Centurion Pro-Tour

"The Pro Tour also appeared in the late 1970s and survived 

into the mid-1980s. It is a gem, perhaps the nicest 

mass-produced touring bike ever..."

-Ashley Wright,  writing on Sheldon Brown's "Harris Cyclery"

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/centurion/index.html

This bicycle is 59 cm center-to-top. It is in like-new condition. We even have the original owner’s manual!
It has braze-ons on either side of the forks for the centerpull brakes to attach--this feature is not often found in production bikes, and it decreases arm flex as the brake grabs the wheel. The calipers and levers are Dia-Compe.
This bike has a SR Apex triple crank with a half-step between the first two rings, and a "granny gear" for serious touring. By the way, Gary Fisher says "Someone gave a lot of thought to this bike."


This bicycle has a SunTour Cyclone rear derailleur and SunTour bar end shifters. These were top of the line in the height of SunTour awesomeness. These components could go up against any other company's components from the same year (yes, SunTour is a great component company. Read their story here).

The whole bike is chrome under the pain--you can see the chrome lugwork. And check out that pin striping!

This bicycle is in like-new condition. The vintage saddle will be exchanged for a new Brooks B17.

You can also read about the Centurion Pro-Tour on Wikipedia

This bicycle is available for purchase. $1,400. That is in like-new condition, for about what it cost new, adjusted for inflation.

By John Wade

Schwinn Paramount from OUTER SPACE

This Schwinn Paramount is a 56cm center to top. It has a 32.5" standover height. All of its component and geometry information can be found at the bottom of this post.


The Schwinn Paramount is literally the best or "paramount" Schwinn frame. All are collectible. This is a Japanese-made model, and it has a large "OS" decal which means "over-sized." This tubing was over-sized in order to make it with less steel but the same strength. It is about a half pound lighter than comparable frames, according to Schwinn.

The paint job is a blue with bright red speckles. It is pretty awesome. There are double Paramount decals running down the front of the fork.



This bicycle is available for purchase. $850.

by John Wade

Copper and Chrome Raleigh International

This Raleigh International is a 53cm center to top (that link contains a wealth of information on bicycle sizing, once again from the late, great Sheldon Brown). It has a 31" standover height, and would have been called a 21" by Raleigh at the time it was made. It is an example of a Raleigh bicycle that was built by Carlton (as mentioned in an earlier post about a Carlton bike), and both the Carlton and obviously the Raleigh logos are in great condition.

This bicycle is a one-owner, all-original example that has been properly stored and maintained. The condition is 9.5 out of 10. These pictures are of the bicycle in original, unrestored condition, but before it goes out of the shop it will undergo a full restoration including all bearings greased, bicycle polished, new tires, chain, tubes, cables, bar wrap with full tuneup.


This bike has a full Campagnolo Nuovo Record group, except for the necessary brake calipers for the International's long geometry.


"While the Professional was patterned after the popular Italianate style popular in the early '70s, the International hearkened back to an earlier ear. The International frame was built for comfort, lightness and versatility, while the Professional was built for stiffness and maneuverability. The Internationals had very generous tire clearance (hence the need for the long-reach Weinmann calipers) and relaxed angles. The frames make very nice light-touring bikes, but the racing components supplied as stock, including tight 10 speed gearing and tubular tires make the stock version somewhat of an anomaly."
--Sheldon Brown


"Some years featured Reynolds "Rapid Taper" chainstays, which are round in cross-section from one end to the other, but taper rapidly from the bottom bracket to the tire area for clearance." --Sheldon Brown


In my opinion, it is better for most riders to have a bike that is a little longer like this one. It puts the weight farther forward on the bike and gets it a bit off the back wheel. This makes for a smoother ride, and it will be easy to ride this bicycle "no hands."

This bicycle is available for purchase. $1,400.


by John Wade

Guerciotti

This Guerciotti is a 61cm center to center.

This frame is absolutely top of the line. It was hand-built in Italy with Columbus tubes. Guerciotti is engraved into seat-stay tips and bottom bracket shell. Guerciotti logo is engraved into the fork crown on both sides. Forged dropouts front w/ adjusting screws in the rear. Fork is chrome, with fresh plating.

Grey anodized Wolber alloy rims laced to low flange alloy hubs.

The cranks are Nuovo Record as well as the rear derailleur. Shimano Dura Ace front derailleur. Shimano 600 tricolor brakes & levers (aero). The brakes are model BR-6403 and are some of the first dual pivots. They are great brakes. Stronglight headset.

Perforated Turbo Saddle, Sakae alloy seat post.

This bicycle is available for purchase. $1200.

Cinelli SUPERCORSA

This two-wheeled beauty is 54 cm center to center.

It has a full Campagnolo Super Record groupo except the Suntour retro friction downtube shifters and Sugino 75 carbon aero brake levers.

The Campy Super Record hubs are laced to Synthesis Ambrosio Super Professional tubular rims. This bike is an Italian racing machine.

Sheldon Brown, who we trust in all things, has a lot of nice things to say about this bike here.

This bicycle is available for purchase. $1,500.

by John Wade

Carlton Professional

This bike is a 56cm center to center Carlton Professional frame from the late 60s. Carlton was a high-end frame-building workshop that was purchased by Raleigh in 1960 and eventually took over all of Raleigh's high-end road builds.


This bicycle was manufactured by Carlton, under the Carlton name. Oddly enough, the Carlton name had too good a reputation for quality, and eventually the "powers that be" at Raleigh decided it was eclipsing the Raleigh brand and making it more difficult to sell Raleigh branded product. So, Raleigh stopped producing bikes under the Carlton name.

This sweet ride has a full Zeus groupo except the Sugino crank (it was probably considered an upgrade at the time, but now we would rather just have all Zeus components).


The Zeus components are highly regarded, and were basically a high-quality Campagnolo knock-off. They also made frames.


This bicycle is available for purchase. $1,200.

by John Wade

Concord Pro 1 Gets a Face Lift

I acquired and restored this bicycle about 2 years ago. The Pro 1 was the top of the line for Concord. I was wondering why this bike had not sold. As I studied the bike it just had no panash.
So into the rack it went. I had originally left the thick-form bar covers on and wrapped over them with black cloth. The white finish on the paint was rather dull. The brake calipers and cables were just dull and tired looking. Just difficult to get excited about. Soooo......

I took the brake calipers apart for a thorough polishing to a bright shine.

Off came the bar wrap, brake calipers, and cables. A little polishing compound and wax brought the finish on the frame up to standard. Chrome polish to the chrome and now it shines like new.

Yellow, Yellow, Yellow. Replaced the black rivited saddle with a brite yellow one. Yellow cable housing & yellow cloth bar tape with several coats of schellac.

PUCH FORCE XII 1987

PUCH FORCE XII 1987 model Reynolds 531 tubing, Weinman 605 side pull brakes with drilled levers. Shifters, derailleurs, hubs, crank all Suntour. Saddle Selle Royal Sprint suede. Wolber alloy rims with eylets. World custom pantagraphed handlebar.

The unique thing about this bike is that it only had one other owner, olympic swimmer Rachel Komisarz. It was bought new in a size too large, ridden twice then placed into climate-controlled storage. The bike is therefore basically new. The rims show no sign of brake wear, tires show no sign of dry rot. A small tear on the leather bar wrap which I covered with hemp twine. A great bike practically off the shop floor.

This bicycle is available for purchase. $850.

by John Wade

The Bridgestone XO-2

When the XO-2 arrived at the shop it created quite a stir. Many of us around the shop are devotees of Grant Peterson of Rivendell Bicycle Works. The XO series was GP's legacy at Bridgestone Bicycles before he left to found RBW.

This 48cm, pristine example showed up on the Louisville CL site with an incorrect price. Seller was deludged with replys and pulled the add. I was able to contact seller, make a fair offer, and bring this bike into our collection. This bicycle originally came with the controversial "moustache" handlebars, as you can see here,

How it looks now, with bar-end shifters,

As soon as it arrived at the shop everyone seemed to want to work on it. Perry inflated the tires and did a quick tune up. It is in Beth's size so she took it out for its maiden ride. All went well but on its second outing it blew a tire. Back into the shop where it sat for a day or two before Justin and Beth started dismantling it.

A thorough inspection revealed a bike that had seen little use. All bearings in like new condition. Wheels trued up nicely. There was some evidence of some rough shifting with a few broken teeth on the chain rings. A complete set of Salsa rings was ordered as well as a set of stainless steel Giles Bertoud fenders. Panaracer Pasella TG tires were installed.

Bike is back together, next we will install the fenders and a vintage Jim Blackburn rear rack to increase the usefulness of the bike.

It is my personal desire for Beth to take a shine to this bike and make it her commuter. That way it will be a part of the shop into the future.

If Beth doesn't lay claim to this Bicycle it will be available for purchase for $1000.00.

More pictures to come with fenders & rack...

58cm Ross Signature

The Tom Kellog designed Ross Signature models (290S, 292S & 294S) are some of the nicest bicycles the Allentown, PA company ever produced.


The middle child of the Signature line-up is Justin’s favorite as the Golden Arrow group performs as great as it looks. The metallic, deep aqua blue looks amazing and the triple butted Ishiwata tubing provides a light and responsive ride.


A complete restoration was performed with all bearing systems cleaned, lubed and new bearing balls installed. New tires, tubes and cables were all that needed replacing as this bike saw very little use in its 27 years and was stored properly. It’s ready to pound the pavement; it just needs your legs to provide the power. This 58cm bicycle is for sale at Vic's Classic Bikes for only $575.

• Make: Ross


• Model: 1984 Signature 292S


• Frame size: 58cm


• Tubing: Ishiwata EX Cr-Mo Triple Butted


• Wheels: 36h 700c Araya aluminum alloy rims, SS spokes, SR hubs, 14-28t Shimano 6sp freewheel


• Tires: Panaracer Pasela Tourguard 700c x 32mm


• Crankset: 52/42 Shimano Golden Arrow


• BB: Shimano


• Headset: Original (unknown make)


• Brakes: Shimano Golden Arrow levers and calipers


• Derailleurs & Shifters: Shimano Golden Arrow


• Saddle: Original Ross Concor copy


• Seatpost: SR


• Handlebar: SR Custom


• Stem: SR Custom