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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@roadslave
I hear ya on the Shimano too roadslave but it's what I got. Again though, the shit is bomber IMHO. And I aint buying a new gruppo for this bike.
It does deserve a King, put it on, looks good, works extremely well, forget about it.
Cool project! I'm currently collecting parts for a Colorado II build myself. 3ttt did make a quill version of the Mutant stem, but it's rare to find one these days. Their Mutant handlebar has a nice shape, too, with indentations for your thumbs. Also, IMHO a IRD Techno-Glide sealed cartridge headset is a much better value than a Chris King.
@James
I'll look into the IRD, thanks for the suggestion as I'm not familiar.
Hmmm, look sweet. What color?
@George
There's your mistake; you're not supposed to use your brakes.
Tires-- you might be able to find a good deal on last year's Vittoria Open Paves (the 290 tpi version). Bombproof yet with a beautiful ride. Just ordered a pair for my rain bike. I have to think the green version is an acceptable deviation from Rule 8 as they are iconic symbols of Rules 5 and 9.
@George
Agreed on the Kool Stops. The salmon pads are amazing in the rain.
@Rusty Tool Shed
Ha, funny you mention this; I recently started riding my other bikes again and not riding just the R3 since the weather is starting to turn. It's made me realize that the position on those bikes isn't quite right and I needed more setback on the saddle. As a tester before investing in a new post, I chucked my old Ritchey post from my Bridgestone MB-0 on there and I have to say, I am DIGGIN' on the alu look.
Nice frame to start with. Yeah, hopefully you'll just use a quill stem. I think they are perfect for a bad weather bike.
What type of shoes are you planning on using with those pedals? Road? Mtn?
I actually just demoted my first true road bike to my bad weather bike. It never really fit me that well, but I have too many miles on it to ditch it. It's an Al Cannondale circa 1998. It's in fine working condition and I'm excited to finally have a bike I don't mind getting wet and grimy. I'd do it to my other bikes, but then would spend an hour or two cleaning them after every ride. That gets old.
Just put some fenders on mine and installed tail light mounts. Bring the winter weather on!
@Cyclops
Nicely put. I too enjoy a little humour at someone else's expense. Especially at Heuvos' and Bertie's expense.
While I'm with you on not purposely buying Bontrager, Trek, or Pearl products, I certainly can't argue with Marko's experience. A rain bike is all about the reliability and bomber-ness of the components. I believe he's even ridden those wheels on his 'cross bike, so I am firmly in his camp to suggest he keep 'em.
frank...I'm sure we've gone over this, but how darn tall are you? Your post on the Bianchi might be longer than my ST.
Cycling is the first sport I've ever participated in where I'm quite happy to not be that big and don't find myself wishing I was taller. Yeehaw, I love watching the Clydes carry around all that mass!
@Marko
No anodized parts, even from King. I'd say silver. Not a huge fan of the mutant stem; although for silver your options might be limited. You could also rock out the ITM Big One in yellow. Channel a little Pantani while you're at it.