Bob Freeman wrote:
>
> Yes I misconstrued Chuck's historical account (meaning I misinterpreted it,
> not intending to deceive anyone) and reacted to it too late at night to think
> clearly. Sounded almost too good to be true, finding that Moser had asked
> De Rosa to build his bikes. But the SLX, braze-ons, and other features have
> led me to conclude this is from the 80s, as I originally stated in the
> listing. Still no consensus whether it was a De Rosa or a Benotto build, but I am
> still leaning towards De Rosa. Someone said Benotto did diamond chainstays
> both sides but this has only on the left. And no one has said they have seen a
> Benotto with hearts on the fork crown. But I am enjoying all the chit chat
> about it. Now to get all those Japanese bidders to try to outsmart each
> other at the end....
>
> thanks for all the input.
To me, the only thing that "shouts" Benotto and not De Rosa about the frame is the decals!
I'll stick by my statement that it could be late '70s or there after (like '80s) and most likely a favor for a valued customer... a friend of Ugo that loved the Moser Benotto/De Rosa team bikes.
The original parts are a _real_ jumble (even some 50th Anni parts?)
http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/
Check these (bike as found?):
< http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/
And then these (bike for auction?):
< http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/
I think the frame is very cool and would love to know the real story from the original owner (hell, I'm sure Ugo could still remember too). But like we like to say in SoCal when confronted with cool bikes with unknown stories of odd details... "It is what it is!"
Chuck "emotional because I'm sooo happy it's not my size" Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California
.