Centurion Ironman Dave Scott models

1986 Centurion Ironman

1987 Centurion Ironman Expert

Did we suddenly have more time for sports and leisure in the 1980’s? I’m not old enough to remember a huge difference from previous decades, but something must have changed. Mountain biking, wind surfing, roller-blading, racquetball, indoor aerobics and triathlon all seem to have sprung up from really nowhere during the decade.

Triathlon is a sport that required serious dedication to training in the pool, on a bike and at the gym. Triathlon is such an enormous time commitment that it’s a great sport for people who want to avoid household chores or their families.

Triathlon was also a great sport for the bike industry. In the early days, a company like Centurion could easily cater to the budding triathlete. Usually a bike brand would take one of their upper level road bikes, put a saddle on it that had a waterproof cover, maybe change the logo a bit or give it a pastel paint color and call it done.
Triathlon bike.

Sometimes a triathlon bike came with a couple of features to improve aerodynamics, like an aerobar or wheels with bladed spokes. Sometimes a tri bike just had weird cosmetic changes that made no sense at all. The ‘86 Bridgestone Mile 112 was the same bike as the 700 only it was pink instead of red and had aero brake levers. Our ‘87 Ironman model here came stock with a black Vetta saddle, and for some triathlony reason it also came with a white lycra saddle cover.

Profile aero bars

Cateye Solar computer

Cage with splatter paint

Shimano Sante & Shimano 105

Vetta saddle with lycra cover

Sometimes a tri bike was merely the model endorsed by a successful pro athlete. In the case of this Centurion we have the Hawaiian Ironman winner Dave Scott signature versions.

The Dave Scott signature series were good road bikes, don’t get me wrong. The Shimano 600EX component group seen here on the grey bike had pieces that worked better than nearly every bike part ever built before them. The Shimano Santé parts on the pink bike were an upgrade over the stock Shimano 105 components, boosting the total number of gear choices from 12 to 14 speeds and making the modern pink bike even more radical with the white and silver coloring. The wheels on both of these Centurions were strong and light, the Tange steel frames were durable and handled superbly, there just wasn’t anything super triathlon-y about them…

Little neon triangles. A perfect 1980’s logo

Arm rests for a weary swimmer

Shimano 600 EX with Biopace

Early (cheap) Look pedals

Dave Scott signature

…Until you added the handlebars. The aftermarket Profile aero bars added to these bikes really made them triathlon bikes. By affording the fatigued triathlete a place to rest their upper body after exiting the water and by reducing the frontal area of the cyclist, these goofy-looking handlebars made each bike faster.

The difference in speed between a standard road bike position and one involving this style of triathlon bar had to be at least 2 miles per hour. Since most triathlons in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s didn’t allow competitors to draft one another, the aerobar position (with the brake levers far away from the hands) posed only minor danger to the athlete.

Racing a bike while wearing a speedo on the other hand…