Ben Serotta new Ti bikes

[Jeff N.]

I somehow find this hard to believe, website notwithstanding. Not the least bit intrigued for some reason. BS is, if nothing else, a heckuva salesman, so we shall see. I'd want a WHOLE lot more in-depth information before I ever pulled the trigger on ANY Ti frameset from ANY manufacturer. I think we all agree on that.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by fiamme red

This is the former Serotta Forum, and you would expect that if there's any place with a large number of Serotta aficionados, it's here. Yet I can't remember ever seeing a Serotta Design Studio bike on Paceline in the past two years, except a Duetti that Clean39T was recently selling.

I sold it for scrap value just to get it out of my garage - I was kept relatively whole with insurance money though as it was a frame that was damaged in shipping, as fully noted in the listing. It was a fine frame and rode well, but odd in some ways - ETap only and external hydro routing - BB30 too...

Originally Posted by fiamme red

Here's a recent eBay listing for a Serotta Legend Ti with Campagnolo 11-speed Super Record that sold for $1,241.56. Why spend $7,900 to $11,500 for a new titanium Serotta when you can pick up a lightly used one so cheap?

Back in the 1990's, titanium was the hot new material, but by now its glamour has worn off.

The big difference with any used Serotta Legend Ti and what is on offer now is the design (geometry and tuning) and tire clearance. You may get lucky and find a used Legend that fits close-enough, but it is unlikely it will be tuned for your weight and highly unlikely that it will fit more than a 25mm tire with adequate clearance.

I wish them the best of luck. I find the website compelling and am sure more info will be coming out before too long...interviews, etc.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

well,

if i've been following recent Paceline threads and paying attention, i know that OLD road cyclists:

(a) have lots of nostalgia for the "old days" of Serotta prowess

(b) like performance e-bikes so they can keep up on their group rides without slowing the upper middle aged guys down too much

so let's hope Ben throws some motors in these new hot rods!!

U monster.

[PaMtbRider]

I have a friend who is working with Ben on this project. I will give him a call and try to get some inside info. I talked to him last year about this and he mentioned they were exploring options about who would make the frames for them. 22bicycles was mentioned as a possibility.

[alexchoi]

Bringing "Serotta" names back? IDK.

It is a great thing we could see brand new Serottas but.. they are not the same as the old one, y'all know that.

Ben should've remained at Serotta design studio.

It must be better than older Serottas or other Ti manufacturers these days.

[benb]

I have a $5k bike and yet these prices are still mega sticker shock for me.

Best of luck, he knows what he's doing with actually building the bikes but the business part is a mystery.

These of course have value over an old Ebay Serotta.. sorry a Used custom bike is never the same thing as one actually made for you.*, **

All that said is the "Serotta Design Studio him?"

I went to school in upstate NY and still visit 2X a year. I think next time I'm up there I need to visit the studio as I'm always looking for something to do to kill a little time.

If he hangs up his shingle in the capital district and you could go out and get personal attention/fitting then I would consider one of these frames if I was buying a Ti frame. (I think I'd be a cheapster and just buy a custom frameset and reuse components/wheels.)


* - Assuming the fit process works.
** - His process of outsourcing fit didn't work for me back in 2007

[Keith A]

Originally Posted by benb

...

All that said is the "Serotta Design Studio him?"

...

Yes it is. Check out the signature and the bottom of this page...
https://serotta.com/whats-new

[benb]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

The big difference with any used Serotta Legend Ti and what is on offer now is the design (geometry and tuning) and tire clearance. You may get lucky and find a used Legend that fits close-enough, but it is unlikely it will be tuned for your weight and highly unlikely that it will fit more than a 25mm tire with adequate clearance.

I wish them the best of luck. I find the website compelling and am sure more info will be coming out before too long...interviews, etc.

To this day some of the Ti frames still don't necessarily have the same features as a Legend Ti did.

Those frames had pretty much every box checked.. Triple-butted, machined on the outside as well, all tubes were set to length & stiffness for the specific rider, the chainstays were heavily manipulated, and they had multiple fork stiffness options.

None of it matters though if it wasn't made for you though I think. I wouldn't pay a lot for someone else's custom Ti bike they were moving.

Pretty much the only thing I think a modern Ti frame has that is a real improvement over the later Serotta Ti frames is the new tapered steerer Carbon forks. (IMO) And those are kind of ugly on Ti. They work better on CF frames.

[skouri1]

I've owned threw serottas. All were super well made and we'll balanced / behaved on the road (. A tdf lugged frameset from 87 . An HSG IT and currently a concours ti cx .) It's probably going to be a tough market out there but I wish him the best of luck .

[glepore]

Originally Posted by Hilltopperny

Tough to see how this will go. There has never been more options for high end titanium bikes IMO.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Don't tell Seven this. There is a market for custom ti, its small but lucrative.

[HenryA]

Originally Posted by benb

To this day some of the Ti frames still don't necessarily have the same features as a Legend Ti did.

Those frames had pretty much every box checked.. Triple-butted, machined on the outside as well, all tubes were set to length & stiffness for the specific rider, the chainstays were heavily manipulated, and they had multiple fork stiffness options.

None of it matters though if it wasn't made for you though I think. I wouldn't pay a lot for someone else's custom Ti bike they were moving.

Pretty much the only thing I think a modern Ti frame has that is a real improvement over the later Serotta Ti frames is the new tapered steerer Carbon forks. (IMO) And those are kind of ugly on Ti. They work better on CF frames.

This^^^^
If you had any inclination to buy a custom Ti bike this was it. Might still be if he keeps those features. The feeling I always had about them was that Serotta had pretty much done all they could to make the best Ti bike ever. There were bikes 95% as good but not really reaching for the stars. The Legend Ti was that.

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by Hilltopperny

Tough to see how this will go. There has never been more options for high end titanium bikes IMO.

It's not easy for a boutique brand to get traction, but the market can easily support a lot more. He doesn't need to pull customers from Mosaic and Firefly, he needs to pull from Trek and Specialized. Here in the Bay Area where plenty of people are riding around on $10k bikes, the mass market brands probably outnumber all the boutique brands combined by at least 20-to-1. If Mr. Serotta wants to sell 100 bikes a year, he's still just rounding error to the national market.

[SoCalSteve]

Resurrect the Ottrott with ST stays and disc brake compatible and I might just throw down for that...

[dsimon]

Im a Huge fan boy of serotta as well... but 10-12K builds are just not there for me and through all the good and bad history I feel that if Ben was actually making them himself I would be more inclined in trying to justify it to my self and my wife. I hope this adventure works for him

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.– Confucius quote"

[SoCalSteve]

Originally Posted by PaMtbRider

I have a friend who is working with Ben on this project. I will give him a call and try to get some inside info. I talked to him last year about this and he mentioned they were exploring options about who would make the frames for them. 22bicycles was mentioned as a possibility.

This actually makes sense. They already have a handful of the old Serotta employees and their tooling equipment. Probably can’t get much closer to the Serotta of old than with this combo.

I cannot imagine why No22 would want to be involved though. They are doing quite well on their own...