The appeal (or lack thereof) of all bikes is subjective. The only thing I see in this bike is it's putative uniqueness. I can well see why de Rosa made no more. It strikes me as large, clumsy and with a paint job that does little to alleviate the overall effect. I imagine its destiny will be with a big rider with a taste for one-off bikes. George Hollenberg MD Westport, CT, USA
> The frame of this bike is interesting:
>
> http://ebay.com/
> geName=ADME:B:SS:US:1
>
> Once De Rosa began making frames with cast lugs, it appears that
> not
> very much work went into finishing said lugs. No thinning to
> speak of,
> and while the shorelines of the lugs were probably touched up a
> little,
> the castings were likely precise enough that not much of that
> was
> required either. The end result is presentable enough, but a
> bit crude
> and clunky to my eye. The lack of obvious hand-work gives those
> later
> De Rosa frames a strange sterility that has never done much for
> me. The
> same is true of many, if not most, of Italian frames post-1978
> or so.
>
> This De Rosa appears a little different. The chromed head-lugs
> would
> have required polishing, so some material might have been
> removed, and
> might account for the thinner appearance of the lugs. But note
> the
> seat-lug: no chrome, but it sure looks like someone took a file
> to it,
> because it looks nice and thin.
>
> Also, these lugs look a little different from De Rosas usual of
> the
> time. Simpler.
>
> The older De Rosas, from before the cast-lugs, show many signs
> of
> hand-work, and are far more attractive than the later ones.
> There is a
> delicacy to the best ones that is hard to find in nearly any
> other frame
> similar-style frame of the period, as well as an obvious hand-
> wrought
> quality that is a pleasure to see.. Not all the old ones are
> equally
> nice, but nearly every one I've seen (not many, as they appear
> to be
> quite rare in this country) is extremely tasty.
>
> This one-off bike on ebay recalls some of that hand-wrought
> quality to
> me..and thus, I'm *really* glad its far to big for me, as I
> would be
> horribly tempted to bid on it. I'll be very curious to see
> where it
> ends.
>
> Charles Andrews
> Los Angeles
>
> _______________________________________________
>
George Hollenberg MD
CT, USA