cdaniels

I was looking for a parts bike and found this online. It is advertised as a Centurion Ironman. I don't believe that is what it is, wrong lugs, wrong rear dropouts, wrong everything. But it interests me because of the whish bone seat stay. For some reason it looks very familiar to me just can't place it. Here are some pictures from the seller. Does anyone recognize this frame?

jdawginsc 

What the heck is going on with that...looks like an artisanal frame of great quality, with poopy components except the Ritchey stem. The handlebar was just tossed in there obviously to make it a "complete" bike.

I'd be stripping the decals off and keeping that frame for the cool paint and construction.

Land Shark, maybe?

pastorbobnlnh 

Looks like Varsity, Columbia, or Huffy bars. With a tubular wheelset!

cdaniels

I know the parts and paint sux I think they just used what they had or couldn't get rid of. It does have Campy hubs on Mavic rims though. What I what to know is the frame model/manufacturer.

scarlson 

That is the weirdest bike I've seen in some time.

Does it have a headset? Looks like if it had a headset, the fork might not be long enough for a stem to clamp on. But it might be a threaded fork that someone clamped a threadless stem on? So weird. Everything about that bike is so weird! Like someone just threw parts together to make it "complete" and then put it up for sale.

cdaniels

Im not concerned about the parts, just the frame.

jdawginsc 

I am going with Land Shark custom job.

scarlson 

With a Ritchey stem clamped over a threaded steerer.

The paint actually looks like it could be nice. The clear coat is pretty shiny and thick looking.

The funny thing about it is the lugs and rear drops look super chunky, almost reminiscent of those glued-together aluminum frames.

tkamd73 

Bridgestone or Kabuki?
Tim

repechage

Or a Giant ?

dropouts look aluminum
my hunch it is a bonded frame
tubes of ? Material of the main triangle
could be steel, aluminum or carbon
stays also could use a tap or magnet test.
I think the head tube/ lug casting is just that.

cdaniels

The lugs did seem strange to me since they are just straight cut and I have no shaping to them. I am going to look at it later today. I'll let you guys know what I find out.

brian3069

I believe it's a repainted bonded carbon fiber Centurion Ironman with aluminum lugs.

Bianchigirll 

How much? You might have $50 of usable parts.

Id be looking for pics of very late ‘80s and early ‘90s bonded car on bikes like a Giant Cadex, Prism etc.

the paint looks real artsy but that doesn’t mean it’s OEM.

jdawginsc 

Those fixtures look brazed on though?

Bianchigirll 

I took this pic of an abused Giant Cadex from the “are you looking……” thread.

see the fat flat wishbone stay arrangement

Bianchigirll 

I think they just have a smoother sculpted look that what Vitus and Alan used to have

T-Mar

Its looks like it could be a painted Centurion Ironman Carbon frame.

jdawginsc 

I guess it kind of does look like those. The top tube cable guides and rear derailleur chainstay stop threw me off.

cdaniels

I think Brian3069 and T-mar might just be right that it's a carbon ironman. I was able to blow up the pics enough to see the seam in the seatstay but it looks as though someone modified the cable guides somewhat.

T-Mar

I don't think the cable guides are modified. They just don't show well in my previous post. I neglected to mention that these frames were also available as the Centurion Carbon-R into the very early 1990s, in non-USA markets. If you can get the serial number, which should be stamped on the inside of the non-drive side dropout, it will tell us the year and if it is from the same manufacturer as the Ironman Carbon/Carbon-R.

cdaniels

Ok, so I went and looked at it and got it. It has some seriously thick paint on it. The serial number after some scraping is 87L0259. I looked on the vintage-centurion.com site and that was no help for serial numbers. It came with Campy hubs and shifters. Mavic rims, lower end Shimano parts and a three ring Japanese crank set

Funny thing while there the guy said "I have this old frame also if you want it for cheep it's a Bootakia." When he showed me, it was a Bottecchia, white with chrome socks. It's a lower tier model with no derailleur hanger but decent shape and fairly light. Overal.....good day.

T-Mar

Yes, that's the same format as seen on the Centurion Ironman Carbon/Carbon-R. It's the 259th frame from December 1987, so it would be 1988 model year.