The Velominatus’ machine is their own manifestation of personal taste and demonstration of adherence to The Rules. We each, in our own way, meticulously maintain our bicycles and adorn them with the essential, yet minimal, accoutrement. Yes, we must Obey the Rules pertaining to bar tape, tyre selection, saddle choice, stem height, color matching and so on. But within those parameters there lies flexibility and choice.
Furthermore, this site is a refuge we turn to for brotherhood, community, and belonging. However, cyberspace is a vacuum in that we apply and practice our craft apart from one another, spread to all corners of the globe. With this in mind, I offer an experiment, Il Gruppo Progetto, inspired by Brett’s Il Progetto: Bosomworth. The intent, dare I say charge, of Il Gruppo Progetto, is for our community of Velominati to come together in designing my new build project, a Serotta Colorado AL.
I picked up the Serotta frame and fork recently to further my adherence, em, obsession over Rule #12. Although not a top shelf Serotta (think of it as Maker’s Mark as opposed to The Glenlivet), it is a platform worthy of respect, care, and craftsmanship. As fall arrived I found my foul weather steed in need of replacement and the Serotta was the perfect combination of material, style, and economics. My mind was flooded with ideas of how I might build her up. Then I thought of all of you, your experience, ideas, and of course, passion.
So as fellow Velominati, I humbly ask of your counsel for this build. The basic platform is as follows:
As you can see from the list above this worthy steed is in need of much more. Bars, stem, bar tape, saddle, seat post, possibly a fork, tires, chain, headset, and cables. Please keep in mind the following:
So there you have it. My proposition is for us to come together in a modicum of further connection than what cyberspace allows. My hope is that the finished build will be a tangible symbol of our collective wisdom and a reminder to me of what we, the Velominati represent, as I ride this bike.
Thanks in advance for playing.
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View Comments
@George
I like it. Please do. I will need new pads for this build and the koolstops are bomber in the rain, eh?
@Marko
I use Koolstops for all my brake pads. They're much better than the standard Shimanos and still a half way reasonable price. I switched after the first century / 3 day stage race I ever did on a road bike. It was very Rule 9 with extra 5 & 10 for good measure - not that I knew anything about Rules then. Destroyed a set of shimano pads in one particularly wet day.
While not built of GLORIOUS STEEL, the polished fork/stays as well as the Ultegra components demand you use polished silver bar, stem and seat post as well. If the Bontrager wheels are black, they must not be used.
Don't take me seriously dude. In reality I truly think bagging on people's tastes in anything such as music, bikes, cars, etc. is pretty immature and just our way of making ourselves feel better about ourselves - I was a 40 year old with no car, living with me mum, and racing a BMX bike and still listening to Slayer so that demonstrates my maturity level. But I'm all about humor at the expense of others so there you go.
As far as Pearl Izumi goes - this is another example of my blind hypocracy - after purchasing a nice set of Assos bibs I have come to loathe PI yet I still run their gloves and tights so, once again, "you can pretty much ignore anything that I say."
@Rusty Tool Shed
Good suggestions on the polished bars and stem. The thought crossed my mind as well. However, there are no Rules stipulating that wheel material must match gruppo, stem, and bar material.
This stem actually piqued my attention:
and I was sort of thinking polished Chris King headset. But I could go yellow or black.
keep em coming
It appears to be a threaded fork so the use of that stem would require the use of an adaptor. Surely that would NOT be acceptable.
@Rusty Tool Shed
agreed. there is an issue there.
?????
Thumbs up!
@Rusty Tool Shed
silver enough?
Dammit, Marko... I was about to say Chris King headset... a) a Serotta frame deserves one, even if a distillery blend; b) they are bombproof and low maintenance... ideal for a winter bike and c) they come in cooool colours. Downside: the price.
My heart sank when I saw you are using Shimano on drive train... It's a winter bike... What do the Japanese know about Rule 9?... contrast that with the Glory (and Snow) of many a Giro...
I'm loving Rusty Tool Shed's use of both capitals and adjectives with 'GLORIOUS STEEL'