At 4:20 PM -0400 8/23/08, Edward Albert wrote:
>Dave, That is a great story and I wish I could have been there.
>Unfortunately, Jan's query remains, substantively, unanswered.
>Edward Albert
>Chappaqua, New York, U.S.A
It wasn't my query, but it is an interesting discussion... I was told that a similar De Rosa was sold on Italian e-bay not too long ago. Does anybody have photos, or is the link still active?
It would be interesting to compare details, especially the geometry. The restored De Rosa has a very short rear triangle for a 1950s bike, and the fork rake also looks very much like the gradual bend Cinelli popularized.
Even in the late 1960s, De Rosa still had his fork bend more at the bottom, see
http://www.wooljersey.com/
It is interesting that there has been no mention of a serial number on the bike. The serial number might help authenticate the bike. It also would be good to see photos of the bike in original condition, before the restoration was started. I assume that original decals were still visible - if this frame was found as a bare frame with no identifying marks, then it is a bit of a leap of faith to accept it as a De Rosa without further information.
Note that I am not saying that the bike is a forgery. There are all kinds of things that may have happened in Italy back then, like David Martinez pointed out. The De Rosa could be a truly revolutionary machine that was a decade ahead of its time. Proper documentation would go a long way toward proving this.
Disclaimer: Ken Denny and I have a bit of history. Ken periodically sends me nasty offlist e-mails, which I usually delete. I also know he likes to disparage Bicycle Quarterly behind my back, without offering any concrete points of criticism. I just want listmembers to know that I may not be totally unbiased in this discussion. However, I do feel that these questions are valid ones. I know that Ken Denny owns (has owned?) some amazing bikes... so it is conceivable that he could sell a super-rare machine, or several.
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
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Seattle WA 98122
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