[CR]Re: Two 1950s De Rosas; Was: Is the real or imposter?

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Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 07:56:32 -0700
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Jan Heine" <heine94@earthlink.net>
Subject: [CR]Re: Two 1950s De Rosas; Was: Is the real or imposter?

Several people pointed me to what they thought was the same bike, bought by the seller a year or two ago at

http://www.43bikes.com/derosa.html

(scroll down to the green "1953" bike)

However, looking at the head-on view, the green bike is not the same as the red bike now offered on e-bay.

http://ebay.com/<blah>

The green bike's upper head lug is very unevenly filed. On the red bike, the upper headlug are much straighter. The lower headlug is subtly different, too. Both bikes are very similar, but the red bike seems to have better workmanship than the green one.

Of course, it is possible that the headlugs were filed during the restoration to make the bike nicer, but that would negate the idea of an "as original" restoration...

Perhaps the seller owns two 1950s De Rosas, in the same size, apparently with the same seat cluster that according to the e-bay listing, Ugo De Rosa claims to have used only once? How many of these early De Rosas are there?

I don't have the answer, and as I have stated before, it is possible that the bike is what it purports to be. It sure is an interesting riddle.

Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
140 Lakeside Ave #C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.bikequarterly.com