Ben Serotta - The Godfather of US Custom
By his late 20's Ben Serotta was making bicycles in Saratoga Springs for the US Olympic team. By his early thirties he was contracted to design and build for the nascent 7-Eleven squad. The first American to win a stage of le Tour de France was Davis Phinney. The first North American to get the yellow jersey was Alex Stieda. Both rode specially created Serotta bicycles - Phil tells the full story in a Substack - The Wrong American
"I didn't plan on being a bicycle designer, I just couldn't stop being one"
The Professional's Ride of Choice
Through the 1980's and 1990's Serotta custom designed bicycles were the choice of discerning professional and amateur riders the world over. The reason was simple. Ben was known for two qualities - he was both a perfectionist builder but also a restless designer. He didn't only want to design the bicycles, he wanted to design the materials and tubes that they were made from. Serotta bicycles looked and rode differently to everything else in the professional peloton and won the biggest races in the world (until the UCI banned custom-bicycles in 2000)
Frank and Ben
The great Andy Keech
"A perfectly round tube is simply performance left on the drawing-board"
John Tomai
Paint by Jordan Low
And Then There Were Four Serotta 2025
Serotta now makes one or two bikes a week. Ben works with some of his favourite craftspeople, who he has worked with over the decades. Including the 'one-in-a-thousand' talent of Andy Keech - Serotta's lead-welder from the days when Serotta was the biggest custom bike-builder in the world.
Serotta. Never Just round.
Ben's tubing philosophy is 50 years in the making
It's The Tubing Dammit!
Twenty tears ago I was walking with Ben Serotta by a canal in Leicestershire, and we chatted about tubing technology and how Serotta differed from Moots, Seven, Merlin etc. Ben pointed at a pine tall tree by the canal swaying in the brisk breeze -
"See how the trunk of the tree tapers as the tree gets taller? And how the bend of the trunk is not uniform? If the trunk was round and uniform the tree would snap. We have to learn from nature - the changing shape of the trunk increases the performance of the tree"
Serotta tubing has always been more designed-in than any other custom brand in the world. It is Ben's signature difference. Serotta tubing design and profiles have always been painstakingly different and years in the crafting. Serotta tubing has always been phenomenally expensive to develop and produce. But explains why Serotta bicycles have a unique riding experience.
