It's the 4th of July - a good time to start this thread 
Well I bought it ... Some of you may have seen it for sale. Rather surprised I got it for what I did, but I think most didn't know what it was. I knew part of the story so I made a small gamble and tossed a bid at it.
Going to nerd out on this ... Excuse the long story.
Most know Serotta made the T-Max, Ti-Max, Colorado ATX, etc starting around 1988. These were production frames out of the Saratoga shop. Serotta also made some frames for Jamis, Off-road, and some others around the same time.
What isn't as well known is that Serotta was building Mtbs in the early 80s with the rest of the early mtb builders. There isn't much info on these early bikes. They are mentioned as "available" in the early Serotta catalogs, but they were all custom creations for people. Serotta was arguably "the" American bicycle company in the early 80s building road frames for many top riders. They didn't need to push the mtb side of things and mtb was no where near as popular as on the west coast at the time. However that doesn't mean bikes weren't being made and some very nice ones.
There is mention of a Serotta Hurricane MTB around 1986-7 (I've never seen one).
There was a trekking style bike. This is a refurbed one (almost exactly like the Serotta made Scott snow bike also sold)
And then there was the Adirondack. An ornate, high-end mtb designed to offer a bit of flex to the rider. This is the earliest mtb mentioned by Serotta. I had never seen one before this one showed up for sale. So that's what I knew going into to tossing a bid at it. Like I said - surprised a won it.
Now the story get sort of sad. You may know that Ben Serotta was, rather cruelly, tossed from the business he started in 2013. You can look the story up - it's crappy. The seller I got this from has been unloading a pile of special Serotta frames and bikes that were hanging on the Saratoga wall of fame. I guessed this was one of them. I was right ...
Post purchase, I got a hold of two of the 3 main guys at Serotta (Bedford and Kirk - very helpful). They confirmed that it was an Adirondack. Bedford recalled that he saw the bike nearly everyday as it was hanging on their factory wall with all their customs, race winners, and prototypes. He also confirmed that this frame was brazed by Ben Serotta himself. Given the build quality, lug work, and unreal paint it's likely the first one. A prototype for a bike show.
As for a year - best guess is now 1986 based on the tubing. I have a note into Ben, but he's unlikely to check his fb messages.
More info (maybe some corrections ) to follow. It's beautiful.
Oh ... And it's new
Well I bought it ... Some of you may have seen it for sale. Rather surprised I got it for what I did, but I think most didn't know what it was. I knew part of the story so I made a small gamble and tossed a bid at it.
Going to nerd out on this ... Excuse the long story.
Most know Serotta made the T-Max, Ti-Max, Colorado ATX, etc starting around 1988. These were production frames out of the Saratoga shop. Serotta also made some frames for Jamis, Off-road, and some others around the same time.
What isn't as well known is that Serotta was building Mtbs in the early 80s with the rest of the early mtb builders. There isn't much info on these early bikes. They are mentioned as "available" in the early Serotta catalogs, but they were all custom creations for people. Serotta was arguably "the" American bicycle company in the early 80s building road frames for many top riders. They didn't need to push the mtb side of things and mtb was no where near as popular as on the west coast at the time. However that doesn't mean bikes weren't being made and some very nice ones.
There is mention of a Serotta Hurricane MTB around 1986-7 (I've never seen one).
There was a trekking style bike. This is a refurbed one (almost exactly like the Serotta made Scott snow bike also sold)
And then there was the Adirondack. An ornate, high-end mtb designed to offer a bit of flex to the rider. This is the earliest mtb mentioned by Serotta. I had never seen one before this one showed up for sale. So that's what I knew going into to tossing a bid at it. Like I said - surprised a won it.
Now the story get sort of sad. You may know that Ben Serotta was, rather cruelly, tossed from the business he started in 2013. You can look the story up - it's crappy. The seller I got this from has been unloading a pile of special Serotta frames and bikes that were hanging on the Saratoga wall of fame. I guessed this was one of them. I was right ...
Post purchase, I got a hold of two of the 3 main guys at Serotta (Bedford and Kirk - very helpful). They confirmed that it was an Adirondack. Bedford recalled that he saw the bike nearly everyday as it was hanging on their factory wall with all their customs, race winners, and prototypes. He also confirmed that this frame was brazed by Ben Serotta himself. Given the build quality, lug work, and unreal paint it's likely the first one. A prototype for a bike show.
As for a year - best guess is now 1986 based on the tubing. I have a note into Ben, but he's unlikely to check his fb messages.
More info (maybe some corrections
) to follow. It's beautiful. Oh ... And it's new
