# Aluminum Serottas?



## torquer (Oct 25, 2002)

There's a "special 25th anniversary" Colorado AL frame on e-bay that would fit me and suit my need for a second bike.
But the listing says these frames were made in Colorado. WTF?
The seller's other items are a real mixed bag of electronic, auto & household stuff, so I'm hoping this is just a non-bike specialist using poetic license in the description; on the other hand, the fork on the offered frame is a Kinesis, which I vaguely recall were made in (or at least marketed out of) Colorado.
So did Serotta "outsource" production in 1997, or were these frames made in upstate NY like all the others?


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## DaveT (Feb 12, 2004)

torquer said:


> There's a "special 25th anniversary" Colorado AL frame on e-bay that would fit me and suit my need for a second bike.
> But the listing says these frames were made in Colorado. WTF?
> The seller's other items are a real mixed bag of electronic, auto & household stuff, so I'm hoping this is just a non-bike specialist using poetic license in the description; on the other hand, the fork on the offered frame is a Kinesis, which I vaguely recall were made in (or at least marketed out of) Colorado.
> So did Serotta "outsource" production in 1997, or were these frames made in upstate NY like all the others?


Post your question on the Serotta forum: http://www.serotta.com/forum/


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## cyclust (Sep 8, 2004)

Yes, these aluminum Serottas were outsourced to Kenesis, and weren't near the quality of Serotta built Serottas. I sold one of these frames on ebay a while back for around $350 to some guy who thought he'd make a killing on it. He quickly re-listed it for $699, and slowly dropped to the price to it's current $379, where it has been for a few months. There simply isn't much interest in these bikes.


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## alancross (May 13, 2009)

*That bike*

Hey guys. I bought that bike the other day. Need a rain bike build and that fit the bill perfectly. I had the gruppo and wheels laying around (ultegra 6600 and bonti race lites), throwing a cinelli bar and stem, IRD techno glide headset, wippermann connex chain. Pretty stoked for it as a rain/beater. The frame is in mint condition.


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## alancross (May 13, 2009)

and if anyone is paying attention, here's the virtually finished rebuild, just needs chain.


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## sam in va (Jul 26, 2008)

Ben's brother in law was manager or owner or something of Kinesis. That's why Ben felt they could build them there to near Serotta standards.They were nice bikes, and had all of the Colorado details that everyone has since copied. Serotta touted the tubeset as the most expensive Al tubeset made. I had one a few years ago - it was reasonably light for its day, handled very well, but was, IMO, a little on the harsh side.


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## jlwdm (Nov 7, 2009)

You ended up with a good looking bike. Congratulations.

Jeff


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## alancross (May 13, 2009)

sam in va said:


> Ben's brother in law was manager or owner or something of Kinesis. That's why Ben felt they could build them there to near Serotta standards.They were nice bikes, and had all of the Colorado details that everyone has since copied. Serotta touted the tubeset as the most expensive Al tubeset made. I had one a few years ago - it was reasonably light for its day, handled very well, but was, IMO, a little on the harsh side.


That's interesting info Sam. Thanks for the post. The Colorado AL's are really hard to find info about, probably because of the reasons you and cyclust underline. I agree, it does handle quite well. It's solid, stable, and pretty smooth. Great knock around/rain/late fall/early spring bike, bombproof. I've ridden other ALU bikes that were harsher. I think the combo of the tapered down and seat tubes along with 28's soften it up a bit. The kinesis fork is the weak spot. The damn thing weighs close to four pounds itself and is a noodle. I may have to slam a steel or carbon fork on there at some point. Fun bike though and I'm happy with how the build turned out. All the best.


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## sam in va (Jul 26, 2008)

Mine had already been changed to a Al steerer threadless carbon by the time I received it. The "little harsh" diagnosis was probably a little unfair, as I happily road it as a rain/travel/night ride bike for years. I replaced it when I got a good deal on a Lemond Aeroaluminum frameset that was (in a head to head test) noticeably smoother and lighter, so I sold the Serotta. I paid a price for that compliance and light weight few moths later when a crack developed at the chainstay bridge joint (under my 170 lbs). I have definitely ridden harsher Al frames - try a 1st generation M2 - ouch. The Colo Al wasn't as smooth as my Colo II - duh.

I have an old Serotta catalog around somewhere that describes your bike. Send me a private message w/your email address and I'll dig it up and send you scans of the applicable pages.


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