Road Cycling - De Rosa or Marinoni frame?

Ok, I'm torn between two frames. The De Rosa Vega and the Marinoni Delta. The Delta is a bit more money and that is pushing me towards the De Rosa. Anybody care to weigh in on this? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Cat

Some info about the DeRosa Vega and the Marinoni Delta that may be important to you. These are aluminum frames. They have an integrated headset design. The integrated headset bearings/seat that go in these frames are steel. You will have a steel part that experiences a significant amount of vibration, etc...sitting on an aluminum surface of the frame. This could cause some trauma to the frame, especially if it is not kept adjusted to spec for even a short period of time. This design is relatively new and the life expectancy of such matings is still in question. If the headset were to wear the frame in some manner, you would either have to find someone to reface the frame(perhaps Marinoni would do this but those tools are still not available to shops at this time for integrated designs), or live with the problem, or...replace the frame.

Other than that, the DeRosa frame is a gem. I have seen the DeRosa, not the Marinoni although I would expect the same of the Marinoni.

Regarding the tubing, the DeRosa lists Dedaccia 7005 tubing. This is a discontinued tubeset by Dedaccia. The Marinoni is built with Columbus Airplane tubing which is current, state of the art tubing and I believe is lighter than the 7005. Both manufacturers are very reputable, but Marinoni is on this continent and very accessible for follow up service if any is needed. The Vega is a discontinued model, and if you have any problems that are deemed warranty-able(sic), you will not get another Vega from the distributor. You will get whatever they feel is the comparable model available. Search at Roadbikereview.com for more info on the Vega.

You can't go wrong with either. Get the one that you like more cause you'll want to ride it more often. Also, you'll have to put Campy on them cause Marinoni is the major Campy wholesaler in Canada, and anything else on a DeRosa is just not right :)

I have the Marinoni Delta Extra and just love it. I have never been on anything so comfortable but without giving up any performance characteristics. You can search for some of the threads I posted with pics of my new ride.

I must admit that I have full Shimano DA on it instead of Campy but I was just not happy with the feel of the Campy parts. I also have the FSA Pro Team Issue Carbon Cranks which look and feel great. I don't think you can go wrong with either choice. These are two of the best frame builders in the world and they stand behind their products 100%.

Good luck and if you have any specific questions don't hesitate to get back to me.



:)

Get the De Rosa. Why? The logo with the heart in the center of the O is about the coolest logo there is in cycling. I have a Merak and just love it.

which did you choose?

I think both are great but I'd go for (and did) one of these:

http://www.excelsports.com/image/CASATI%20Challenge%20Frameset%20w-post.jpg

Excel Sports has a blowout on a selection of beautiful Casati frames. These are on par with the big boys: Colnago, Pinarello, DeRosa (well, almost as nice as a Colnago =)

The frame pictured above is made from Dedacciai 61.10 AK KET O/S Scandium tubing with full carbon fork and costs $850!

I bought the same one in the picture above. Good luck.