Serotta Duetti Pro’s Closest

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by weisan

20231223_064049 by Wei San Hui, on Flickr

I encountered the same issue. And Track pal is right. Loosen the bolt, check the alignment.

I thread the TA in while I tighten to ensure proper alignment. After that, the axle goes in smooth as butta!

Thanks!!

[Hilltopperny]

Mine fits a true 32mm tire. The tightest spot in mine is the seat tube, but it still has around 3-4mm of clearance.

These bikes ride at least as good as any high end boutique aluminum bike I have owned. Maybe better! Smooth, efficient and balanced with plenty of clearance for a road bike! I ride mine in the dirt/gravel roads here and it handles everything I can throw at it! It doesn't get skittish or nervous at all!

With Enve bars and 2.3s, Force AXS 1x and Red 22 crank with Wolftooth 44t ring the bike is the lightest I own.

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

[DeBike]

Sold out

[ridethecliche]

Originally Posted by DeBike

Sold out

[TrackSmart]

Originally Posted by Hilltopperny

Mine fits a true 32mm tire. The tightest spot in mine is the seat tube, but it still has around 3-4mm of clearance.

These bikes ride at least as good as any high end boutique aluminum bike I have owned. Maybe better! Smooth, efficient and balanced with plenty of clearance for a road bike! I ride mine in the dirt/gravel roads here and it handles everything I can throw at it! It doesn't get skittish or nervous at all!

With Enve bars and 2.3s, Force AXS 1x and Red 22 crank with Wolftooth 44t ring the bike is the lightest I own.

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

Thanks for the additional tire clearance info! I have an ML (52.5cm translated size), so same size as your built-up bike. So the seat tube will likely also be the limiting factor for back tire clearance on mine. I'm glad it rides nicely!

[Hilltopperny]

Yup, I have had mine out more than my Waterford since putting it together. The low cost for a higher end build makes it a great all season bike and a great all around road bike that rides really nicely. It even handles dirt and gravel roads quite well.

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

[iamconfused]

Ok i guess its my turn now

Just picked this up last night from a Serotta employee(it was his personal frame). Looks to be in pretty much new condition... i love the look of the carbon FSA headset...

[TrackSmart]

Just finished building up my size ML (~52cm) frameset, minus the carbon wheelset that I'll be building in the next few weeks. Even with the somewhat-heavy alloy wheelset I borrowed from my commuter bike, it rides really smoothly. Handling is spot-on, too. I had no expectations about ride quality going into this, but I'm pleased to say that Ben Serotta knows a thing or two about making a great-riding frame, regardless of the material. It feels and rides like a high-end bike. I suppose that is appropriate, given he was selling complete builds starting around the $5k price point and going up from there.

This build: Ultegra R8000 mechanical (not Di2) with matching disc brakes, FSA SL-K Light carbon crankset (super light weight), and some gently used carbon handlebars and seatpost that I scrounged from Ebay. I already had the saddle. It is sitting at 16.95 lbs right now (without pedals and bottle cages), but it should drop to around 16.4 lbs with the carbon wheelset and 28mm GP 5000 S TR tubeless tires.

For $350 (frameset), less-than $800 in parts total, plus the existing wheelset it's a really nice bike. Consider this an $1100 + bring-your-own-wheelset build. Personally, I like mechanical shifting and the last (final?) generation of Ultegra mechanical works beautifully.

The final build will be a pound heavier than my CAAD10 with rim brakes, Ultegra mechanical, and Campy alloy wheelset, but such is the weight gain of disc brakes combined with aero wheels and wide tubeless tires!

Some minor notes for the conversion of the frame to mechanical shifting:
- I added a clamp-on cable stop under the front deraileur.
- I also epoxied a couple of cable guides under the drive-side chainstay as a neater-looking way to hold the rear derailleur cable in place.
- Since I'm running full housing, those guides don't need to be particularly strong. They are just a lot more factory-fresh looking than something like zip ties or the like!

My thanks to others for sharing their earlier builds!

[weisan]

track pal, very excellent build and ride impressions, thank you.

how about some closeups of your modifications to enable mechanicals?

[TrackSmart]

Hi Weisan, I think this album provides the full play-by-play and overall details.

ALBUM LINK: https://photos.app.goo.gl/SZrtY1TwAG6phaDZ6

These modifications are extremely minor:
- An unobtrusive clamp-on cable guide for the front derailleur (12g weight, Origin8, single guide, 34.9 mm diameter). It's invisible from the drive side and hardly noticeable even on the non-drive side.
- Two cable guides epoxied (JB Weld in this case) onto the underside of the drive-side chain stay for the rear derailleur cable. This is not a force-bearing part, so you don't need to go crazy here. I glued them directly to the paint/clearcoat. I took a file to the underside of the guides so they would better fit the rounded tubes. They are aluminum, so they file really easily. Only 3g for both guides combined weight.
- I used the existing brake cable guides under the downtube for all three cables (zip tie them all together - rear brake, front derailleur, rear derailleur). I added a bit of electrical tape to keep it extra tidy (all wrapped together). This is probably the ugliest part of the build, but not terribly obtrusive from most angles. It's fine by me.

[nmrt]

Thats great your were able to do this.
Couple the low, low price of the frame with the $680 Ultegra 8020 disc groupset from Merlin and you have a superb, rock-solid build for an jaw-dropping price. Doesn't hurt that the Duetti rides as nice as well.

Enjoy!

Originally Posted by TrackSmart

Hi Weisan, I think this album provides the full play-by-play and overall details.

ALBUM LINK: https://photos.app.goo.gl/SZrtY1TwAG6phaDZ6

These modifications are extremely minor:
- An unobtrusive clamp-on cable guide for the front derailleur (12g weight, Origin8, single guide, 34.9 mm diameter). It's invisible from the drive side and hardly noticeable even on the non-drive side.
- Two cable guides epoxied (JB Weld in this case) onto the underside of the drive-side chain stay for the rear derailleur cable. This is not a force-bearing part, so you don't need to go crazy here. I glued them directly to the paint/clearcoat. I took a file to the underside of the guides so they would better fit the rounded tubes. They are aluminum, so they file really easily. Only 3g for both guides combined weight.
- I used the existing brake cable guides under the downtube for all three cables (zip tie them all together - rear brake, front derailleur, rear derailleur). I added a bit of electrical tape to keep it extra tidy (all wrapped together). This is probably the ugliest part of the build, but not terribly obtrusive from most angles. It's fine by me.

[robt57]

Wonder how many got 'distributed' @ sale price. That is a great start to coin saving gravel build for sure.

[TrackSmart]

Originally Posted by robt57

Wonder how many got 'distributed' @ sale price. That is a great start to coin saving gravel build for sure.

I agree about the great price! I'm less in agreement about this being an ideal gravel build.

Sure, you can venture onto dirt roads with 28mm tires. Or use 32 mm tires if you are okay with minimal mud clearance. But that's not ideal for a true gravel bike.

I think this bike is most at home in these settings:
- Fast-moving group rides, but not actual racing (i.e., with minimal spacers and a low stem position)
- All-day cruising on pavement and chipseal (due to the somewhat generous stack height for each size, combined with the bike's comfortable ride and ability to take 28-32mm tires).
- Country roads that include a combination of pavement, chip seal, and short sections of smooth dirt roads (not trails).

For mostly-dirt rides, I would choose a different bike. When I hear "gravel bike" I think of a bike with a longer wheelbase, slacker front end, slower steering for stability on bumpy descents, and ability to take at least 40mm tires for occasional forays onto forest trails.

This bike rides like a road bike. It's not race-bike sharp/twitchy (like my CAAD10), but it definitely has road bike handling, not gravel bike handling. It's sporty, but not overly so. None of these qualities are negatives for this kind of bike. They are all positives qualities for the kind of bike it is (i.e., a nice road bike for non-racers and not a gravel bike).

[TrackSmart]

Originally Posted by iamconfused

Ok i guess its my turn now

Just picked this up last night from a Serotta employee(it was his personal frame). Looks to be in pretty much new condition... i love the look of the carbon FSA headset...

Enjoy! It's always fun to have a new bike project. Mine was gently used and looked basically new. And for $350 delivered (no sales tax) it was hard to pass up. I was looking for something to build with disc brakes and wider tubeless tires, so the timing was fortuitous. Classic looks, but modern features (i.e. disc brakes and 32mm tire clearance).