I'm browsing ebay when I run across this kinda cool looking Aluminum SerottaAluminum Serotta (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=22681&item=7133188984&rd=1) when It all comes back to me, this is back when Serotta was struggling and started selling aluminum frames made by someone else. Who might that someone else be, none other than Kinesis, the same company that makes Motobecanes and all those other bike frames that certain bike sno.....connoisseurs like to look down their noses at. Completely forgot about that.

I'm browsing ebay when I run across this kinda cool looking Aluminum SerottaAluminum Serotta (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=22681&item=7133188984&rd=1) when It all comes back to me, this is back when Serotta was struggling and started selling aluminum frames made by someone else. Who might that someone else be, none other than Kinesis, the same company that makes Motobecanes and all those other bike frames that certain bike sno.....connoisseurs like to look down their noses at. Completely forgot about that.

I had one of those bikes when they first came out. It rode very well -- better than any other aluminum bike at the time. It had custom made Serotta tapered tubes and 's' bend chainstays. It was anything but some generic frame. My understanding is that since everyone was making harsh riding aluminum bikes, Serotta tried to make one that provided a better ride and at a lower price point than the steel and ti bikes they were making. Kinesis and Serotta developed the bike as sort of a joint venture. The frames were produced by Kinesis and finished by Serotta. They succeeded but the cost of producing the frame was too much higher than your run-of-the mill Cannondales etc. and they weren't able to justify its continued production for business reasons.

Kinesis and Serotta developed the bike as sort of a joint venture. The frames were produced by Kinesis and finished by Serotta. They succeeded but the cost of producing the frame was too much higher than your run-of-the mill Cannondales etc. and they weren't able to justify its continued production for business reasons.

I remember reading that Ben Serotta was related to someone working at Kinesis at the time - a brother in law maybe? At any rate, there was something more to the relationship between the two companies than one might think.

Ed