# Identifying an older Serotta



## TexasJenny (Jul 23, 2014)

I need help identifying this older Serotta. I bought it from a triathlete who thinks it's from 94'-96'ish. I tried emailing Serotta, and they didn't really have anything for me. Any ideas? The Serotta forums seem to be down.

Thanks!


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## BLUE BOY (May 19, 2005)

"Colorado 2", or the "Atlanta" model are my guess on this.


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## aptivaboy (Nov 21, 2009)

I'm thinking some form of Nova or perhaps a Serotta/Phinney. The latter came in SLX/SP/SPX in larger sizes. The Colorado didn't use SLX/SP, but rather a custom tubeset. The serial number may help narrow things down. 

The old Serotta forums were reborn as the Paceline Forum. The web addy is here (The Paceline Forum - Powered by vBulletin) in case no one here can supply a definitive answer. There are still a lot of Serotta-philes on that board, and they have a catalog section where you may be able to find your bike.

Hope this helps,

Bob

EDIT: the 1989 Serotta catalog lists a Nova Special X from 1989 in Royal Candy Blue. That might be your bike, although the catalog lists it as SLX/SPX in larger sizes, not SLX/SP. It could also be a custom job.


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## TexasJenny (Jul 23, 2014)

Thanks for your help! I did some digging, and I did find the serial # - its 71245. This is a smaller bike ( I am 5'5), and it still has all the original DA components. Does that get us anywhere?

I've requested to join Paceline, the admin hasn't authorized me yet.

Jen


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## aptivaboy (Nov 21, 2009)

It might be older than the 1990s. It might be mid to late 1980s frame. This thread might help: Serial Numbers Decoded - Page 4 - The Paceline Forum , as might this: Brazen Cycleworks . There are some related posts on that Brazen Cycleworks blog that you may wish to read through. 

Basically, Serotta used a number of different serial number forms over the years. Your serial may indicate, and I stress the word, “may,” that it was built in 1987. The “7” in “71245” could be a shorthand for the year of manufacture. The numbers after that indicate the number in the production sequence. So, you may have the 1245th frame built in 1987. I don’t know if any of the numbers in there indicate the month of construction, but the “12” makes me possibly think December. That might mean that you have the 45th frame made in December, 1987. 

I’ll defer to Serotta experts for anything more definitive than that. I could be incorrect on that analysis but I think its at least very roughly correct. Your frame does seem to predate the later Serotta serial numbering system listed in the first link to the Paceline thread where the model number became part of the serial. That really makes me think pre-1990 and probably some form of Nova or Club. The type of fork crown and the rear spacing may also point to a possible date of manufacture. 

Hope this helps,

Bob


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## BLUE BOY (May 19, 2005)

The curvature in the chain stays puts it in the 90's I believe.


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## aptivaboy (Nov 21, 2009)

BLUE BOY said:


> The curvature in the chain stays puts it in the 90's I believe.


No necessarily. The curved stay supposedly appeared on a number of 7-11 frames. It also shows up in the 1989 catalog, so it was around at least by then, and it appears to be in the 1986 catalog, but the frames are shown in profile so its hard to see for sure. However, my Mark I memory tells me it was around in the mid to late-1980s. I was at a Davis Phinney bike event my senior year in college. That would make it 1988-89. He was promoting his Phinney-model Serottas in LA. He specifically spoke about the curved stay and was quite clear about preferring Serottas to the Eddys the team was reequipping with. He mentioned it as one of the little tweaks and details that made him prefer Serottas. I think they showed up in the late Huffy-Serottas as photos of some of the earlier ones don't appear to show it. That would make it around 1986-88, if I'm correct. I may not be, but I think I am. 

There is also this, from the following thread: Murray Serotta Question... - The Paceline Forum
_
Originally Posted by Smiley
OK , I'll recount the story told by Ben only if you prodded him to do so. It goes like this , he did it for Davis as his heel nicked the chain stay on one side , left probably and Davis reported back to Ben that he felt that the bike got stiffer when he sprinted , so Ben bent the drive side too and then Davis started to have good results and then all his teammates started to ask for their stays to be bent too. Thats how S bends came about purely by chance and not by design. Its a good story and its true and I believe the time frame was during the teams training for the Olympics so that would put the time line around 1986 ._

That would jibe with my recollections from the Phinney show. I've run across other interweb references, but unfortunately no photos, to very late 7-11 Murray Serottas having the curved chainstay, like the quote above. Given the very early date, I don't necessarily believe that 100% without photos. If they did, I suspect it was a last gasp thing with just the last few frames having it.

Bob 
.
PS. Some kid pf perhaps 12 won the free bike raffle giveaway and got a free Phinney. This poor, starving college student/racer really needed a new bike, too. The old Allez SE just wasn't cutting it after several years on the Crash 4 circuit. That kid probably outgrew the frame after just a year or two! Talk about lucky...


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## aptivaboy (Nov 21, 2009)

I was checking the old catalogs again. The 1989 catalog states, "The Colorado bent chainstays were first developed by Ben Serotta for the 1984 Olympics." 

So, the bent stay could have shown up anytime after that. 1987 wouldn't be impossible for a Serotta production bike to have the bent stay. Does anyone have a 1987 Serotta catalog?

Bob


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