on. So I need to find a rubber seal for that space, or else my bearings will not last long! Anyone know which part I need? Trying to sort out Shimano parts diagrams and ordering is confusing me....

Lovely fall day here today.... time to go ride a bike....

texaspandj

Nice bike.
That is Marble not smoke.
My '89 Ironman came with a HG cassette. I'm curious if all '89 Ironman came with HG cassette,.. anybody?
Did your Prestige actually use prestige tubing?

RobbieTunes

That's why they call it the Prestige. It had it in '85 and also in '89.

markwesti

So I'm like Bali hold my bike while I drink this beer .


IMG_0414 by mark westi, on Flickr

seedsbelize 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97Ru...M#action=share :40

seypat

Don't forget the '86 model with the awesome Lavender/Silver paint combo. One of these days, maybe we will find a picture of one instead of just the catalog photo. Props to the member who does the Vintage Centurion website. He has the Zunow IM on the home page with info on it.

Centurion Prestige

markwesti

Thats @fleslider @seypat , I wonder how that Zunow is fairing ?

madpogue 

Picked up a red/white '86 (?) Saturday. No wheelset, seller kept the Turbo saddle (part of the price agreement), but otherwise mostly original. $75. Sorry, no "as bought" pics, and no time to park it in front of a less busy background.



Came with a Profile clip-on tri bar, and a set of Look pedals from BITD (torqued down crazy tight!); I just swapped in some test ride pedals. For some reason, the brake cables were reversed ; maybe that was done when the PO installed the clip-on.

My first bike made with:


Serial number begins N5M, but by all appearances it's an '86 bike, by the livery and build. Wasn't "rode hard", but was definitely "put away wet". That rust above the Tange sticker is no doubt from a frame pump. Other bits of bubbling like that here and there, around the front derailleur band, etc. Frame was absolutely dull from garage dust; the white panels looked like a bad gray smoke job. Cool "fade" handlebar tape was hacked up to accomodate the tri bar. Shift cables were so rusty it wouldn't shift. Much-maligned Sugino "measure this" seat post was NOT stuck, thank the stars. Frame is a 56cm, fit-wise, it's close on stand-over, but it's just right wrt saddle height. I may swap the Technomic stem for something with shorter reach. Otherwise, it's already a blast to ride.

markwesti

@madpogue , congrats on the 86' . If it's a bit tall for you , I second the thought on the shorter stem . I ride a 56cm but I wound up with a 58cm bike (Bianchi) , put a 60mm stem on it and now the fit is good .

seypat

@RobbieTunes, what was/is the title of that thread you started on sizing between 54/56 frames? I think I'll revive it instead of starting a new one.

seypat

Good score. For future reference, I think I like the darker wheel better than the back one on it. It would look wicked with a set of the dark ones.