80's Serotta - Olympic Level Track Bike

[19wisconsin64]

Hi All,
Of all the bikes in the world, I'm most interested in this bike, and the Cinelli Laser.
This is listed on eBay (not me).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/rare-80s-SEROTTA-AERO-pursuit-TRACK-lo-pro-funny-pista-frame-COMPLETE-BIKE-/110963972308?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d5f7d8d4

Would someone who might know about the bikes from that era let me know which bike the USA Olympic track team was on in the 80's? Were they Serotta-built "Huffy" branded or something like that?

This stuff fascinates me, and i've been lucky to have owned a high-level Serotta from the 80's (Bob Roll's 7-Eleven team bike no less!)

Is this the kind of bike Rebecca Twigg road?

I was in my late teens when this thing was made, so I just have a fuzzy recollection of what I read back then in Bicycling magazine.

Thanks for any input folks!!!

[bikinchris]

First of all, that bike should have all Record parts on it. I don't ever remember a US Olympic team riding these.
I know a guy who has one of those with a white paint job. Great bike and a work of art. If you can find period correct Record parts, then it would be a great bike for a collection. Not necessarily to ride or race.

[ultraman6970]

1st thing the bike is stated like a funny bike, is not a funny bike. Those two wheels are 700C tubulars, my best guess is that the bike wont fit even 23 mm tubulars, not even think about clinchers, mistake the fork has a lot of room, weird.

The tubing, that's a really limited edition 1983ish aero tubing that columbus did back in the day, the seatpost came with the tubes in the same box, all together. Serotta did something to it tho... he added the seatpost clamp to it, that clamp was made because originally came only with those 2 bolts in the back, clearly they are using only one. Know about this because one of the spoiled riders of my old master builder got a bike built with the same tubing. The tubes came all aero but serotta in this one curved it at the ends. Doubt was easy to do w/o cramping the tubes so for sure he put sand inside then heat them and stuff.

This is a really rare bike wonder why was not used in the games, remember back in the day the US team was using GT and Raleigh, (maybe a panamerican bike built?) my best guess is that the bike was an experiment because everybody was using 650 or 24 wheels in the front back in the 80s. Like 90 something rules changed and everybody was using TT bikes with both 700c wheels, nice bike wonder how they tightened the headset, maybe with a stem bolt in the middle or something and something at the bottom?

[jmagruder10]

Hello,I am new to this forum and Serotta bikes , but I was the winner of this strange track bike. I look forward to getting it and trying to figure out what or who it was built for. Do you think if I send the serial number and photos to Serotta they would help me with that???? Do they keep records like waterford did of the paramounts? Not sure if the purchase price of $2250 was a good deal or not. I have many vintage track bikes in my collection , but always wanted a pursuit style bike. I am just hoping it arrives safe , I bet packing and shipping a bike with those bars mounted on the fork would not be fun. The seller says it comes with special tool to remove the headset nut. Too bad it is too tall for me to ride.

[Ahneida Ride]

Call or mail Kelly Bedford.

I bet he knows ...

[jmagruder10]

Call or mail Kelly Bedford.

I bet he knows ...

Who is Kelly Bedford and how do I call or mail him. Thanks.

[chismog]

Hello,I am new to this forum and Serotta bikes , but I was the winner of this strange track bike. I look forward to getting it and trying to figure out what or who it was built for. Do you think if I send the serial number and photos to Serotta they would help me with that???? Do they keep records like waterford did of the paramounts? Not sure if the purchase price of $2250 was a good deal or not. I have many vintage track bikes in my collection , but always wanted a pursuit style bike. I am just hoping it arrives safe , I bet packing and shipping a bike with those bars mounted on the fork would not be fun. The seller says it comes with special tool to remove the headset nut. Too bad it is too tall for me to ride.

Who knows what the value is? It's completely unusual and cool, so if that is your thing then you hit it out of the park. I think Ultraman has this right. My best guesstidate is that the frame predates 84 because of the 700c wheels and the funky handlebar setup. I seem to remember a Cinelli Laser with a similar setup and maybe a Rossin. I'm sure there are other examples too. After 84 it was all 24in or 650c funny bikes until the UCI took us back to matching 700c in the 90s.


Would someone who might know about the bikes from that era let me know which bike the USA Olympic track team was on in the 80's? Were they Serotta-built "Huffy" branded or something like that?

Depends. There were definitely a series of Huffy Serotta/Melton funny bikes for the 84 LA Olympic pursuit/TT events, but the sprinters were on Raleighs I think. And Grewal won on his (trade team?) Pinarello. For 88 there was another series of Huffy pursuit bikes, not sure if those were built by Serotta. In between olympic years you see a lot of Raleighs for the national team. Curiously you can find 80s funny bike frames from the national team stickered as both Raleigh AND Huffy. I don't think GT came around until about 1990 or so.

[ultraman6970]

IMO that was like an experiment because there was already bikes with those handlebars already moving around. Nice bike, as for the buying price... well if depends of many things, probably this one is just the only one in existence, second the tubing. Columbus and Reynolds ran a really short series of aero tuibng and seatposts almost at the same time, those tubes are 100% columbus, even the seatpost was in the box. Really rare tube set.

For the record it wouldnt even surprise me that the bike was never used in competition and if it was used i doubt was used more than a couple of times for test the concept. The other thing what wouldnt surprise me is if it doesnt have a serial number, maybe a date and a size but not a serial number.

IMO because of its uniqueness the price was ok.

[jmagruder10]

IMO that was like an experiment because there was already bikes with those handlebars already moving around. Nice bike, as for the buying price... well if depends of many things, probably this one is just the only one in existence, second the tubing. Columbus and Reynolds ran a really short series of aero tuibng and seatposts almost at the same time, those tubes are 100% columbus, even the seatpost was in the box. Really rare tube set.

For the record it wouldnt even surprise me that the bike was never used in competition and if it was used i doubt was used more than a couple of times for test the concept. The other thing what wouldnt surprise me is if it doesnt have a serial number, maybe a date and a size but not a serial number.

IMO because of its uniqueness the price was ok.

You were right I got the bike but no serial numbers or any other marking on the frame.I emailed Serotta to see if they could tell me anything about the bike. I was surprised it looks very nice in person , like it was never ridden , just displayed. Now to find a campy crank , new saddle and maybe a rear disc wheel.

[bikinchris]

This bike needs dual discs and a shiny Record crankset.

[jmagruder10]

This bike needs dual discs and a shiny Record crankset.

That is my plans and I need to decide on a proper saddle. I will start with the crank set and go from there.

[William]

Who is Kelly Bedford and how do I call or mail him. Thanks.

You can find him here...
http://kbedfordcustoms.com/




William

[Louis]

Who is Kelly Bedford

He was a, if not the, lead Serotta frame designer and builder for quite a while. He left as they started to down-size, and now builds under his own name.

[bikinchris]

That is my plans and I need to decide on a proper saddle. I will start with the crank set and go from there.

I should have written that it needs period correct dual Campy discs. I bet Merckx or Moser would have loved to have ridden this bike to his hour record.

Also Bedford wasn't a Serotta employee when this bike was most likely built. but he might be able to help.

[redir]

That's cool I have never seen anything like that.

[ultraman6970]

Maybe the original wheels were not even campagnolo :)

My best guess is that this thing never saw lenticular wheels. But if i had to pick a pair based in the year I would go with the blueish/greyish ones from mavic. Were quite common back in the day too.

Cant remember if they had front ones of those because back in the day you had wheels in 700c in the back , 26 or 24 in the front and this bike is both 700C...

Nice bike man, take care of it :)

[jmagruder10]

Updated pictures of the bike now with campy crankset and yellow San Marco Concor saddle. I think it looks much better now. Just need to find the right disc wheel or wheels.
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/jmagruder10/PB231533.jpg

[19wisconsin64]

wow, you bought it! truly a beautiful frame. the wheels look fine for it, as they are aero and light weight. you could get discs, but these look great!

looking forward to seeing more pictures when built up. what a frame! congrats

[ultraman6970]

museum piece.