Finally got the new bike a few weeks ago and it is incredible (I wish my backyard looked as good). Bought it at FitWerx in Vermont. Kind of old skool kind of new school. The frame is a Serotta Coure D’Acier in gorgeous arancio (Molteni orange if you know what I’m talking about).
It has an all carbon fork, carbon seat stays and carbon cranks. Chorus build, except for the Record cranks (which are old school square taper 2006 model, picked up for a cool $250!!). Went for the Fizik Alliante Carbon saddle. Definitely worth it when your are putting together a dream bike.
Wheels are black Mavic Open Pro, 28 spokes (DT Revolution) laced to Record hubs. This $450 wheelset weighs in a bit less than Ksyrium SLs at half the price. Other old school touch is the Chris King Threadless headset (no integrated garbage here). I could have bought a factory Cervelo Soloist Carbon for what this bike costs, but you don’t get craftsmanship like this from an import.
Look at the flawless welds. There are also beautiful touches like a CNC machined titanium seatpost binder.
I was lucky enough to get a tour of the Serotta factory this spring and looking at their facility convinced me this was the bike for me. It is also really cool to have a unique bike, not another Kuota, Scott or Cervelo carbon with Zipp wheels. Frankly this gets a little boring and I wanted a bike with some personality.
So how is the ride. Well, kind of like sex on wheels. The bike feels like an extension of my body. When sprinting out of the saddle I honestly feel like I am running because the fit is so natural. It was interesting to me that my ideal road setup was 74.5 degrees, almost in tribike territory.
6’ 2.5" with a 35 inch inseam. My stock road bike is a 61 cm. This is a custom. Ian at Fitwerx said I had the longest or second longest femur that he had ever measured. The bike may look taller than it actually is because the top tube slopes at a small angle (5 degrees) per my request (mostly for looks, although it probably shaves a little weight).
I’m surprised by that too. I actually almost bought a Serotta Fierte (stock version of this custom) but got a Sycip instead because of the sloping top tube on the Serotta. Well and the carbon rear stay, I wanted all steel frame. Pretty sweet ride, I like the orange.
That’s really nice. Cannibal Orange is always a good color for a bike. I had a steel Serotta in the mid 90s. Great bike. Out of curiosity, why did you opt for the carbon stays?
Nice choice on handlebars. Non-anatomic bars always mae the front end look good.
Sweet. This is very close to what I want to do for my next road bike, although I am about a year away from having the cash. I can’t say enough good things about Fitwerx and I’ll be going there too (although probably to their new MA location.) I had Ian set up my Serotta steel tri bike and I can ride that thing all day long with zero comfort issues.
Very nice. I rode steel for years, loved the ride. This year I went custom and went with Ti, which I like as much. My choice of build was very simiar to yours with a 5 degree TT drop. Like you, i also have a large HT, because of my height, but that is why we bought custom.
Your bike is a perfect example of form follows function . Clean and un-cluttered.
Love the color and the drop. Make sure you bring that to Placid. Maybe you can rip a new one on Whiteface : )
PS- I can only imagine what your bike would look like with a set of Campy Boras. A good friend of mine has a set…if you bring it up, maybe I can talk him into slapping them on yours for a looksee.
gorgeous bike, but you made one mistake. before you ride any distance on that thing, rip out the campy BB and put in a Phil Wood (choice of axle material is yours to make). Your bike is crying silently for this treatment, you just can’t hear it. melt down the campy in a firepit to avoid anyone else having to suffer through it.
any reason for the ritchey stem versus a thompson (or even the new cinelli x2) ?
Out of curiosity, why did you opt for the carbon stays?
Carbon stays were no extra cost. I already have an all steel bike, so I figured why not. Also I thought the blacks stays, post and fork made a nice contrast of colors with the Cannibal orange. Also kind of liked the idea of something old (steel) and something new (carbon). I know some people will call it a frankenbike, but I think Serotta knows what they are doing.
