Club Special

[thendenjeck]

Anyone know much about Serotta Club Specials? I'm having a bit of a time finding info.

geo? tubing? intended use?


thx.

[parris]

I own one that was built in 84 and here's what I remember about them in general. The tubing was slx or spx depending on the size, the geometry was straight Serotta for the time frame, The lugs had a bit of sculpting done to them over and above the Nova Special. The model was Serottas top of the line frame until the Colorado came out. I have a catalog from the mid 80's and I'll look for it if you would like some specific geometry info. Mine is a 55. The top tube is 54 and the angles are 73/73 parallel. I don't remember the chain stay length or the bb drop.

They were built as all around road racing bikes. I hope this helps.

Parris

[thendenjeck]

it does, thanks

[thendenjeck]

so I guess my next question woul be: how do you like it?

[parris]

It's was my main road bike during the mid/late 80s when I raced. When I got married I pretty much hung up the bikes due to life and such but in the last couple of years I've climbed back on the horse. With the Serotta I've just started to ride it again which feels really good. Here's what I can tell you as someone who's been away for a long time but is now back.

The handling is quick without being sketchy at all. It's stiff without beating me up. One of the things that I remember about it compared to some of the other road bikes I owned at the time is that it seemed to not fight what I wanted to do. Some of the other bikes I had were a bit smoother on rough roads but the flip side was an overall dead feeling. The Serotta seemed to "tighten up" and get better the harder it was pushed and I was never worried when riding it at speed which is something that I've had with only One other bike.

Keep in mind that I'm only now getting back on this bike after an extended layoff so consider the source. I can tell you that I'm surprised that after all the time that's passed that the bike still brings a smile when I'm on it despite the extended layoff.

A couple of years after I picked up the bike Serotta started to offer many of the bikes in 2 flavors where the top tube was 1cm longer for each size. eg. if I picked up my 55 a couple of years after I had it would've had an option of a 55 cm top tube in addition to the 54cm top tube with no other changes.

Visually it's more refined than the Nova Special. It has a different lug set, fork crown, cable routing, bridges, and seat stay caps.

Parris

[thwart]

Owned one for a couple of years, sold it earlier this year primarily because it was 1-2 cm too small.

Great steel bike. Lively feel. Wonderful cornering.