Weigle, Wojcik, IF, Serotta, Fat City: End of an Era?

[carlucci1106]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

Agreed. No. 22's new touches with their 3D printed drop-outs that actually look amazing.. and their new stem. ..they are pushing an envelope.

Not to direct too much, but this is really where I was hoping this thread would meander, topic-wise.

I know the OP is multi-faceted, and quite the breadth of places this can go, but more on the idea of what "change with the times" might mean in the context of the newer crop of builders in the New Eng/Upstate scene.

I understand brands age, and after a certain span of time, it isn't 'exciting' like it used to be. Not that the bikes aren't nice-- I think we can all agree if a Seven showed up at our door w/o paying for it, we'd be extremely elated.

Are there some parallels between the brands I'm mentioning? What are the new builders doing that might make you choose them over one of these classic marques?

Have y'all ridden so many examples of these that it's just time to try something new? No wrong answers.

[happycampyer]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

Agreed. No. 22's new touches with their 3D printed drop-outs that actually look amazing.. and their new stem. ..they are pushing an envelope.

To say Serotta is dead is a bit off the mark. Sure, Ben has been unsuccessful multiple times trying to resurrect his brand, but No. 22 is very much the evolution of Serotta’s innovation (leaving Dave Kirk, Dave Wages and others aside since they just make (really, really nice) “dad bikes”). The team in Saratoga have taken what they learned at Serotta and are taking it to a new level. Not unlike what Tyler, Kevin, et al. did with Firefly.

Originally Posted by rallizes

not sure what the issue is

he goes on to say they are bikes his friends' dads lusted over

it's his experience

anyway, realistically are young people interested in RS bikes these days?

surely no

Hey, we weren’t that old when we put our deposits down! Here’s my “dad bike”:

Originally Posted by Clean39T

Yes..

But we'd need Richie to weigh in on the distribution of birthdates among new deposit-holders.

When I look at who is posting across the hall with new RS bikes - and/or on IG, it is a decidedly younger crowd.

Not that it matters.

The beauty of bikes is as long as you are breathing and upright, you can ride them.

If only life were like this…

https://youtu.be/vTSmbMm7MDg

Oh, wait…

Originally Posted by e-RICHIE

I’m in your head, aren’t I?

You regularly comment on threads regarding my label, especially in the classifieds. Until now, I’ve sat on my hands.

Here’s my offer -

I’ll happily reply to any questions you may have about my work or who buys it via email.

therichardsachs@gmail.com

[KonaSS]

Deleted cause.....it wasn't constructive. It was for my own amusement.

[carlucci1106]

Originally Posted by happycampyer

To say Serotta is dead is a bit off the mark. Sure, Ben has been unsuccessful multiple times trying to resurrect his brand, but No. 22 is very much the evolution of Serotta’s innovation (leaving Dave Kirk, Dave Wages and others aside since they just make (really, really nice) “dad bikes”)...snip

If only life were like this…

https://youtu.be/vTSmbMm7MDg

Oh, wait…

I hope you didn't read my OP to say this. What did I say, "slightly below the horizon?" Everyone who was at Serotta does impeccable work, who've spun off into their own brands. If anything, they took what was best about Serotta, and jettisoned the rest. "The rest" is unfortunately a lot of business decisions constituted over several decades, that leads to where the new bikes carrying 'Serotta' on the downtube carries with it- all that- for good or for bad.

That's the best allusion to Allen I've seen in a long time. Brilliant reference. One of my all-time fave movies.

[happycampyer]

Originally Posted by carlucci1106

I hope you didn't read my OP to say this. What did I say, "slightly below the horizon?" Everyone who was at Serotta does impeccable work, who've spun off into their own brands. If anything, they took what was best about Serotta, and jettisoned the rest. "The rest" is unfortunately a lot of business decisions constituted over several decades, that leads to where the new bikes carrying 'Serotta' on the downtube carries with it- all that- for good or for bad.

That's the best allusion to Allen I've seen in a long time. Brilliant reference. One of my all-time fave movies.

To me, “end of an era” smacks of dead, and they’re not dead yet. At some point Peter Weigle will retire if he hasn’t already, but Brian Chapman (and Jan Heine/René Hearse) has clearly picked up the torch (no pun intended). And Serotta and IF live on, if only through their progeny.

The 23mm-tired race bike era may have ended, but that has ended for pretty much everybody, not just builders in the northeast. The spirit of those companies lives on, and many of them are at the forefront of design and innovation.

[Philster]

When you look at the way the West dominates the rest of the cycling industry, I'd actually say that the Northeast continues to be well represented in the handmade segment. Next time I read "US type gravel" when the writer means western US gravel, I'm going to throw something.

Not that volume is everything, but I wonder how the combined volume of the former builders compares to those who remain.

[NHAero]

Originally Posted by happycampyer

To me, “end of an era” smacks of dead, and they’re not dead yet. At some point Peter Weigle will retire if he hasn’t already, but Brian Chapman (and Jan Heine/René Hearse) has clearly picked up the torch (no pun intended). And Serotta and IF live on, if only through their progeny.

The 23mm-tired race bike era may have ended, but that has ended for pretty much everybody, not just builders in the northeast. The spirit of those companies lives on, and many of them are at the forefront of design and innovation.

Agree.

I like the image of Peter Weigle passing the baton to Brian Chapman. In the Buddhist tradition there are lineage masters. There are some parallels in custom bike design and construction. When I look at my Nagasawa I recall that he went to Italy to work under Pogliaghi and DeRosa for several years before returning to Japan. And we know some of the early revivalists of the art in the US went to England to do the same.
The goal of the master is that the student surpasses the master.

[Mr B]

Anyone ordered one of these yet?

https://serotta.com/bicycles/scappero

[Hilltopperny]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Anyone ordered one of these yet?

https://serotta.com/bicycles/scappero

I was able to see one in person. It may have even been that exact bike as the fella heading the business operations came out for one of the gravel rides I hosted for the MHCC crew this Spring. It was a very nice looking boke!

Sent from my SM-S127DL using Tapatalk

[happycampyer]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Anyone ordered one of these yet?

https://serotta.com/bicycles/scappero

If I didn’t already have this:



I might consider one of those. Is that seat tube swaged? It reminds me of early Serottas that had baseball-bat shaped swaging because they were still refining their processes. In later years the swaging was perfectly gradual.

[54ny77]

long live the 23! i just put on a new set of brown-walled conti 5000's in a 23 on a certain ottrott...

(beautiful tire by the way.)

Originally Posted by happycampyer

To me, “end of an era” smacks of dead, and they’re not dead yet. At some point Peter Weigle will retire if he hasn’t already, but Brian Chapman (and Jan Heine/René Hearse) has clearly picked up the torch (no pun intended). And Serotta and IF live on, if only through their progeny.

The 23mm-tired race bike era may have ended, but that has ended for pretty much everybody, not just builders in the northeast. The spirit of those companies lives on, and many of them are at the forefront of design and innovation.

[carlucci1106]

Originally Posted by 54ny77

long live the 23! i just put on a new set of brown-walled conti 5000's in a 23 on a certain ottrott...

(beautiful tire by the way.)

You can't improve on perfection, can you?

I have 25mm 5000s on my CSI in black sidewalls. Pretty nice tire.

[carlucci1106]

Who is this "same New England team?"

Is another factory building the re-introduced Ready Custom Serottas? https://serotta.com/ready-custom

[Sihardy]

Originally Posted by e-RICHIE

I’m in your head, aren’t I?

You regularly comment on threads regarding my label, especially in the classifieds. Until now, I’ve sat on my hands.

Here’s my offer -

I’ll happily reply to any questions you may have about my work or who buys it via email.

therichardsachs@gmail.com

Seems he’s in your head, mate, sitting there on your hands, glowering in the background. Why another of these uncomfortable posts, I wonder.

[JLQ]

We've created a monster....