Hi Mark. I haven't been able to look at the Colnagno video, but I agree with you 100% about the build quality on many of the modern Italian frames. While I worked in a bike shop we sold Bianchis and Waterford built Paramounts; another shop close by sold several of the other top marques, including DeRosa. I had always thought that the Italians did the best work, and when viewed from a distance, the DeRosas, Guerciottis, and Bianchis looked more stylish to my eye than did the Waterford built Paramounts. The thing which blew my mind was the up close and personal comparison. On each of the Italian frames I saw there was at least one and generally several clear errors: brazing gaps, overheating, excess brazing material, etc. Each of the Waterfords I saw bested all of the Italian frames I saw (and I saw a lot) in terms of quality of workmanship.
An even bigger gap exists between the modern Italian frames and those of the top tier "solo" American builders. I had the pleasure of visiting the shops of both Richard Sachs and Peter Weigle and the caliber of their work is orders of magnitude beyond that of any Italian bike I've ever seen. The difference is apparent on almost any part of the frame: lugs, cable guides, threads, the way the tubes sit in the bottom bracket shell, etc. My favorite place to begin is around the drops. What did the builder do? How skillful does the builder appear? Insofar as Italian frames are concerned, when you use a Sachs or a Weigle as a reference your answer is "next to nothing".
I don't work in a shop anymore but I nose around the local shops and the things I saw still obtain. There is a lovely DeRosa sitting in a local shop which I would love to own but this has nothing to do with the caliber of the workmanship, which when viewed through an objective lens is mediocre. But I think it's very hard and at lest for me impossible to look at frames solely with a surgical eye. Subjectively, DeRosa means something to me and this subjective experience elevates the frame beyond what it would be if it were stripped of its decals and relabeled "Joe Blow".
Jon Cowden
Ithaca, NY