I need some opinions, please. About one year ago, I ordered a custom Serotta titanium road bike. I was fitted by my local authorized bike shop by a certified Serotta fitter. During the last year I have never felt comfortable on the bike and have brought it back for numerous “adjustments:” seat height, saddle exchanges, stem changes etc. All this to no avail. At the end of 2008, I went to bring back my custom Serotta again to be refit only to discover that my local Serotta dealer had gone out of business and the doors were padlocked. I brought the bike to another shop that told me that my fit was COMPLETELY WRONG. They tweaked the bike as best they good, and it feels better than it ever did before, but it still does not feel right (and the fit still is not nearly as good as my fit on my stock Litespeed). The second shop tooks videos of me riding the Serotta, and the fit clearly looks wrong. They contacted Serotta on my behalf, and Serotta told them that when they received the measurements for my bike initially, Serotta’s response to the bike shop that sold me the Serotta was “are you f***ing kidding?” The bike shop told Serotta to go ahead and build the bike as they specified. Now I am stuck with a $4600 custom frame that is useless to me. The second bike shop has been in constant contact with Serotta for the past month, and I have emailed Serotta close to a dozen times about this, but Serotta still has not offered to do anything to fix this problem. And, because the shop from which I purchased the bike is out of business, I can’t go back to them for any recourse. So, I’m wondering if anybody has had any luck in getting a custom frame rebuilt in a situation like this, and if so, I would appreciate any tips you may have for how I can get Serotta to offer me some type of solution to this problem.
here*. None of this is to say that the user does not have a valid point, simply that his posting pattern is a relevant consideration. One hopes for a good outcome for all sides.]*
i appreciate you posting about this experience, a lot of people wont do that. it illustrates that the standard ST response of “get a professional fit” is not “The Answer”
because there is no way to be sure that you are getting someone who has a clue doing it. I think it is best to learn how to fit yourself as much as possible, and learn on cheaper bikes before stepping up to fancy ones. Then once you have an idea of what you want, you can turn to a pro fitter and evaluate their comments intelligently.
Maybe? I’m 6’ 1’’ Anyway I completely agree with you and appreciate your feedback.
And in response to the request for photos of me riding the bike, all I have at the moment is a video that is at the bike shop. I’ll try to get a copy to put on youtube and I’ll post the link.
I would let them know, politely, that the shop was certified by them and in being so was a representative of Serotta. And in being so, you expect a fair resolution. What is fair? I don’t know. Perhaps they take your existing bike and replace it for a new one at half the price.
What model/size stock litespeed? And do you have the measurements of the Serotta? TT/angles, head tube, setback, etc… I’m curious as to how far off the fitter was from a bike that you fell OK on.
As harsh as it sounds, Serotta really has no obligation here at all. Sorry to hear that you had a very expensive bad experience with a shop. Your best bet is to sell it to someone cheap who fits the bike better.
I would let them know, politely, that the shop was certified by them and in being so was a representative of Serotta. And in being so, you expect a fair resolution. What is fair? I don’t know. Perhaps they take your existing bike and replace it for a new one at half the price.
Agreed, when i got my Waterford, I worked with the shop and got the measuring done. I also called Waterford and discussed what we came up with to make sure that all three of us were in agreement. If Serotta thought the numbers were “off”, they should have taken the initiative to discuss it with you before building and not just taken the shops word for it.
. If Serotta thought the numbers were “off”, they should have taken the initiative to discuss it with you before building and not just taken the shops word for it.
Why would they ask a consumers opinion on bike fit?
As harsh as it sounds, Serotta really has no obligation here at all. Sorry to hear that you had a very expensive bad experience with a shop. Your best bet is to sell it to someone cheap who fits the bike better.
I really disagree with this. The dealer was the authorized Serotta representative. It is Serotta’s choice to go through authorized dealers, not deal with customer’s directly. If they did deal with customer’s directly, this screw-up never would have happened.
Considering the $4600 price tag, a plane ticket to a small claims court date sounds like a good investment.
File a law suit. It will cost you up front but it is your best way to get them to fix the problem. If you really want to get their attention, try to make it a class action.
I don’t get something. If the Litespeed works, why were you going custom? What did the shop explain to you about their sizing decision and strategy? What were you trying to accomplish with the custom fit?
Why would they ask a consumers opinion on bike fit?
because they were skeptical of the original numbers.
i’m not saying that they necessarily should have done so, but in this case it would have saved serotta a lot of hassle.
As harsh as it sounds, Serotta really has no obligation here at all. Sorry to hear that you had a very expensive bad experience with a shop. Your best bet is to sell it to someone cheap who fits the bike better.
H, I’m surprised you wrote this. I know you’ve worked in the industry a lot (and I haven’t at all), but it seems questionable - and horrible pr and marketing - for the company that certified the fitter to just turn around and say, ‘not our problem.’
Wow, thanks for posting this. I had just looked at the Serotta web site last night thinking about the CXII Ti Tri Bike.
I do have set of fit measurements from a reputable fitter and now my current bike works well after we made necessary adjustments.
The fitter I used is certified by Serotta but if they do not stand behind their fitters makes me a little dubious about buying a custom bike from Serotta
I really disagree with this. The dealer was the authorized Serotta representative. It is Serotta’s choice to go through authorized dealers, not deal with customer’s directly. If they did deal with customer’s directly, this screw-up never would have happened.
I don’t know enough about how exactly Serotta does it but here is how it was done at Litespeed and that might make a difference.
When a customer wants a custom bike he discusses that with an authorized Litespeed dealer (that only means that they are authorized to sell the goods and does not specifically say they are fit trained) and it often depends completely on the customer how they come to the design/fit idea. The customer may know exactly what he/she wants; the customer may have an existing bike that they like and they want the dealer to use those numbers/angles; the customer may be uncomfortable on a current bike an is looking to a shop for guidance; etc.
When the customer and the dealer have worked out what they want/need and agreed on the numbers, they send those to Litespeed. (That could actually be a nice fit drawing, a hand doodle or just numbers) Once Brad DeVaney and the custom department recives that information they communicate with the customer/or dealer to make sure that there are no further questions, or point out concerns such as toe overlap or similar if that comes up. The custom department then draws up a small technical drawing of the bike desired (8.5 x 11) and sends it back to the shop. The shop/customer then have to look at it and sign off on it, or raise questions if they come up. The full size drawing and custom build gets started only after the customer/dealer signs off on it.