Somerville MA versus Saratoga NY

schneidw

New member
I am curious if Fat Cogs value the later era NY made frames less than the earlier MA frames. I would imagine so for many reasons... just curious, I am still trying to find a L or XL frame and trying to figure a reasonable purchase price as they come along.. i personally really don't care too much between NY and MA since Serotta is a great company as well... waht do others think? would like to hear
 

Doug Carter

Moderator
Staff member
There have been a few discussions on here in the past about the differences. They are few, if any, differences in the actual bikes themselves. Other than colors and the few ammenitites of later bikes (disc mounts, larger steerer sizes, etc.), there are only "karma" differences in the two different eras.

Some enthusiasts will tell you that they don't care one way or the other; some (like myself) won't look at or consider Serotta-built bikes. It's more principle than anything else, but my era affection with the company was '90 to '95-ish, so I don't even look at bikes that were pre '90.


I think the way the Fat picked up and moved/sold to Serotta bent some people the wrong way. There are lots of stories from former employees and friends of former employees that tell one side of the situation. Many side with them in the split. I know we have more than a few people who frequent this board who were directly involved with Fat at the time
 
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Jeeves

New member
A related topic, not sure if it's true - but apparently Chris Chance went back to doing all of the FAT TI's himself immediately after they went to NY - because he was the only one who could do them at the time. Any one else heard that one?

-Raj
 

lucifer

New member
I think a lot of people who don't know better think chris chance built a lot more bikes than he really did just because his sig is on the chainstay. The ebay auctions always crack me up when they say "built by chris chance himself...." Now really early fats and CC roadies may very well have been built by him, but in the glory years fat was a pretty big shop (by small shop standards) and I'm sure they had full time machinists, tackers, welders, and finishers.

Ultimately it doesn't make much difference in the riding. And if anything later ones are probably spec'd a little better. I know at some point they went to the 10th style tubing on most of the yos, which would have been a little lighter. As they grew the demand for true temper tubing it probably got better as well.

As for craftsmanship, well, any handmade frame is going to show a fair amount of variation from one piece to the next, even if the same guy is melting the metal. So you really have to look at them on an individual basis to know if you got a great one or a just good one.

My buck has a mass serial number but a saratoga badge. Chances are it was built pre move and painted post move, but I can't say for certain. Honestly I couldn't care less. It rides great and that is all that matters to me.
 

lucifer

New member
Jeeves said:
A related topic, not sure if it's true - but apparently Chris Chance went back to doing all of the FAT TI's himself immediately after they went to NY - because he was the only one who could do them at the time. Any one else heard that one?

-Raj


I am fairly sure there are and were more than a few guys at serotta capable of doing titanium.
 
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