#106
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Steve Rex
puts Steve Rex decals on his bikes. Maybe a tweak for Serotta would be to evolve to bikes that say Ben Serotta on the downtube. It does have a nice ring to it. Ka-ching!
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Crust Malocchio, Turbo Creo |
#107
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Sad news.
ATMO, a big part of the problem is marketing. The brand got associated with Freds (I always heard dentists and orthodontists), but the bikes are some of the best out there. It seemed that as overhead grew, the prices got very high. There was more competitionfrom boutique builders working out of a garage with much lower overhead, and the tended to be young, hip, and developed a cult-like following, partially through social media, which Serotta did not master. I would bet in a blind comparison, a Serotta would be as like (if not more so) than any bike from Portland, Steamboat, or Watertown. I hope Ben picks up his torch and emulates his alumni and the young guns. The new bikes look fantastic. |
#108
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Current Serotta financial issues and layoffs have nothing to do with DCG. This has been brewing for a long time and it doesn't take a rocket scientist or MBA to understand what's up. Serotta is failing all on it's own do to a lack of sales revenue and expensive production/fixed costs. You don't just wake up one morning and realize you need to layoff 40% of your staff. That's a clear sign of a failed business model operating on hope rather than good leadership with a viable business plan.
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#109
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Good luck to Ben et al. Love my Serotta bikes. Hope I never have to sell them.
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#110
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Quote:
Moots has not had a meteoric rise. Kent Eriksen founded the company in 1981. They had a number of unique MTB products in the early days like a fork with two sets of fork ends, that gave effectively different rakes/fork lengths for 26 and 700c wheels. And Moots Mounts, that allowed infinite vertical adjustment of cantilever bosses. Very cool stuff, but they were a very small, yet respected, brand back in the day. More recognition and sales resulted with Ti models and the YBB suspension. Company was sold to someone with deeper pockets, and the "new Moots" is what you see currently. Who knows if Moots actually makes any money. Merlin had 5 employees until they adopted a corporate structure and secured venture capital in 1989. One of the founders was a DuPont trust-funder. AFAIK, they were never in the black, even when shipping 2,400 frames a year, which lead to the ABG merger and eventual demise of the brand. Like others have mentioned, if Ben can make another go, small and simple with a complete re-think, Serottas will be available again. Go forth and prosper all involved at Saratoga and Poway! Last edited by pbarry; 07-31-2013 at 07:57 PM. |
#111
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Very sad news!
I would find it hard to buy Serotta bikes in the future, with the baggage of what it has been. If I was offered a bike name Serotta build by Joe Star Welder with Ben at the helm, or a David Kirk or Kelly Beford all at similar price, I would find it hard to pass on the latter two and take the first one. Heck, even if Ben the torcher built the bike, I would not take it over Kirk or Bedford.
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Ryder |
#112
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#113
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Sad news. If anyone bought a 59cm Pronto and ends up not wanting it for whatever reason, let me know.
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#114
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Serotta lays off 40% of workforce, planning shutdown
Thanks brother! Unfortunately US 'higher' education cranks out useless MBas by the thousands. "Yes you too can earn this valuable 'experience' two nights a week....'" Sorry I've high jacked, but yes I've got another bunch of bean counters telling me how to run my product to some formula. Go get some glue and sticks kiddo and come back when you can make it work.
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#115
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please keep it decent here guys. no need for |
#116
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Serotta lays off 40% of workforce, planning shutdown
Never been there, but i catch your drift otherwise :-)
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#117
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you can't separate the two.........
Quote:
Much of the Serotta design and quality mystique was based on utilizing manufacturing processes to shape tubes and other parts in a very custom way. That takes a lot of very expensive equipment, and higher-paid people to run them. Can we say “higher overhead”? All the smaller one- or two-men shops I’ve visited purchase most of their materials nearly ready to be welded into a frame. They can fit the entire shop into a home garage because they don’t have tons of fancy equipment to do all kinds of machining. “IF” Serotta goes back to welding standard tubes and using stock dropouts and so on so it can be manufactured in a very small space, would it still be the same Serotta bike? Would it ride the same? And how would it compare to a similar bike made in Asia for a fraction of the cost? Granted it’s sad all around; particularly for the employees who will have to find new jobs. And for the older ones it may be much tougher yet. But the announcement shouldn’t come by surprise to anyone who has been reading the forum for years. |
#118
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Good. we <3 u. long live serotta! waiting for my old one to show up in the tribute thread. it was an excellent beautiful omg red fierte with engraved 9sp veloce. wish i hadn't sold it.
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#119
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shapes
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#120
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Remember that 40% of that insane overhead is now on the unemployment line.
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