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Originally Posted by benb
On top of all this I'd imagine the Serotta customers are an aging demographic group. High end prices get justified by racing success for most people.. most of us in our mid 30s are too young to remember when Serotta mattered in racing, but we probably rode with some older guys who mentioned Serotta. Guys in their 20s who are just starting out as serious adult cyclists & racers were not born and they're not going to hear it from those of us in our 30s who ride with them. All they are likely to see is older/slower riders that they go zipping by.. Most people want to emulate fast guys.. if they don't see any fast guys on Serottas they are not going to see the value of the brand. They are young and don't need funky geometries to account for lacking flexibility or odd dimensions as even asian carbon frames are now available in a much wider range of sizes & geometries then they were a few years ago. For these people there is an "emporers new clothes" thing going on. They don't care about US manufacturing because they grew up used to using things being built all over the world, and they're not going to believe there is something magic in a Serotta that justifies a $2000-4000 price increase over a frame/fork combo from other brands. For me I can still afford a Serotta, but my ownership experience didn't show me anything that justified the higher price. The bike really didn't have any magic performance that made it better then anything else out there and if I was the kind of person who cared about the name on the downtube it wouldn't have mattered as in 4 years the Serotta name never really impressed anyone who saw my bike.
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I've been harping on this point off and on for years. When I was racing, Serotta was a big name in my area. All the successful guys where rocking them so I eventually went that route as well. I did well on mine to. When guys are winning on them, even on the local level, they get noticed and the up and coming racers want them. The image gets ingrained. This is why even today I have a soft spot for Serotta. I don't own any now and as much as I would like, in my current stage of family life I can't justify spending that kind of $$ on a new one. Yes, there is nothing magic about them. There are a lot of nice alternatives that will get you from point A to point B just as fast and just as comfortably (assuming proper fit). But, you just aren't part of the legacy and name....the price of that has gone up considerably in recent years....priced it out of the reach of the younger crowd (=up and coming consumer base).
Bring back the cheaper race iron for the young racers. Bulk Collegiate and club deals like the past to rebuild the name with the younger crowd. I came in on the tail of that and it worked on me.
William