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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I like the black Antares. Esp if you embroider it, would be very late 90's PRO.
I'm all for white saddles on a race day rig, but seeing a dingy white saddle de-sheened and grit ground in from many miles of training isn't so impressione.
Nitto stem?
http://www.hubjub.co.uk/nitto/npearlzm.htm
Apologise if not supposed to post links. Don't know how to up load the pictures.
@Marko
Those are bling-tastic! And sealed bearings, a must have for the rain bike.
heehehee, you are wise. Stick with the same saddle, I'd vote black to keep it simple.
You never mentioned mud guards(FFS!) If you need 'em, these are wicked nice. Aluminum too.
Looks like I need to register
@Jaja
Jaja, the nitto crossed my mind, briefly. They are widely available and compatible with much, but, it screams hipster fixie doosh to me. The cinelli, OTOH, bellows out a classic soprano aria. Thanks for the post though.
@Gianni
them are sexy mudguards.
@Marko
I shall have to avert my eyes from my stem on the way home tonight, now I know it is screaming hipster fixie doosh to all and sundry! Although I live in Kent and we don't really do hipster fixies down here, so I might get away with it.
Have you gone for those handlebars?
@Jaja
Doh, sorry Jaja, no offense. I will say this for Nitto, they seemed to have picked up the quill stem torch left extinguished long ago by the likes of cinelli, 3ttt, and others. There certainly is still a need and I understand they're nice stems.
Yes, I ended up with cinelli campione del mundo bars. nice match to the stem methinks. i went narrower as well (42) as I usually ride a 44 but in keeping with the period I thought narrower bars would be a subtle nod.
Agree with Gianni on the saddle - whilst it may go against all things velominati, function beats form when it comes to a saddle. Saw a good bumper sticker on another cycling site the other day - "if no one an see you riding a fixie, is it still cool?".
@Marcus
It's like the old joke about scooters and fat women. They're both fun to ride until your buddies find out.
@Musket
You mad fucking genius. The Regal saddle. I am 100% with you on this one, Marko's boys can learn to play in another playground. Good enough for LeMond and Boonen, good enough for me.
@Marcus
*gasp* There are other cycling sites?