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Personally, I wouldn't classify the news as a surprise. The company's struggles have been well-known for a long, long time. But it is still a shock.
As someone who started riding entirely too long ago, Serotta has always been one of those names synonymous with not just American racing, but American cycling. I remember seeing them on the road at group rides as a young kid and having unholy bike lust over the product, just gorgeous lugged bikes. I was lucky enough to have a lugged 753 bike from the workshop for a while that was one of the best steel bikes I'd ever ridden. This is, in many ways, the end of an era.
But the nostalgia aside, I think back to late last year and earlier this year when I was looking to get a new road frame. Serotta had discontinued steel production and moved on to other frame materials I wasn't particularly interested in buying. I get it from a business perspective -- and steel may very well have been coming back for them at some point -- but that's a lost sale.
Man, this sucks.
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