Benjamin's Serrota CSI

Serotta Bicycles always intrigued us whenever they come through the doors. The American company was founded back in 1972 back by Ben Serotta and has been building frames for several of the pro teams in the States back then such as Coors and 7 Eleven. 

This CSI was finished off in an amazing green and Benjamin found this in such a good state. We caught up with Benjamin to understand better on how did he procure an old Serotta and what were his considerations.

CPS : Hello Ben! Thank you for accepting our interview. What made you decide to go for an old production frameset instead of a new modern bike?

Benjamin : Aesthetics and curiosity. Skinny steel tubing and the romantic idea of riding what would have been the top of the range steel bike in 1997. This is actually my second 'old' frame from Serotta. The first is a very rare year 2000 Serotta Hors Categorie titanium frame with funky suspension seatstays. I love that bike and it is still my go-to bike these days.

Image Credits : Benjamin

CPS : The 2000 Serotta Hors Categorie is awesome! Can we ask why Serotta Bicycles specifically?

Benjamin : I first started looking into the legacy of Serotta Bicycles when I was ordering and building my No22 Great Divide titanium frameset with Cycle Project Store back in 2020. Serottas were known for their exceptional handling and ride quality. They were in fact the inventors of the Size Cycle, which was one of the earliest form of accurate bike fitting and is still used by Speedvagen/Vanilla Cycles for their bike fitting.

Benjamin : I would classify Serotta as one of the earliest custom framebuilders and their bikes were very very expensive. When Serotta folded, many of their top frame builders went on to start their own custom bike brands. No22 was started from what was left of Serotta. A few key people from Serotta including their head welder Frank Cenchitz, along with critical factory machinery formed the basis of No22. Inspired by the craftsmanship and ride quality of the Great Divide, I started researching about Serotta to find that elusive ride quality that they are known for.

CPS : Tell us what is so special about this CSI?

Benjamin : Firstly, the amount of work and craftmanship that went into every CSI frame. The CSI was Serotta’s flagship steel race bike and was raced by the 7-11 Team in the Tour. Serotta was known for their heavily-manipulated custom tubesets. The CSI was designed at the peak of steel frame building, with a tubeset that was butted, bent (S-bend seatstays) and swaged for stiffness and weight reduction, contributing to that elusive ride quality. Subsequent titanium frames like the Serotta Legend were crafted using the ride quality of the CSI as the benchmark.

Benjamin : Secondly, the size: 48. This is the smallest size Serotta makes with 700C wheels. And because it has a very tight headtube/top tube/down tube interface, that junction is fillet brazed without lugs which was usually an upcharge due to the work involved in dressing up the joints after brazing. The other parts of the frame are lugged, making this particular frame an outlier.

CPS : The lugged BB is beautiful. How long did you actually took to hunt for this frame?

Benjamin : About 2 years. These Serottas are not mass produced bikes and were usually custom geometry for Americans who have different builds from Asians. Finding a size 48 is like finding a needle in a haystack. Serotta’s size 48 is the equivalent of a modern size 50/52.

CPS : That is quite a duration! What considerations did you have while hunting for the Serotta?

Benjamin : The most important factor was that the frame needed to have the right fork with the correct rake for it to ride like a Serotta. The Reynolds fork that came with it unfortunately has a cracked steerer tube so it was an opportunity to get a brand new old school Wound Up fork with the correct rake and length to ensure that the bike would have the same handling characteristics as designed by Serotta when it left the factory in 1997. The unique aesthetic of the filament wound Wound Up fork influenced the component selection and contributed to the 1 year spent on sourcing for parts.

CPS : The Wound Up fork looks amazing. Were there any reasons on the components selection for the CSI?

Benjamin : It started with the Wound Up fork. In order for the aluminum crown of the fork to look like it belonged on this frame from the factory, I tried to source for a Wound Up seat post which was very rare. Even if I had found one, the clamps would not be able to interface with a typical 7x9mm carbon railed saddle – a key part of this neo-retro build. Hitting this road block, I then contacted English Cycles in the UK and worked with him to custom build a seat post with a polished stainless steel topper bonded to a filament wound carbon tube to match the look of the Wound Up fork. This seat post ended up costing more than the frame but it was an exercise in going full custom. I modelled the seat post using 3D software and Rob English built it exactly to my specifications. This was the highlight of this build.

Benjamin: All other components were chosen with the goal of saving weight while having a modern racing look. The idea to put Meilensteins on this frame was an exercise to really go all out to bring the weight down and I thought the pairing was suitable since Meilensteins gained traction after Jan Ullrich won the tour using them in 1997. This build weighs in at 7.5kg.

CPS : How has the ride experience been?

Benjamin : The old school geometry with the super low front end (stack) is not the most comfortable to be honest. The ‘steel’ ride quality of the CSI is not that much different from the titanium ride quality of No22 Great Divide. It is compliant and responsive. The thing that stands out is the handling on this bike. The front end tracks super well and is not as twitchy was the No22 Great Divide. My two Serottas have very good handling and is quite forgiving in terms of steering input. They tend to ‘right’ themselves. The CSI is responsive in terms of power transfer but you tend to feel the weight of the frame compared to a modern Titanium build like the No22.

CPS : Was it worth building back an old bike as compared to a modern bike?

Benjamin : After completing 2 neo-retro builds with 2 old Serottas, I can say that these old frames are gems in hiding if you know what you’re looking for. They can give you the same, if not better ride quality than what is offered in the market now, at the fraction of the cost. Of course they cannot compete in terms of aerodynamics and speed, but they bring light to a romantic era when cyclists raced with frame pumps and tubular tyres and were self-sufficient in races. I think slapping on some hyper modern components on these old frames bring out the best in them. If you think about it, these old frames have never been paired with super light components before and no one knows their potential until you build them up.

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