corn on the cog 

Hi everyone, I’m about a week into posting on BF, excited to be in your midst.

So, the deal is… I fell hard for a hard-ridden Centurion yesterday. I saw it pop up in the form of a single blurred-out photo on CL before Thanksgiving, listed as a “Lite RS,” for $100. Blurred-out, but in Tange 2 nonetheless, 700c wheels, and badass black-and-silver, placing it circa ‘86. I quickly contacted the seller, but it wasn’t until yesterday that we could make our schedules coincide. He lives over a half hour away from me, in the outermost reaches of Boston’s western suburbs.

My pulse quickened when I finally saw this bike in the shiny flesh, under crisp sunny skies. As I went over it in the seller’s driveway, Allen keys in hand, we chatted about its history. The seller was a compact, grey-bearded, deeply tanned guy, half blue-collar half hippie, with a hint of a pierced earlobe from bygone days. The bike had belonged to his father, who passed away a few years ago and whom he described, not without affection, as having been “what you’d call an impulsive man.” “Once he got into something, he went all the way with it.” And so it was with biking. Dad had ridden this bike all over New England, regularly logging hundred-mile days in the Green Mountains, riding with clubs, friends, or solo. So much so that one day father and son ran into each other completely coincidentally in the backroads of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, when the latter came off a trailhead on a long backpacking trip, and the former whizzed by with Centurion and friends.

Even as I grew more and more drawn to this bike, while these stories came forth and the grace of her angles sank in, I was forced at the same time to take stock of her blemishes and afflictions. The frame has paid dearly for fender-less centuries in stormy weather, and quite possibly for the drip-drip-drip of seepage down its seat post channels. She has enough rust on her to drive away a more reasonable man than I. She might even be slightly smaller than my ideal size. We shall see. Was this a “smart buy”? I don’t know. That’s what you’re all here for… right?... right? The “chips” (a euphemism) riddle her top tube, her seat stays, and bottom bracket shell. The cable guides resemble the encrustations that pass for marine hardware on old trawlers along the Gloucester docks. She needs work.

But the seller was relieved to see the bike go to somebody who would treat her well, and help it write a new chapter. He asked if I didn’t mind sending him a photo once I cleaned her up. He threw in frame pump, along with the bike, as well as the compact toolbox where his dad kept bike tools, spare tubes, bar tape, and an electrician’s pocket knife.

Right after we strapped the bike to my rack and before I drove off the seller did one last thing: he kissed the handlebars. “Of course,” I thought to myself as I drove away, "that's his dad right there."


[Pics to follow]

corn on the cog 

corn on the cog 

corn on the cog 

corn on the cog 

And one more:

nomadmax 

Give that bike some love and get it out on the road. A solitary pic on a familiar road in it's new glory would be awesome.

bikemig 

Great backstory about the bike. If it were my bike, I'd strip it down to the bones and deal with the rust. The good news is that the paint is in pretty good shape. You already know the bad news. If you search this site, you'll find a number of ways to deal with rust. The one concern I would have is that there is rust on the inside. My guess is that there is. That can be dealt with (oxalic bath is the usual solution).

3speedslow

OTS 

Great bike, great back story, and best of all black is easy to touch up once the rust is treated.
OA and Evaporust are your new friends.
Ride on......and on.......and on

Drillium Dude 

What did he tell you about the bolts through the seatpost? That's a first for me

DD

ramzilla

I'd strip that down to the bare frame. Soak all the parts in mineral spirits or diesel. Go after the rust with a high speed grinder with a wire brush attached. Then, take it to a powder coater & get get it covered with one thick coat of a primary color. ............ The riveted chain ring set is weird. Looks like something that came off a Schwinn or something. Most all the old Centurion Elites I've seen have bolted chain rings.

Fahrenheit531 

What everyone else said, and one more thing: DO keep the seller's email close and send that pic when the bike is done. That sort of thing matters. After reading your post I suspect you already get that, but some thing bear repeating.

...and cool bike.

corn on the cog 

Thanks everyone for the feedback and suggestions. I haven't looked inside the frame yet, but from the outside this does seem like a good strip + repaint candidate. Mind you, that would be a first for me. I haven't played with oxalic acid yet, so I'd probably lean on BF search in a big way. And I may need to borrow a high speed grinder. :-)


If I did repaint, I realize a single color would be the most straightforward route, but I'd love to be able to approximate the black & silver somehow, if it's not too expensive....



Good question. I didn't ask him about the bolts. I've never had a calibrated seat post myself, but I just assumed they were two different settings he had set up for some reason (maybe loaned out the bike for a spell to a shorter person?).



Thank you, and yes, definitely, you bet I will!

Aubergine 

squirtdad

I had a knife like that a long time ago

corn on the cog 

corn on the cog 

Aubergine 

corn on the cog 

corn on the cog 

From cobwebbed to mummified:



Thanks for the feedback everyone. I've decided I'm not ready to commit this bike to the powder coater yet, and want to see how much re-beautifying I can do on my own. So here are the frame and (resting between chain stays) the fork, swaddled in Evapo-Rust-soaked rags. After rinsing off and some protective waxing, I'm going to see how touch-up paint does on some of the exposed steel chips. I'll need to get some black and some silver. I'm not sure though whether to get spray paint (e.g. Imron, Rustoleum, etc) or liquid enamel (e.g. hobby paints)? I'd like it to look as good as possible (some of the chips, especially on the seat stays, are pretty large), and don't mind if it takes a bit more time. Suggestions welcome!

fleslider 

In my opinion definitely don't Powder coat it, Its not that bad of condition to me. I personally would stick with enamel hobby paint other than spray.the spots look mostly smaller.

looking forward to seeing the progress on this one.

3speedslow

markwesti

RandolphCarter

You've gotten it mostly stripped down - did the seatpost and stem come out easily?

As far as paint goes, Rustoleum makes an 'appliance enamel' line of spray paints that are much harder wearing than their other finishes. Available in black, almond, or white. It's compatible with the regular Rustoleum enamel clearcoat. I've had good luck with it, it is also a little more forgiving to apply than their regular paint.

You'd need to mask off any decals you want to keep.

Another option is to lightly sand the rougher areas and just clearcoat the whole thing - I did that on my Trek, I wanted to keep the 'distressed' patina of the original bike but didn't want any more rust. I also HATE HATE HATE HATE spraypainting and wanted to do as little refinishing as possible.

Those cranks and chainrings definitely didn't originally come with the bike.

Keep the pics coming.

RobbieTunes

Pretty sure I still have one.