Ugo De Rosa is one of my all time favs!!! He started building frames in the early 1960s. One of the best handling frames of all time; I think it defines Italian handling! He started building racing frames for Eddy Merckx around 1972 or 1973 after Eddy switched from Ernesto Colnago's bikes. Ugo also set up the Eddy Merckx factory when Eddy started manufacturing bikes upon his retirement from racing in the late-70s. The early Eddy Merckx had De Rosa marked fork ends!
I had a 1981 De Rosa that was painted Mercedes Anthacite (dark metallic grey) and was regular six-speed (not "compact"); it had the Campagnolo chain hanger so was really spaced like regular seven, not compact seven. Twenty-eight hole Ambosio Synthesis Durex Super Professional sew-up rims with the dish almost completely flat on the drive side!!! Never had a problem with those wheels though.
I recently bought a Ugo Blue 1989 De Rosa Professional SLX frame that went unsold for ten years at a local shop (Southern Californians can be a jaded lot... nobody wanted "obsolete steel"). Investment cast short point lugs (sorry Ritchie) with a cute yellow heart in the BB and the brake bridge. Very striking with the deep Ugo Blue, yellow Turbo SL saddle and yellow Benotto cello tape (very "pro" in the late-70s) to go with the yellow De Rosa decal repeated in different sizes on the three main tubes. The only things chromed are the two chain stays (diamond shaped) and the front and rear fork ends. It has 130mm spacing but I have a Regina CX six-speed freewheel so the hub has been respaced so there is almost no dish in the rear wheel! (I find I need a whole lot less gears after riding fixed-wheel bikes a lot!) Oh, I forgot, I put all Super Record on it. The catalog I have shows two Pro SLXs, one full C-Record and one with all Super Record.
As the Alex man in Switzerland says... it's SCHWEEET!
Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, California
ps Chris Chance (Fat City mountain bikes) went to Italy and taught Ugo how to tig weld frames! Too kewl.
Monkeydude wrote:
>
> I hadn't really thought about it until somebody posted a WTB last week, but
> I've heard next to nothing about Ugo DeRosa and his bikes on this list.
> We've beat Masi and Colnago to death in the past, but I can't remember much
> about DeRosa. I love his bike and would love to know more about them and
> him.
>
> In the past I saw and rode a few of the Ugo blue bikes, though the quality
> of the paint was awful they were some of the best rides I've ever threw a
> leg over. I remember seeing one of his anniversary bikes at Elliot Bay
> Bikes in Seattle and to this day it haunts me as one of the most beautiful
> and subtile bikes ever. I've looked for them in the past and when I found
> them they were top top dollar. I looked at the CR page and there was
> little info there, and the link somebody posted the other day is gone and
> the web page is only in Italian. So shall we proceed to get into the
> details of the DeRosa past as deeply as we have for other builders? The
> only information I can add, and it's only a rumor, is that until his
> retirement no frame left the shop without seeing his attentions.
>
> On a similar note, anybody out there who collected the whole Masi saga
> could you please send me a copy since I didn't save them all, and I need to
> sent the saga to my friend Jeff Lyon.
>
> enjoy,
> Brandon"monkeyman"Ives
>
> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> Nobody can do everything,
> but if everybody did something
> everything would get done.
> -Gil Scott Heron-
> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!