Some years ago, I had a friend who worked at Gita (then a DeRosa importer) who also did frame refinishing on the side. On separate occasions, I bought two DeRosa frames from him, both unpainted. One, a 56cm - probably about an '85/6, was supposedly built for him by Ugo and left unpainted so he could do the final finishing. The other one, 55cm - maybe an '82/4, a frame that had been paint-damaged in shipment that my friend bought, stripped and planned to repaint. So, I got to see both frames in bare metal. The frames were so nicely constructed and detailed that we even discussed doing one in only clear-coat, no color! Ultimately, my friend painted the 56cm frame a really interesting but non-traditional pearl-pink, and I gave it to my wife as a graduation present. After many years of use and a pretty severe crash, it's retired and hanging in my shop, someday to be resurrected in full SR. I had the other one painted bright yellow at by Grant Soma at Trick Tubes (sadly, no longer in business), and sold it to a friend (who I need to track down, since the bike is probably hanging unused in his basement). I love the look of the frames. Very classic and traditional. Not fancy, but exuding quality. However, what most people praise in a DeRosa is ride quality. Ever talked to anyone who rode one that didn't think it rode beautifully? Same goes for Merckx. Coincidence? I don't think so.
I've also had some recent exposure to DeRosa. A couple months ago, I picked
up a DeRosa Planet from Walt at Ghisallo in Phoenix (oouh..aluminum and
carbon fiber, way off topic) for my wife. But while there, I got to see the
(almost) current Giro d'Italia model. Very beautiful and traditional. Nice
lugged construction, made with Columbus EL OS. Gorgeous flame red with
white decals and chrome HT lugs, crown and chain stay. Looked as nice as
the older ones to me. Take a look at it here:
http://www.ridecampy.com/
Anyone else looking for a cool 59cm DeRosa? Check this out (no picture, but
a very cool frame): http://www.ridecampy.com/
And I still think the heart with the world colors diamond is one of the classiest logos yet.
Ciao -
Wayne Bingham
Ahhh...Springtime in VA