The Maaslands wrote:
>
>(cuat) Like you say, his (Ernesto's) past was illustrous, as evidenced
by the
> Mexico bike and many others, but that is all from a bygone era. Just look
> who Merckx turned to when he set up his own production: De Rosa.
Of the three major frames that Eddy Merckx rode in his career (Masi, Colnago & De Rosa), the builder that he had the closest relationship with was Ugo De Rosa.
I've always wondered about the timing of Eddy's switch from Colnago to De Rosa. I think it was right after Eddy set the Hour Record in Mexico City at the end of 1972.
Anyone know the facts regarding the switch?
Here's a small De Rosa history from an Italian web site: In the early fifties, an amateur cyclist named Ugo De Rosa opened his first bicycle shop and dedicated himself to the manufacture of racing bicycles. By the sixties, the De Rosa bike became a fixture in the professional peleton with the powerful Faema squad becoming the first team to ride De Rosas to the forefront. But not until 1973 when De Rosa became the official frame builder and mechanic for the Molteni team did true acclaim result. And in 1974 a great racer by the name of Francesco Moser wanted De Rosa bicycles for his Filotex team, and De Rosa complied. After expansion to Cusano Milanino in the eighties, Ugo De Rosa embarked on a new project to build bicycle frames from titanium tubes which would stand up to the rigors of professional use. Today, De Rosa introduces the "De Rosa Carbo System" rear drop out, a system made from carbon, stratified with aluminium and welded to the frame.
Chuck Schmidt
SoPas, SoCal