Elegant lines of Tupelo	CNC-machined dropouts by Serotta

Tucked way in a Covent Garden side street, CycleFit distributes Serotta cycles in the UK and has established an enviable reputation in the field of cycling biomechanics and cycle fitting. Not surprisingly for a company with its own ideas about the subject, CycleFit offers its own range of framesets under the Glider label, which covers three or five models, depending on which way you look at them.

Serotta fork is proven	Chris King headset will endure

The first on the scene was the Tupelo, which started life in 2005 as a steel affair built by fabled US custom builder Serotta in Saratoga Springs, New York. For 2008, the steel Tupelo has been joined by a companion model, constructed using 3Al/2.5V titanium alloy tubes and using the same CycleFit specific geometry. The tubes are manipulated in-house by Serotta and complemented by CNC-machined rear dropouts in the super-strong but hard to work 6Al/4V alloy.

Polished and forged aluminium meets satin-finish titanium – oh, joy!	Neat welding? You bet…

Offered in eight stock sizes from 48cm to 62cm, Tupelo geometry is notable for a proportionally shorter top tube than might be considered the ‘norm’, resulting in a more upright fit than that commonly found with stock frames. The top tube has a slight 2º rise, offering a small increase in handlebar height while maintaining the appearance of a conventional horizontal top tube. Frame only weigh for the 56cm size is a claimed (as measured by CycleFit) 1.45kg/3.2lbs.

Campagnolo skewers follow Fulcrum pattern	Serotta provenance clearly shown

Featured is a 54cm Tupelo Ti, built with Campagnolo Centaur component group, Chris King headset and Mavic Open Pro rims as a sportive/weekend cycle. Price of the complete machine is £2900, while the frame and Serotta S2 fork will empty your wallet to the tune of £1650. Full road test to follow.