1999 Serotta Rapid Tour

I wanted to capture some of the information on the Internet written about my bike, a custom 1999 Serotta Rapid Tour (SRT).  I have about 10,000 miles on this bike.  This year alone I have 2,500 miles on it.  I have 1,000 miles so fare in April on this bike.  I have can only remember one major tune up done on this bike.

Here is an interesting discussion that I found about my bike on the Pace Line Forum.  Here is a quote about the bike that I own and love

"Rapid Tour was Serotta's version of a bike that would fit reasonably sized tires with fenders, and could carry light luggage for credit card touring. In a word, "sensible" and not just a fair weather toy for let's play racer. There's nothing "low end" about that." ~ palincss 05-01-2010 03:33 PM

I think that I have upgraded my components from what was on the stock SRT.  My SRT has Shimano Ultegra derailleur and the stock SRT has a Shimano 105 derailleur.  Here a photo of a stock SRT.

SRT Reviews and Links

• Reviews from Serotta Sport.
• Bottom Line: If you are the average "boomer" who can afford to drop big bucks on a bike this is the best bike you can buy. The steel feel and slightly relaxed geometry takes some of the pressure off the lower back and knees. It handles superbly has a more forgiving feel than titanium or aluminum or carbon fiber. It's the cycling equavalent to a golfer's high tech fairway wood. Most of the high end bikes are "one irons" great for the pros and and ultrafit 20yr old cyclists lousy choice for boomers. This will do light touring great also. Value rating is too subjective.
• I commute 30 mi/day rain or shine, go on fast weekend rides, and occasionally go touring overnight(15 times/yr?). This bike is easily suited for all these. I am truly amazed at how easily this bike climbs. I ordered mine w/ wider gearing (XTR 11-34t), Chris King hubs & headset, V-brakes, and thinner tires (Conti GP3000 23mm instead of the 28mm). Hence the $3200 tag. I love this bike. Solid on down hills (my eyes water over 40 mph otherwise safe), stable around curves even when fully loaded with 30lbs of gear, fast, effecient, climbs very well, tough enough to withstand daily commute abuse of pot holes, rr tracks, etc. Sweet ride indeed.
• Velocipede Salon
• Re: Can we talk about Serotta, please? Serotta builds some damned fine bikes. They have at times suffered from allowing others to fit them and spec them. Virtually all of the odd looking Serottas have been designed by and built for dealers who ordered them badly. This was a poor model for Serotta and has all but been eliminated. As to the price, No one can build the kind of rider specific details that Serotta can into a frame, particularly carbon. Serotta has the ability to build each tube to a nearly infinite range of specs. As such, if they are fitted by a master, no one can more precisely engineer a bike to meet the needs of a cyclist. Is this needed? Many would say "no" But I happen to know that some of the builders here spec every tube individually to meet the needs of their clients. Imagine what they could do if they could spec the exact details of the tube''s dampening, rigidity, etc. There are no other custom builders to the best of my knowledge who own the carbon factory or for that matter can swage tubes in titanium of any spec. I own two of them. A Legend and a Mevieci. Each of them was fit for me by a master. The are very different bikes built for very different purposes. Each suits the purpose magnificently. To buy a used custom Serotta is allot like buying a used custom suit. It may be a good suit, but all of the value of having it built for you is lost. Serotta has been through soem hard times in the past two years. They had a dip in demand right after investing heavily in infrastructure. The AE project was expensive and did not sell as well as hoped. Then when they were reeling from that, the demand went up and they fell behind. This is challenging for any company to recover from. Ben and his crew are doing a great job digging out from way behind. Their office staff is very lean but they are coming back. If you have never ridden one built for you and engineered by a master fitter, than you have never had the serotta experience. Many don't want this experience. This is good. More for me. Share ExecutiveDirector@Ultracycling.com The UMCA

Bottom line is that I have a great bike that fits me.  If I buy another bike it very well may be a custom carbon fiber bike from Serotta.