MuchAlohaNui
Senior Retro Guru
I am looking at another frame to acquire. However, the head badge boggles me and the owner insists the head badge is original. Here I provide only a picture of a reproduction sticker which is a copy of an original(?) full-metal head tube badge. I found this sticker on an image search in an attempt to find more pictures of the actual metal head tube badge attached to a frame. So even though I provide this black and white sticker, we need to treat it as if it were milled from an alloy of some kind. The vagueness is on purpose and part of the fun.
From my limited knowledge, a metal head tube badge is not common and was always historically part of a decal set from Serotta. Some helpful clues:
1) The frame is from 1994 to 1995
2) The frame is a MTB frame
3) The frame is unpainted as an original customer choice
4) The head badge top to bottom is about 6 cm tall
5) The head badge is made of some kind of alloy with raised letters and insignia
6) The head badge is perfectly aligned on the head tube, consistent with alignment if S-insignia decals of all other frames from Serotta.
So my questions are:
1) Does this full metal head tube badge signify anything extra special: team bike, limited production, unobtanium so on and so on?
2) Can I safely assume that head tube badges were always a decal?
3) If question 2 is ‘yes’ do you know if this particular design of the full metal one in question here is a third party fan art creation?
The insignia reads “Qualitus Effectus Integritas Facio - Serotta Competition Bicycles USA”
Thanks in advance for any guidance!
From my limited knowledge, a metal head tube badge is not common and was always historically part of a decal set from Serotta. Some helpful clues:
1) The frame is from 1994 to 1995
2) The frame is a MTB frame
3) The frame is unpainted as an original customer choice
4) The head badge top to bottom is about 6 cm tall
5) The head badge is made of some kind of alloy with raised letters and insignia
6) The head badge is perfectly aligned on the head tube, consistent with alignment if S-insignia decals of all other frames from Serotta.
So my questions are:
1) Does this full metal head tube badge signify anything extra special: team bike, limited production, unobtanium so on and so on?
2) Can I safely assume that head tube badges were always a decal?
3) If question 2 is ‘yes’ do you know if this particular design of the full metal one in question here is a third party fan art creation?
The insignia reads “Qualitus Effectus Integritas Facio - Serotta Competition Bicycles USA”
Thanks in advance for any guidance!