Re: [CR]Windsor Cinelli?

(Example: History)

Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2005 08:01:50 -0500
From: "Daniel Artley" <dartley@co.ba.md.us>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Subject: Re: [CR]Windsor Cinelli?


I'd originally heard that the Centurions, at least the better ones, were designed for runners unfamiliar with the quicker steering racing bikes, that they were tighter frames to make for a quicker bike but with a more stable front end to keep novices from getting into trouble. Not sure now if any of that was true. When I met my wife, a Diamondback road bike for her was the best bargain for gears and parts, a bit heavy, and I got it for her based on my perception of it being a stable bike. Wrong! Less stable than my 74 degree head tube Colnago. We ended up changing the fork rake and getting a higher stack height headset to make the handling a bit more controllable for her. Sorry Dale if I'm venturing off topic, but if it helps to describe some history of the on topic Centurion, even if heresay, I'm hoping its ok.

Happy trails,

Dan Artley in Parkton, Maryland

<<< On Wed, 14 Dec 2005 19:06:27 -0500, Fred Durette wrote:>>> What my senile old brain can remember from my bike shop days was that Centurions were road bikes advertised as a triathelete's bike while Diamonbacks were mostly mountain bikes. I do recall the transition as the Centurions changed their decals to Diamondback. Both were imported by Western States. However, I don't know if that Centurion was made by the same company that made the Cinelli lookalikes. I have seen several older Centurions and they were real clunkers with cheapo components and I never associated them with the nicer triathelete type bikes. I could be wrong, but I believe the headbadge was different. This was also about the same time frame that the Nishiki Olympic became a hot seller. Fred Durrette Summerville, SC>>>

I know a couple of folks that still have some of the better Centurions, one I've really liked in style. I do think this Cinelli version is probably the best frame of all of them though.

D. A.