The best thing about owning and riding a handmade bike is the fact that it was actually made by a real person with a story. Ken Cerreta’s story is that he makes frames with nine year’s experience as an aircraft machinist and welder for the US Air Force.
Since that first nine years of his career, Ken transitioned to the officer corps and is now a Captain, working large scale acquisitions for the Air Force, which is very office intensive and has since turned to framebuilding to balance his skills.
Ken exhibited at this year’s NAHBS as a new builder. This is his third frame and you can be assured that they are made to military specification. At this stage he only fillet brazes his frames because he loves the process, but will eventually move to titanium frames.
This frame was designed for a semi-pro duathlete to compete in sharp-turning crit races. The front end is exceptionally strong to respond to the high power output. Because it will be primarily ridden in the drops, it has a slightly longer effective top tube.
The chainstays are particularly short so as to transfer power quickly to the rear wheel. The frame was built around a Di2 groupset — with internal cabling — and a sloping top tube because it will be mounted and dismounted regularly during a race.
Ken sets up his workshop wherever he is stationed which, at the moment, happens to be Utah. It’s an honest hobby which he hopes to turn into a full-time job when he retires from the military, a day we’ll be looking forward to as much as he will.
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