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I don't think having price-is-no-object bikes was a problem but not offering some less expensive but still high quality non-custom frames/forks was. Maybe that seemed impossible or an unwise use of production capacity but in the end it seems there was excess capacity galore. I can't get into B'School analyses of production strategy for lack of info but I wonder what would have happened if Serotta had promoted racing bikes in standard sizes priced like Fiertes. If young racers were successful on those bikes would they "graduate" to custom Serottas later? Would the image of those racers winning have induced a middle-aged guy with some fit problems to step up to a custom Serotta?
It seems that this lack of bikes that young people wanted and could afford led to the shift in perception of a Serotta as a high-performance racing bike to a bike for old geezers with/without fit problems.
Having written that I have to say I have never been a racer and I don't care what racers ride. OTOH I have to admit that earlier in life I probably thought that a successfully raced bike was indicative of qualities that might also be a benefit to me too.
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