I have a 20 year old Centurion Le Mans RS, which is a little beat up, but in decent shape mechanically. I'm deciding whether to refurbish it or to buy a new bike. I'll be riding the bike mainly to get in shape. If I can fix mine up cheaply,
To do a refurb, I may want to repaint the frame, I was wondering what it typically costs to have a frame bead blasted and what the paint and supplies would cost (probably custom colors put into aerosol cans, since I don't own a compresser/paint sprayer). Is it fairly easy to get good results? Where can I buy decals (since Centurion is no longer, I'm not sure what decals I'd buy ;)?
There are a few spots with a bit of rust where the paint has chipped. If I decide to use touch up paint, should these areas be sanded down to bare metal before applting the paint?
Also, is the plastic disc that goes between the cassette and the wheel spokes necessary, or can/should it be removed?
Repainting sounds like more trouble than it's worth, especially for a bike that was entry level to begin with. I'll just do some touch up on this bike. I may look for a good used bike if I want to upgrade.
One more question - my bike has stem shifters. Roughly what would it cost to have a shop install brake shifters?
David L. Johnson 3 March 2005 00:25:40 [ permanent link ]
On Wed, 02 Mar 2005 11:50:30 -0800, plin321 wrote:
Thanks very much for the helpful replies.>
Repainting sounds like more trouble than it's worth, especially for a> bike that was entry level to begin with. I'll just do some touch up on> this bike. I may look for a good used bike if I want to upgrade.>
One more question - my bike has stem shifters. Roughly what would it> cost to have a shop install brake shifters?
It's a rather complicated situation. The "brake shifters", combination brake lever and shifter in one (STI for Shimano, Ergo for Campagnolo) are also indexed shifters (except for the front Campy), so they need to be matched to the brand and number of cogs in the rear. There are STI 7-speed I believe, or at least there were. 8-speed is still available for Shimano, hard to find for Campy except at swap meets. If your derailleur is not a fairly modern version of one of these brands you are SOL.
Then there is the price. New "brifters" cost around $200. Sheldon Brown (Harris Cyclery) has a nice deal ($130) on 7-speed Sora shifters if you have a compatible drivetrain. They also have a good price on 8-speed. Sora is not the best, but probably all you will find for these gears.
You _might_ be able to make it work on a 6-speed system, but it will take some finagling. Using an old-style non-slat parallelogram derailleur will just not work, as would trying a Sun Tour or similar --- unless you are very lucky or very inventive.
The way around the difficulties is to replace everything, derailleurs, rear hub, chain, cassette, lever/shifter combos, and possibly cranks. That would be about $500-$800 just for parts.
The other way around it is to use something like downtube shifters, or bar-end shifters, which will cost you $20-$50.
--
David L. Johnson
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On 2 Mar 2005 11:50:30 -0800, plin321@aol.com may have said:
Thanks very much for the helpful replies.>
Repainting sounds like more trouble than it's worth, especially for a>bike that was entry level to begin with. I'll just do some touch up on>this bike. I may look for a good used bike if I want to upgrade.>
One more question - my bike has stem shifters. Roughly what would it>cost to have a shop install brake shifters?
You would likely need to upgrade at least the derailleurs to do this. Your current setup is probably not compatible with brifters. The cost would be impacted by how much needed to be swapped out in order to make it work, what level of kit you selected, whether you could scrounge used bits.
-- My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature. Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.
plin321@aol.com wrote:> Thanks very much for the helpful replies.>
Repainting sounds like more trouble than it's worth, especially for a> bike that was entry level to begin with. I'll just do some touch up on> this bike. I may look for a good used bike if I want to upgrade.>
One more question - my bike has stem shifters. Roughly what would it> cost to have a shop install brake shifters?
On Wed, 02 Mar 2005 11:50:30 -0800, plin321 wrote:>>Thanks very much for the helpful replies.>>
Repainting sounds like more trouble than it's worth, especially for a>>bike that was entry level to begin with. I'll just do some touch up on>>this bike. I may look for a good used bike if I want to upgrade.>>
One more question - my bike has stem shifters. Roughly what would it>>cost to have a shop install brake shifters?
David L. Johnson wrote:> It's a rather complicated situation. The "brake shifters", combination> brake lever and shifter in one (STI for Shimano, Ergo for Campagnolo) are> also indexed shifters (except for the front Campy), so they need to be> matched to the brand and number of cogs in the rear. There are STI> 7-speed I believe, or at least there were. 8-speed is still available for> Shimano, hard to find for Campy except at swap meets. If your derailleur> is not a fairly modern version of one of these brands you are SOL. >
Then there is the price. New "brifters" cost around $200. Sheldon Brown> (Harris Cyclery) has a nice deal ($130) on 7-speed Sora shifters if you> have a compatible drivetrain. They also have a good price on 8-speed. > Sora is not the best, but probably all you will find for these gears.>
You _might_ be able to make it work on a 6-speed system, but it will take> some finagling. Using an old-style non-slat parallelogram derailleur will> just not work, as would trying a Sun Tour or similar --- unless you are> very lucky or very inventive.>
The way around the difficulties is to replace everything, derailleurs,> rear hub, chain, cassette, lever/shifter combos, and possibly cranks. > That would be about $500-$800 just for parts.>
The other way around it is to use something like downtube shifters, or> bar-end shifters, which will cost you $20-$50.
Yes, that covers it so far as that goes. In the 'professional bike shop' world, Mirage Ergos are $120 and not 'low rent' like $200 Sora, but with the identical index cam and springs as Record, complete project with labor from $485 - and more durable than Sora, too.
"Werehatrack" wrote: (clip) You may fare better in this instance by talking to someone at a small, independent automotive paint and body shop; (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ If you can find a small shop with a friendly owner, maybe you could get him to shoot it while he is painting a car with a suitable color. Most of the labor is in setting up and cleaning up, so they might be willing to do it for a healthy tip (and no paper work.)
