What Pro Teams Ride Serottas?

[Hawker]

Just wondering which pro teams (continental or euro) are or were riding Serottas in the last couple of years? I presume they all would have been carbon?

[rounder]

I think there have been no serotta sponsored teams during the past few years. Serotta has sponsord pro teams in the past. I was at a bikeshop show a few months ago featuring Ben Serotta and his bikes. Someone asked Ben whether he planned to sponsor any pro teams in the future and he said he would love to watch a TDF and see a team riding his bikes, but it would cost several $million to do it which would be budget prohibitive. He also said that after racing, some of the star riders rode his bikes (their choice). I thought that said a lot.

[Pete Serotta]

It has become so so expensive for a small business to sponsor teams. There are a few tri riders, juniors, and regional riders that receive some type of support but the cost involved in an entire team is HUGE. One of the latest efforts is that the West Point Cycling team is on Serotta bikes.

Carmichael Training uses SEROTTAs for their personal use, training sessions and camps. Some of the ads for Nissan that you see Chris Carmichael in - he is on a SEROTTA.


Additionally Serotta is at the demo events such as Ride the Rockies with daily demo bikes.

[Hawker]

Thanks for the info Pete.

[happycampyer]

I know that it's going back more than just a couple of years, but what years did Serotta supply bikes to the Sierra Nevada teams (Sierra Nevada-Clif Bar; Sierra Nevada-Kodak)? Was it 2003 - 2005?

[torquer]

Can't help you with the chronology, Happy, but there's a Sierra Nevada team CDA over in classifieds right now. Good thing for me there's no more room in the barn, cause that bike is just my size. Team raced mostly on TI frames, as I recall, but CDAs saw some action too.

Another team that rode Serottas was USPS Masters. Not exactly "pro", but more horsepower than most squads (especially those loaded up with skinny climber-types).

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . and I believe they also supplied some bikes to the USPS Masters team several years ago.

Back in 1999 at the big League of American Bicycists rally that was held in Saratoga, Ben was an evening speaker. At that time he said while they had never sponsored a team in Europe, there were several vendors there who had ordered frames with specific custom geometry and who had specified no paint, decals, or other markings. Ben said that based on that and on the locations of the vendors, they were assuming they were for racing pros who would then have them painted in whatever team/maker colors matched their team.

As Pete says, really big $$ involved in truly sponsoring a team, not to mention the number of bikes that would have to be pulled out of the production stream to supply the team.

BBD

[Pete Serotta]

There were some riders in the last few years who had a Serotta with other markings in Europe. In fact one in the past few years was in the TDF. This is not unusual for certain events for certain riders and certain makes. Serotta and other medium size builders have a following in certain stages.

QUOTE=BumbleBeeDave]. . . and I believe they also supplied some bikes to the USPS Masters team several years ago.

Back in 1999 at the big League of American Bicycists rally that was held in Saratoga, Ben was an evening speaker. At that time he said while they had never sponsored a team in Europe, there were several vendors there who had ordered frames with specific custom geometry and who had specified no paint, decals, or other markings. Ben said that based on that and on the locations of the vendors, they were assuming they were for racing pros who would then have them painted in whatever team/maker colors matched their team.

As Pete says, really big $$ involved in truly sponsoring a team, not to mention the number of bikes that would have to be pulled out of the production stream to supply the team.

BBD[/QUOTE]

[benb]

I remember definitely seeing the Sierra-Nevada/Kodak guys on Serottas in 2005.. anyone remember if/when they stopped riding Serottas?

[torquer]

Again I can't name the year, but as to why, the team merged with another pro outfit (Kodak?) and continued the other team's bike sponsorship.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . was riding a Serotta when he won the Olympic road race in '96. Not sure where I heard that, though, or if he normally raced a re-badged Serotta.

BBD

[Elefantino]

Here is Richard's Atlanta bike.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3203/2752903971_4b07da3c5d.jpg?v=0

[pdmtong]

I remember definitely seeing the Sierra-Nevada/Kodak guys on Serottas in 2005.. anyone remember if/when they stopped riding Serottas?

2005 was the last year on serotta (ottrott's)
KGSN went to mercxk for 2006 and kuota for 2007

[John H.]

It might be a cost thing- big investment and low ROI.
I suspect that it is more that a custom bike company is not a good match for a modern pro team.
A 15 rider US DIII team needs at least 50 frames to do it right. 15 training, 15 racing, 15 tt, and at least 5 spares. A bigger/stronger team needs more than that.
Bikes are a commodity to a pro team, and custom fit bikes are harder to replace in the event of a crash/broken frame.
A pro teams priorities are:
Lots of frames
Stiff
Light
Distinctive/lots of room for big logos
Easily replaceable/fit easy to replicate
Ride quality is distant
Straight probably fits in there somewhere, but not at the very top- at least rides straight
Custom fit and overall quality of workmanship is way down the list

[Ti Designs]

Just wondering which pro teams (continental or euro) are or were riding Serottas in the last couple of years?


Why?

[Hawker]

Why?


I was in a bike shop last week and saw a former Sierra Nevada/Kodak bike being worked on. It was gorgeous. Anyway we got to talking about why didn't see more Serottas and how many teams have "officially" used them in the past.

Just wondering.

Steve

[EDS]

It might be a cost thing- big investment and low ROI.
I suspect that it is more that a custom bike company is not a good match for a modern pro team.
A 15 rider US DIII team needs at least 50 frames to do it right. 15 training, 15 racing, 15 tt, and at least 5 spares. A bigger/stronger team needs more than that.
Bikes are a commodity to a pro team, and custom fit bikes are harder to replace in the event of a crash/broken frame.
A pro teams priorities are:
Lots of frames
Stiff
Light
Distinctive/lots of room for big logos
Easily replaceable/fit easy to replicate
Ride quality is distant
Straight probably fits in there somewhere, but not at the very top- at least rides straight
Custom fit and overall quality of workmanship is way down the list

PResumably if Serotta were to sponsor a team the riders would get non-custom frames. The non-custom HSG in the would be the obvious choice from the current line-up, similar to Parlee putting the Fly V guys on the non-custom Z4s.