Serotta Ti-Max : Information Wanted (Updated Frame Photos - March 14th)

[MuchAlohaNui]

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!

 

[MuchAlohaNui]

Bump up. Here is the actual head badge in question. Any ideas regarding rarity or specialty (team bike, employee bike, demo, contest give-away etc.)?

Serial number starts with: "CTM"

 

[MuchAlohaNui]

…no one has seen this head badge before?

 

[Frankenorange]

Seems to have been the headtube badge fitted to some Legend Ti road frames. Search Google images for Serotta Legend Ti and you will see a few examples of the headtubes with this badge. I didn't look at any of the for sale ads, or other pages, but maybe there is some info in those pages. There are pic links to many websites of whole bikes, but i saw headtube badge pics linking to cxmagazine and pedalroom. You might have to scroll down a fair bit to find those but they are there.

There are lots of Legend Ti's with just the regular headtube decal so maybe it was an anniversary thing, a special order badge, or at some point in time(seems to be early 2000's) somebody was making the badges and they flooded ebay with them.

 

[MuchAlohaNui]

Thank you very much for that! I'll have a look.

 

[MuchAlohaNui]

The post above was informative. I don't think the head badge is original. This is supposed to be a 1995 Serotta TiMax. The head badge AND "MYSTERY" sticker on the top tube are alleged by the owner to be original. From what I know (which isn't much) the serial number checks out.

 

[Frankenorange]

I only looked for images before. I did a general search for 'serotta metal head tube badge' and one of the first hits is this confirming they were made by Serotta

The Paceline Forum

This is a discussion forum powered by vBulletin. To find out about vBulletin, go to http://www.vbulletin.com/ .

forums.thepaceline.net

Maybe this is why nobody else has replied.

 

[MuchAlohaNui]

Thanks again for that. There is an email attached to the Serotta signature in that post. Even though it's 15 years old I emailed them anyways. Who knows if I get a reply, but worth investigating. For sake of posterity I copy/pasted here for future searchers.

Pete Mckeon
pmckeon@bellsouth.net "address not found"

edit: the person is deceased.

 

[MuchAlohaNui]

There's this, but not the head badge in question:

Case Study - Contract Manufacturer for Famed Bicycle Company | Switzer

Serotta approached Switzer in need of a contract manufacturer to make distinctive metal head badges for the frames of their legendary bicycles while also minimizing expense.

www.switzermfg.com

I am coming to the conclusion that the head badge on this TiMax frame is:
- definitely NOT original to the frame.
- came from a Serotta Legend Ti made around 2002 to 2003
- exclusive to that frame and time period only
- why the current owner decided to put this badge on this TiMax frame

I pick up the frame from the current owner next week and hopefully get some answers.

 

[MuchAlohaNui]

Update: The price was very right and was only a two hour drive so I picked this up.
Serial number: CTM 18 166

Comes with a few additional parts such as:
-FRM Web Stem 100 mm
-Ritchey WCS headset
-Carbon stem shim
-Serotta seat post clamp
-1997? Rock Shox Judy front forks with titanium brake posts
-steel brake posts for the frame
-Titec titanium bars, uncut with shim (and no Bontrager emblems)

What I find interesting and primarily is the tubing. Comparing my 1994 Colorado ATi the seat post tube is just about twice as thick as this 1995? TiMax (see picture). A few more interesting construction features are the rear dropouts. Look at those things...pretty tidy. Another is the bottom tube. The bottom tube is oval shaped as it butts the head tube. Horizontal diameter near the head tube about 34.5 mm but vertical diameter is about 42.5 mm.

TiMax seat post tube thickness: 0.95 mm
ATi seat post tube thickness: 2.05 mm

TiMax frame weight: 1.46 kg
ATi frame weight: 1.53 kg (with seat post clamp w/ integrated rear brake cable guide)

A few open questions are that I still do not think the head badge is original. I am not 100% sure on the year and model of the front forks, but they look like 97' Judy XC. The "Mystery" stickers are all over the frame, and I do not think these are original - i.e. some kind of obscure TiMax frame. The rear dropouts are of interest as I don't see these dropouts in any catalogs. Not 100% sure this is a 1995 year either, though the seat post tube measures 27.2 mm and the bottom bracket is 68 mm.