Centurion Le Mans RS

 "It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare." - Samuel Longhorn Clemens, AKA Mark Twain

About four years ago, I made a post about the two road bicycles that had brought about some major and good changes in my life as a twenty-something.  I have always been pretty sentimental about the very first one, a 1987 Centurion LeMans RS.  I've long regretted letting it go, and the post linked above came off a bit melancholy about the loss.  I'm sure getting rid of the Le Mans made sense at the time - probably a shortage of space thing, as I was then an apartment dweller.

I'm happy to report that I have located a sibling to the old bike.  A young fellow over in Deer Park, Washington had a 1987 Centurion Le Mans for sale for $80 - roughly a quarter of what I paid for the first one back in the day.  The handy inflation calculator says that $320 in 1987 is the equivalent of paying $885 in 2024, so yes, it was a very painful purchase for a guy living on the margins of economic viability.

The drive over to Deer Park was quite pleasant.  The route is somewhat remote through scenic woods and horse country, and it had no tourists on it - so there were no vehicles tailgating us.  I haven't figured out why people on vacation are in such a big hurry to get wherever they are going.  It's not like the boss will sack them for being late to work...

The guy selling the bike was a young fellow.  When we arrived, he was in the bottom of a backhoe-dug trench connecting water lines in a horse enclosure.  The place was a horse sanctuary, and they were installing an underground watering system to save money on hand-watering and trough heaters to keep the water from freezing during the winter months.  

On the return route we decided to forego the same road, and went north on Hwy 2, and had lunch at Connie's in Sandpoint.  I always try to manage a grilled tuna sandwich there whenever there's an excuse to do so :)

In the end I returned home with a dusty and neglected Centurion Le Mans, complete with a Kryptonite bike lock, just like the one my old one used to have.  The previous owner did not have a key to the lock, so it's stuck on the frame until I get around to using a cutting wheel on it.

The bike is in decent shape cosmetically from a cursory look.  I really didn't spend any time checking it out - just exchanged cash and stuffed it in the back of the car.  I noticed that the chain binds up in the derailleur when you back it up, so probably something is rusted up there.  It will be fun cleaning it up and maybe doing a resto-modification on it.  The original shifters were not indexed, and that's something I'd like to have.  Maybe some upgraded rims.  The best thing about the old Le Mans was the smooth ride, so that (and a lot of nostalgia), is what drove the purchase.

So, on to the pictures!!!

According to the owner, this was a California bike.  It could easily have been the old bike returned to me, except that I got rid of the reflectors and the plastic "dork ring" between the rear gear set and the spokes.

It's a bit grimy and rusty at the moment, but the bones of the frame are intact, and it should clean up nicely, with a few dings.  Just like the old one.