Serotta Duetti A9

[ltwtsculler91]

So has anyone else here picked one up at this point?
Have seen one in person, and with Ben's latest sale it was an easy yes as I had parts (mostly) ready to build something.
I've never actually owned a "Serotta" but have been around them for a while, and with a soft spot for aluminum and a collection of ex-Serotta folks bikes (2 No22s, a Bedford, (soon) a Kirk), I figured it was time.

It's going to get a Force/Rival AXS mix, the HED Ardennes off of my Hampsten, and a Deda Zero100 cockpit whenever I get around to building it. I have everything except for shifters, a cassette, rotors, and a BB so not sure when that will be yet as I need to bring wheels up from Tennessee on our next roadtrip.

So for now here's a teaser


Got this put together finally, took my time, and ended up moving the Zipp cockpit off of my Bedford rather than Deda kit. Ride report below..



New shoes for Nashville. Not a fan of the HEDs, they just feed dead compared to good carbon or my usual Mavics


So this bike can't seem to keep its wheels! Getting some noise from the ceramic CK hubs on the Enves, and then my father in law gave me these MCFK25s to Carbon-Ti hubs after he went wider on his Crumpton. These SUPER light wheels do play quite nicely with the Duetti and give it a really nice feel, kind of what I expected from the HEDs.

[Clean39T]

I had one briefly that got mangled in shipping to me and was passed on to another gent.. I thought the build on them looked great and the use of external routing was a good user-friendly choice. The geometry is definitely solid and the only thing I thought was curious was the fender mount situation - given its alloy and disc and very suitable for winter training use. Overall, great pickup I'd say and well worth the investment in the build.

[AngryScientist]

A new Serotta!

It has been a long time since we have seen one of those on the forum!

Was this one built for you, or is it a stock size that they had ready to go?

I do see Serotta has put out a bunch of emails lately.

Anyway congrats, looks like a lovely, lively machine. Cant wait to see the full build and ride impressions.

[AngryScientist]

By the way, do we know who built it? As far as I know Serotta is a brand name only currently, they dont actually build anything in house any longer?

[PaMtbRider]

I know of at least two of these being ridden in the Albany area. The owners had positive feedback on the ride of the bike. Going from memory, Ben and company offered these a few years ago as a stock geometry bike. A recent email was offering these at a tempting price. Again if my memory serves me correctly they were around $700 for frame and fork. A pretty good deal in my book.

[ltwtsculler91]

Clean, you're spot on and the geo was super close to my custom No22 and Bedford so I pulled the trigger. I'm thinking of it as my winter/miles bike for Nashville once I get it together, since it's been pretty damp down there and was going to use the SKS Raceblades that I have for the wet, but the frame does have threaded fender mounts on the chain stay and seat stay bridges, and fork crown which has me interested in other options...

This is a made in Taiwan aluminum stock sized frame that Ben put out as "Serotta Design Studios" and was a blowout deal as they had leftovers after changing branding. From what I understand in chatting with them (and looking at them) the tubes are drawn to Ben's spec and definitely have a Serotta look to them. I have heard that the Ti bikes are Andy Keech welded (former head Serotta welder) who also did the KBedford TIG bikes before.

I've been wanting an aluminum bike again (and been looking at these since riding Ben's aModoMio back in 2017) but wouldn't drop $2000+ on a new custom frame so when the Serotta blowout sale email came out it was easy to pull the trigger at $725. He's doing new completes with Force AXS for $4500 with the same frame and different paint, which seem reasonable even in today's crazy world

[Kirk007]

That looks good and I like the paint and at that price, wow.

[ntn007us]

Originally Posted by ltwtsculler91

Clean, you're spot on and the geo was super close to my custom No22 and Bedford so I pulled the trigger. I'm thinking of it as my winter/miles bike for Nashville once I get it together, since it's been pretty damp down there and was going to use the SKS Raceblades that I have for the wet, but the frame does have threaded fender mounts on the chain stay and seat stay bridges, and fork crown which has me interested in other options...

This is a made in Taiwan aluminum stock sized frame that Ben put out as "Serotta Design Studios" and was a blowout deal as they had leftovers after changing branding. From what I understand in chatting with them (and looking at them) the tubes are drawn to Ben's spec and definitely have a Serotta look to them. I have heard that the Ti bikes are Andy Keech welded (former head Serotta welder) who also did the KBedford TIG bikes before.

I've been wanting an aluminum bike again (and been looking at these since riding Ben's aModoMio back in 2017) but wouldn't drop $2000+ on a new custom frame so when the Serotta blowout sale email came out it was easy to pull the trigger at $725. He's doing new completes with Force AXS for $4500 with the same frame and different paint, which seem reasonable even in today's crazy world

When you get the bike built up, I would love to see photos and your perspective on the ride qualities; e.g. too stiff, comfort, responsiveness, etc. Congrats.

[ltwtsculler91]

Finally built this up, we'll see how it rides tomorrow hopefully. The Rival hoods are definitely different from my Red stuff. A bunch more upsweep to them, and not as flat off the bars.

[ltwtsculler91]

Got out for a nice 30miles this morning, after the smoke seems to have cleared here in Connecticut and the NYC area.
First impression is that this bike is as advertised, it has a really nice, refined and planted feel almost like a better version of my old Emonda ALR. It definitely translates pedaling to forward motion really well, but doesn't have that hard edge that CAAD's or Allez's seem to have over bumps. It's like a budget version of my old No22 Great Divide, which just cruised over everything with the right amount of road feel as a 9/10ths race bike.

Likes: Ben Serotta really knows how to place the wheels and build a great handling bike (it helps when his "54" is pretty much spot on to my customs), really great going forward seated under power, external hoses+etap means it's perfect for travel

Sill confused, but like: HED Ardennes wheels - I'm thinking some of the lack of jump/snap is me being used to carbon and Mavic Ksyriums that are much stiffer wheels. The HEDs really hold speed nicely, but don't JUMP like an aluminum spoked Ksyrium

Dislikes: I always forget that my mechanic is a bit off to the left with the bars, and the included QR style through axles mean the wheel is never exactly the same when you take it off so the brakes rub

Overall, I like this thing especially for the price. For ~$4000 this thing crushes the mid level Trek/Spec/Cannondale that you'd get, and the geometry is spot on for how most folks ride. Not as tall and slow as an endurance bike, but not slammed like everyone seems to push now.

[cs124]

Really nice bike.
Your setup looks spot on👌🏼.
I was tempted to snap one up too, but wanted something with a little more tyre clearance.

[Zackus]

what's the tire clearance on this bike? I assume 30/32? these frames have been further reduced to just $575. I almost can't afford not to get one at this point.

Seems like a crazy deal.

[PaMtbRider]

Originally Posted by Zackus

what's the tire clearance on this bike? I assume 30/32? these frames have been further reduced to just $575. I almost can't afford not to get one at this point.

Seems like a crazy deal.

Where are you seeing them for that price? Pros Closet still has them at $849

[Zackus]

Originally Posted by PaMtbRider

Where are you seeing them for that price? Pros Closet still has them at $849

I misquoted, $595, not $575.

purchase direct here: https://shopserotta.com/pages/closeout-2

just noticed there are a few used demo sizes for even cheaper.

[ltwtsculler91]

Originally Posted by Zackus

what's the tire clearance on this bike? I assume 30/32? these frames have been further reduced to just $575. I almost can't afford not to get one at this point.

Seems like a crazy deal.

I would say it is! Makes me want another, but that would turn into a project that I don't need right now...

Tire clearance is probably 30mm exactly measured, definitely can't take the 32's that my Hampsten does and is really going to limit you to 28 labeled tires on newish rims.