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…