jamesdak 

A total impulse buy but it looks like it may have been a good one. I've been trying for years to get a decent one locally but kept missing out. Another one showed up a few weeks ago and while researching prices online I found the one I wound up buying. It's a 1996 CSI that was described as full Chorus setup but the FD is Record. I'm not knowledgeable on the various Campagnolo families to know for sure what all it has.

I just got it in and unpacked but on first look it appears to be in great shape. Very few chips or other marks in the paint. Components look pretty good too. It has all the appearances of a used but well loved bike. This one does have the optional carbon fork. I read an article about the development of the fork and I've got no concerns about it still be safe. It is a 56cm bike but it's also my tallest 56cm. I guess I've got yet another project to keep my busy this winter.

I'm so curious about how this will ride. Just putting it back together I noticed how each tube seems to be "customized", tapered, ovalized, etc.

Oh, and if it matters the bike weighs in right at 21 lbs as pictured below. They are just some quick crude cellphone pics for now.
















Going to give it a good going over tonight during the football game. Hubs and headset feel really good so I don't think it's been neglected at all.

jamesdak 

Well, after a good cleaning and wax I'm amazed by how nice the paint really is. Hardly any marks. The underside of the bottom bracket and the downtube are especially clean. Don't know if that means very little use or that these have a tough paint job. Mechanicals are next and deciding what to do about the mismatched rims.

The serial number tells me it was the 625th CSI made.

Scarbo

Nice bike. Congrats!

Kobe 

Beautiful bike! Serotta made a lot of nice bikes in the 80's and 90's. I wish they were still around.

DMC707

He is around, i follow him on Instagram (Ben Serotta) and he is making frames, albeit at a much lower production now-- i think its just him doing it as a retirement gig

Pricing naturally is up there, but its on par with Richard Sachs (or any number of belly button carbon framesets)

DMC707

Makes me thirsty for a Coors Light !

jamesdak 

LOL, that's certainly how it was being described on the bay but I don't know if it's right. The other Coors bikes I found were a different color scheme. I really wasn't even certain about if the price was good but now that it's in I'm certainly happy with it. In my book the condition, quality workamanship, etc make this one a good buy.

Now reality might be a different story, LOL!

DMC707

No -- your right , this is a pic from '91 from Davis Phinney's book, --- bike does not have any blue on it at all

The kit had a lot of blue in it though, so maybe that's what skewed my faded memory






single pivot brakes on this bike -- must be a pretty early shot, or perhaps that was a Phinney preference


I remember having to step in between long time Coors Light guy Roberto Gaggioli and an acquaintance of mine in , perhaps 97 or 98 at the Hotter n Hell Hundred -- Gaggioli was supposedly drafting him in the time trial and when confronted about it, Gaggioli punched him in the face and a scrum ensued

I can understand his frustration if at the tail end of his career, he was drafting Cat 2's who weren't full time cyclists ---
but I cant remember what team he was with then or if Coors Light was even a team in '97 --- brain fade from too many Coors Lights perhaps

CrankyFranky

Sweet! What does the tubing decal say?

jamesdak 

jamesdak 

Yeah the paint scheme you show is all I found too. I did just hit up the P.O. to see if he'd share any history.

You know the closest I ever get to any pro is when the Tour of Utah riders fly by my house each summer. They then proceed to fly up the same mountains that make my heart burst out of my chest....

jamesdak 

I got totally lucky with the fit on this. The straight seatpost combined with the frame geometry let me get my standard setback from the BB with no problem. And once I set it and checked the reach to the handlebars I found it spot on perfect! I don't normally get that lucky.

aeshultz

Nice - one of my Grail Bikes. Already thinking of what I would sell to make room for that one.

OTS 

.......that is so nice

Congrats on your purchase

Looks like it will be a fun ride

jamesdak 

Awesome, I could not find any pics like that with my search. Good to learn a little more about these, thanks!

exmechanic89

NIce bike fo sho.

DMC707

A - haaah ! And with Campagnolo componentry as well , just like JAmes'

jamesdak 

Well, I was going to service the hubs and such on the Serotta tonight. But my son is coming over and we're going to fit him to the small Schwinn Circuit I found for him. I'm super excited and I hope he takes to road biking. It'd be nice to ride with him sometimes.

This will be his first real bike.

JoeBass

Nice CSi! The tube sets on these bikes are really interesting. I don't think of mine as vintage as I purchased it new and it seems like just yesterday!

jamesdak 

^ That's a beauty!

dunrobin

Nice serotta. Hope your son enjoys cycling...My oldest hopefully will start with his this year...in the meantime we putter around on our mountain bikes.

CrankyFranky

I hope that your son gets bitten by the road bug. It's great that you are his LBS!

It is a pity that the company's financial takeover killed a great American company for a few hundred thousand $$$ instead of doing a caring restructuring. It must have been a great shock for the skilled workforce, and it seems to have come as a surprise to Ben Serotta too, from what I have read. I guess it could be argued that Ben and company didn't have their eyes focused on the bottom line, should not have relied so heavily on bespoke production, and should have better protected themselves from vulture capitalists. I'm also saddened that the serial number database in the later years wasn't preserved. Ben is too busy and forward-looking to do anything about that, and maybe doesn't even own the company records.

Serotta produced truly innovative and beautiful steel, titanium, and ti/carbon machines, all with an exquisite understanding of geometry. I'm lucky to own a Legend Ti, and its tubeset has amazing tapers and great road feel. While I don't get the point of the Ti/carbon frames they built toward the end, I think that anyone should be happy to have a steel or titanium Serotta - they are awesome and classic.

jamesdak 

Well, just an update on this one. I picked up some used Campagnolo Scirocco's recently and decided to use them on this. I had an original Campagnolo conversion kit that allowed me to use and old 9 speed cassette, swap the rings, drop the largest cog, and then mount it to the modern wheelset. This dropped the bike from where it was at 21 lbs 7 ozs, to 20 lbs, 12 ozs. Then I swapped out the too narrow Flite Titanium saddle for a Fabric Scoop as well as swapped on a C.F. seatpost I had lying around unused. This gained me a another 2 ozs is weight lose, WOW!! LOL!!!!

jamesdak 

Yeah, he just recently told me he prefers mountain biking as he brought the Circuit back to me. I'll pass it on to someone locally so it get's used.

jetboy 

ouch. at least he rides- i cant get my daughter on a bike at all.