Centurion Pro Tour all-chrome 650B townie

 centurion_DS2  

This bike was a Centurion Pro Tour originally, a high-quality Japanese-made touring bike from 1978.  One of Centurion's top-of-the-line models, the Pro Tour had some cool features rarely seen on a production bike: brazed-on centerpull brake calipers and a fully chromed frame.   Later iterations of the Pro Tour (from 1980-1984) had more common cantilever brakes, making the early editions quite rare.

I won this Pro Tour on eBay recently, and it arrived in fairly dismal condition.  The paint had numerous scratches and rust, and the parts were a haphazard mix of original components and later replacements.  I decided to strip the paint off to reveal the original chrome underneath, and while I was at it, to convert the bike to 650B wheels instead of using the original 27" ones that came with it.  I also made many more changes and additions – read on to learn more…

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