Comparing my Spectrum Ti Super & Serotta Legend Ti: Bikefanclub.com

I've been asked by several people to describe the differences between these two bikes, so I thought I'd post my impressions here.

Compared to the Serotta Legend Ti I sold a few months back, the ride of my Spectrum is more compliant with a more comfortable road feel than the Serotta. The latter bike felt stiffer (in a good way) and more responsive. The Legend Ti was still quite comfortable-riding but did not have the buttery-smooth feel of my Spectrum. Nevertheless, I've always considered my Spectrum to be stiff enough for most racing situations and the bike's responsiveness was recently enhanced by adding a new Dura Ace 7800 crankset and bottom bracket.

I found the Legend Ti to be more stable at various speeds and could be ridden "hands off" without the bike becoming squirrely or unstable. In terms of being a solid, confident platform, the Legend's high speed descending capability was unreal - even better than my very capable Spectrum. However, once a given descent becomes technical - that is, with switchbacks, off camber turns, wet road surfaces, broken pavement, or any combination of the above, then the Spectrum takes over.

In general, I find my Spectrum changes direction and corners better and I attribute this to a combination of several things. The bike's geometry is very neutral and tuned slightly to my liking. This was done with careful component selection including the addition of a 41mm Alpha Q fork that's stiffer and slightly taller than the 43mm Reynolds fork the frame was designed for. Secondly, the compliance of the frame material lends itself to slightly better control over the really nasty stuff and this is especially true when I'm tired. That is, when I'm riding cross-eyed and really suffering like in a race where you can't think about the bike. Under these circumstances, I feel more confident on my Spectrum while the Legend became a tad sketchy and requires more bike handling concentration. Perhaps this has to do with my being totally dialed-in on the Spectrum. After all, I owned the bike longer. Given the same amount of time on the Legend, the tables might be turned. However, I believe in why mess with a good thing so the Spectrum has remained while the Legend found a new home. My Spectrum Ti has become like a trusty friend. It's totally predictable, it fits me like a glove, and the ride is superlative. I have no doubt the Legend will become just as good a friend to its new owner.

Moving on to the finish - this is where things start to get very personal. I have nothing bad to say about Serotta. The quality of their paint and work is very high and the number of custom design options is great as well. I've never seen a Serotta that wasn't drool worthy. However, don't bother asking Serotta to build your bike with an internally routed rear brake cable. They won't entertain the idea claiming this adds too much cost as well as stress risers to the titanium. In short, they're just not setup to do this. However, one look at the gorgeous internal cable routing on a Spectrum is enough to make you throw all paper theory concerns out the window as you appreciate what a nice feature this is. Consider that Spectrum has been doing this for a long time and knows how to get it right without compromising the structural integrity of your frame and what you have is a beautifully executed, distinguishing feature that sets your Spectrum apart from most other Ti offerings.

As far as the rest of the finish, while Serottas are beautiful, the Spectrum takes it one step further. The bike has an almost gem-like quality about it, a luminescence like the difference between seeing a really beautiful landscape but then adding a magnificent sunset to enchance the scene even further. To give you an example - I requested the front of my bike to be "red". Without any input from me, Tom decides he's going to make this a really nice red, so he applies a pearl white basecoat first and they adds some coats of red over that followed by a deep clearcoat and the result is nothing less than exquisite. Details like masking, fades, logos, are nothing short of amazing. It's funny but Tom Kellogg is probably more like Joe Bell - that is, someone who's more comfortable in a paint booth than with the welding torch these days.

My Spectrum represents a collaboration of several incredibly talented people who all contributed to producing my frame. From the incomparable Tom Kellogg - a person I admire both as a bicycle engineer and a friend, to Kirk Pacenti - ABG's gifted frame draftsman, and Jeff - Tom's master craftsman, who's really "the man behind the curtain" at Spectrum.

Serotta has their own excellent marketing and style. They're a terrific company but one that caters to a much larger audience. There's something extra appealing to me about the whole Spectrum experience. Tom's small company has a soul that can only be found with certain individual frame builders. The whole Spectrum buying/ownership experience was very special to me. The fact that a very good friend of mine ordered his Spectrum almost the same time I did (his was first). We shared the excitement and anticipation of waiting together. That was actually fun. Later having the unique opportunity to visit "The Barn", meet and ride with Tom, discover our connections to cycling despite the fact they're at last "seven levels removed" or more in most cases. Watching a few races at T'town, doing their local group ride and being made to feel like a VIP guest. These were terrific experiences and many of the reasons why, out of all the bikes I've owned over the years, my Spectrum continues to remain in my stable.

Hope this has been a helpful review.

-K