Serotta & Lightweight Wheels- Pure Performance

Vince Feres and Bob Kirkup, North American sales reps for Carbon Sports/Lightweight Wheels, joined Serotta under the tent at the Tour of the Battenkill this weekend. We couldn't resist asking the experts for some inside info. on the hottest wheels on the market.

Serotta: Thanks for joining Serotta at the Tour of Battenkill this weekend!VF & BK: Well thank you for allowing us to hang out with you (the Serotta crew) all weekend. The race was a great way to spend the weekend and allowed us to meet and speak with a lot of consumers and racers as well.



Serotta: Serotta and Lightweight Wheels share a commitment to offering the pinnacle of performance in handcrafted carbon. What synergies do you see between the two brands?VF & BK: Well, since Serotta is a premium brand offering some of the best handcrafted bicycles available with a strategic focus on performance, the synergies are many. CarbonSport’s Lightweight wheels are and always have been designed and built for the bicycle racers and enthusiasts seeking the absolute best technology available. Their focus is purely on performance and therefore like Serotta, Lightweight is a premium brand found only in premium shops that understand the requirements of supplying some of the best products and service available to demanding customers.

Serotta: How did Lightweight get its start?VF & BK: Lightweight wheels were originally designed and manufactured by two German engineers (Rudolf Dierl and Heinz Obermayer) in the early 1990’s, who built their wheels by hand and sold them to some of the worlds top racers (Armstrong, Ullrich, Cipollini, Museeuw, Zabel among the many). Since they both had full time day jobs, production was limited to only a few pair per year. In 1995 they developed the all carbon spoked-wheel and when the ’96 and ’97 Tour de France race was won on unbranded (due to riders contractual obligations) Lightweight wheels, the cycling world took notice. Soon the waiting time to obtain a pair of the wheels was 6 to 12 months. In 2003 Dierl and Obermayer sold their company to CabonSports GmbH, a German company who supply carbon fiber products for use in aircraft, satellites, medical technology, Formula 1 race cars and many other applications. Heinz Obermayer still works for the company in product development, and thankfully production is now a bit higher and wait times are not nearly as long.




Serotta: What is at the core of Lightweight’s design and manufacturing philosophy?VF&BK: Lightweight’s design priorities are, in order; 1- stiffness, 2- durability, 3- lightweight and 4- aerodynamics. There are specialty handbuilt wheels as light as Lightweight’s, wheels, as stiff as Lightweight’s and as or more aerodynamic than Lightweight’s, but no other wheel has the combination of the three in one package. Add to that the almost unsurpassed durability of our wheels and you have a product unmatched in the industry. Lightweight´s design philosophy is to design and build the best wheels to offer the best compromise in lightness, stiffness and aerodynamics for people who search for the best materials available to improve in cycling. It would be pretty easy to build a wheel focusing on just one of these attributes, but you would have to give up the others. Another point is to keep the combination of German engineering and the German craftsmanship to further build special wheels for special people. One very unique aspect of producing Lightweight wheels is that there are only three people in the factory who know how to produce a complete wheelset from start to finish !




Serotta: Can you tell us about what new wheel design or models we might see in the near future?VF&BK: Well, considering the all carbon spoked wheel developed in 1995 has seen little other than incremental improvements over the years due to the already superior design, CarbonSports is not a company that introduces new products for the sake of introducing something new.

The new Lightweight Standard C (as in clincher) wheelset and the Lightweight rear derailleur (a sub 120 gram wonder) previewed a couple of years ago are now being delivered to pre-booked retailers. This year (2009) saw the introduction of the new Generation III Ventoux wheelset which introduced 100% carbon fiber spokes (previous spokes were aramid/carbon fiber) introduced last year in the Standard and Obermayer models. A new 34 gram skewer set is also now being delivered to retailers.

Understanding that the wheels are built at the edge of the possibilties of the materials used it will not be easy to further improve....but we can rely on German engineering which is always good for a surprise!




Serotta: The Battenkill annihilated over half the pro field, which Lightweight wheels would you have chosen for this race?VF&BK: Considering the reported horrifically rough gravel sections on the race course (apparently freshly graded), the lower profile Ventoux (27 mm depth rim) wheelset would be our choice. The Ventoux is designed for high wind applications, but due to its shallower profile is also more compliant, whereas a deeper rim like the Standard or Obermayer (both 53 mm deep rims) is the more aerodynamic wheel. The Ventoux would be a much smoother ride on the rough surfaces of the Battenkill course, and of course at only 950 grams for the set would help out on the hilly sections.

Serotta: If you could build the ultimate Serotta/Lightweight ride, what would it be?VF&BK: We’d would have to say we think you had that ultimate ride at your tent at the Battenkill expo. Your absolutely stunning new Meivici AE time trail/triathlon frame with the Lightweight disc (850 grams) and Obermayer front wheel would have to be one of the most beautiful and striking bikes we’ve seen in a long time, not to mention how smokin’ fast it would be!!!

Serotta: Thanks!VF&BK: Thank you and we hope we get the chance to hang out with you and the rest of the Serotta crew again soon. Cheers!

MeiVici on The Battenkill

"I've never felt a bike move like a MeiVici."
Terry White (Team Battenkill-United)

Submitted by: Terry White; Dorset, Vermont (Team Battenkill-United)

Thanks for arranging for me to visit the Serotta Factory Saturday , be fitted by Paraic on a demo MeiVici , meet all the people at Serotta and finally be a ride “leader” the following day on a recon –ride of the Tour of the Battenkill race course. Here are my observations about the bike and the ride. . .



The group I was assigned to, politely referred to as the “ sprightly group" was exactly that and more. It became apparent within the first 200 yards that this group had some talent when we hit our first red light, and 2 of the riders just sat there doing track stands. From there it was essentially race – on. This actually was a positive as it “allowed” (read forced) me to find out about the qualities of the bike. The fit was superb. It was the first time in years I was able to go into the drops and stay there as long as I wanted / needed. However, the most apparent outstanding quality was the ability of the bike to accelerate, particularly on climbs . It really felt like gliding. I’ve never felt a bike move like the MeiVici. Next, was how it handled on the dirt. On one stretch of Fitzgerald road , we were descending on dirt at 35-40 MPH (It reminded me of a warning sticker that reads “Do not try this at home or alone"), and the MeiVici just sailed over that section. As we regrouped, someone actually had enough energy to start a conversation, and asked me how I liked the bike? I responded by confessing that without it, I wouldn’t be there to respond at all. To which he replied he also owned a MeiVici, left it at home and wished he hadn’t. At the end of the ride, on my way home, I realized what an advantage anyone would have if they raced a MeiVici. As a result of the fastidiousness of Serotta, that bike’s handling qualities allow any rider to comfortably enjoy going faster, whether they’re racing or not. That is the point of great bike isn’t it? Thank you again for entrusting me with that bike for a day.

Terry

Paraic McGlynn's (Serotta's Fit Guru) MeiVici SE w/Serotta Composites F3 Fork

Inside the Tour of Flanders

Submitted by: Frank Stefan Kimmel, Serotta Germany

Think of bad roads. I mean cobblestones and mud. Think of 260 km of importance for everyone in Belgium. Think of Eddy Merckx, Johan Museeuw or Tom Boonen. Think of trappist beer that you better drink like wine and imagine soft but steep hills in a quiet landscape. These are the landmarks for a very special weekend of cycling experience around the Tour of Flanders – a classic one day race and for sure one of the toughest for the Pros beneath Paris-Roubaix.

I had the pleasure to spend some quality time together with a couple of friends and Serotta aficionados near the city of Gent.

Our first stop is the dedicated museum for the Ronde van Vlaanderen as they call it. Want to encounter the long history of the race, want to see the bike Eddy Merckx has ridden in 1969, want to drink regional beer while sitting on a huge wooden table that looks like a giant wheel and see the highlights from the last races on a big flatscreen? Want to see Johan Museeuw reading the newspapers? This is the place to go.

3 times custom pleasure

Although German I have to admit that I’m into Belgium beer

Freddy Maertens (world champion 1976 and 1981, winner of 15 stages at the Tour de France, winner of Vuelta and Paris-Nizza in 1977) is impressed with our Serotta’s...

Two Legends

We hop back on our bikes and enjoy the smooth ride we have even on these rugged roads. Happy we all have ST seat stays to filter out whatever is possible. Next stop is Koppenberg. Legendary hill; 3 minutes to make your heart go up to the maximum while climbing up to 22% on cobblestones. This is where Eddy Merckx once shouldered his bike. You get the idea.

I enjoy the benefit of a modern compact drive and the lack of 220 km of exhausting pro race speed in my legs. Tomorrow this will be one of the most crowded places but even today we are not alone on the bike; over 15,000 serious cyclists are on the course.

I really can understand why Cross race is so popular here. If you are into smooth asphalt - look somewhere else. If you rely on nice weather and mild temperatures during most of the year - go to California. But if tricky roads are a challenge for you and if you’re longing for a unique countryside and cycling companions on the road – this might be your place. And did you know that french fries where invented here (they are double fried) and the chocolate isn’t bad either? I digress….

Today is the day. After a short breakfast we’re heading out for a 3 hour ride so we later can enjoy sandwiches (and beer) while watching the race on TV even more. Luckily we’re only 1 mile away from the course and the whole family we’re staying with, including grandma and babies are gathering at the nearby corner waiting for the peleton to arrive.

Next day. Time for checking out where to mix with the locals to watch to pros at work for real.



Fast, colorful, helicopter and team cars. You get what you expect.
Who won this year? Look it up. Guess what, it’s a Belgian but on a race like this every Pro Cyclist to me is a winner.