Neil,
You are correct. As far as we know, the first DeRosa bikes to come to the US in any quantity came through Talbots bike shop in San Mataeo. Perhaps Chuck Hoefer of Pacific Coast Cycles will know more. Chuck was working there in the early 70's just before he took the job at Masi in Carlsbad. Chuck showed up shortly after I did in late '73. His Dark Green DeRosa was the first I'd ever seen or heard of DeRosa.
Speaking of DeRosa, I have a early 80's DeRosa frame up for auction at the Cirque. It's a "painters choice" deal. The frame is 57cm c-t with a 56.5cm c-c top tube. Fresh Imron paint job in antique white with "spanish blue" head and seat panel and fork crown. Wayne has some photos of the bike.
I suppose one could participate in the auction by phone if they were really interested and weren't at the Cirque. I can send some photos if you happen to be a really interested party. Make sure to talk to Wayne about it first.
I hope everyone has a great time at the Cirque. The weather is going to be pretty nice I hear. Some rain at the moment, but pleasant and warm (NOT HOT) Saturday and Sunday. I'll be back next year!
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA
USA
Hi, I own a 1973 DeRosa which was imported by Talbots of San Mateo for a customer who waited a year for it. It is finished in Molteni colors. The customer was a Merckx fan all the way.Neil Bonnick Seattle WA
On Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 3:38 PM, <edvintage63@aol.com> wrote:
>
> Jack Gabus wrote:
>
> "The reason you are having a hard time tracking down a time line on
> DeRosa's
> at least the early ones is that they were not shipped in to the U.S. until
> the early to mid 80's (some please chime in here). Early DeRosa are hard
> to
> come by and worse yet there aren't any serial #s on them, at least not
> mine. This is why nobody has done any chronological order on them. If you
> go on Wooljersey there is a pretty good gaggle of them."
> ________________________________________________________
>
> I believe Talbot's began bringing them in in the early 70's - perhaps Jack
> just committed a typo there?
> Mainly writing to add that Hilary Stone is currently working on a De Rosa
> taxonomy that prove may useful in respect to issues like this one. OTOH, De
> Rosa was quite a small producer right through the 70's and built a lot of
> custom frames, so there is perhaps more frame-to-frame variation than with
> some of the other prominent marques.
>
> Ed Granger
> Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA