Upcoming project

"Everyone prefers belief to the exercise of judgement." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

I really should complete a few some of my unfinished projects first, but there is another one that I'm very likely going to add to the plate very soon:  As soon as I get a day off work, I'm going to check the above bike out.  

The seller and I have already agreed on a price, and if I like what I see, this will probably end up at the front of the line of projects.  The Masi won't make a good commuter bike, and I really don't want to put a lot of wear and tear on it anyway.  I still have a lot of time before riding season - it was 15 degrees F earlier this morning (-9C for my logical unit readers).  So I have a while to get it ready - but the thought of restoring such a cool bit of history is exciting to me.

This is an example of a very early carbon-fiber bike frame.  These frames were basically a steel design, but with carbon fiber tubes instead of steel ones.  The carbon tubes fit into cool aluminum lugs, and were bonded in place - a manufacturing technique that only lasted a few years.  Eventually builders learned to lay cloth down into every cranny of a bicycle-shaped mold and suck the air bubbles out. Example below of a form-molded bike below.  It may only weigh 15 lbs, but in my opinion, it's goddam ugly.

The aluminum lugs on the old bike add a classic look, and bikes with standard-size carbon tubes have a reputation for having a plush ride.  They also had a tendency to flex when you really stomp the pedals, while sprinting or storming past your buddies up a hill.  I probably won't be doing much of that sort of thing at this age.

The brake levers are not correct for this bike - they should be aero levers like the Masi, not cables flapping around in the wind, and there should be no side-pull levers to for brakes on the top bar.  It will need different pedals, too.  And who knows if there are cracks in the tubes or issues with the bearings in the steering tube or crankshaft bearings?  In fact, the entire groupset of components is supposed to be top-of-the-line Shimano Dura-Ace, but that has been replaced by the mid-level Ultegra components.  The brake levers belong in the trash.  There is much to inspect.

I still haven't seen a good condition later model Centurion Le Mans, like the one I used to own.  This is a far superior frame anyway, with better components, at a good price.  So if there are no major issues with it, I intend buy it, restore it, and ride the heck out of it. 

The Centurion Carbon models look retro-nice when they are polished and ready to roll, plus there is a bit of cool factor of having a somewhat rare bike.  Apparently this design with the standard size carbon tubes, aluminum lugs and forks was only made for US distribution in 1988.  It's not a "collectible" in the sense of being highly sought after like a Colnago - essentially it's just another mass-produced Japanese bicycle.  But it's also somewhat different and interesting.

This Centurion Carbon R is very similar to the much more common Specialized Allez Epic Carbon.  I believe these were produced for almost 5 years, and were quite popular mid-level bikes, below: