Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - indy fab or de rosa

for a single speed. i'm upgrading from a lemond fillmore i've ridden for a few years, and would like people's input on how the two ride. my lbs won't build up a de rosa neo primato to test (plus i'd have to special order the horizontal dropouts) but maybe someone has ridden a geared neo primato? or are there some steel crown jewel indy fab riders out there that love their bike? help please i'm dying....

alright maybe some pictures will elicit a response...

http://www.fitte.co.jp/images/2007_derosa_neoprimato.jpg
http://www.ifrider.com/register/00870a.jpg

hmm?

de rosa

its obviously the de rosa. how is there even a question?

De Rosa...one word...LUGS!!!

wow. no votes for the indy fab. interesting....

That De Rosa is so nice. When you say horizontal dropouts do you mean track ends or horizontal dropouts? Cuz if I was spending that much money on a frame I'd want to retain the option to gear up.

i mean horizontal dropouts. i know it sucks to not gear it up, but i love riding single speed so much and it's probably going to get more use that way. i'm not ready to go back to geared yet and who knows what kind of nano-organic magnetically levitating frames will be out by then. i'd have to do the eccentric bottom bracket thing with the vertical dropout and from what i hear it doesn't work out so well... anyone ridden the neo primato and know about my tru temper osx lemond fillmore with carbon fork? or care to take a guess as to the difference in riding characteristics? thanks...

No man, ss/fg with horizontal dropouts is cool in my book! It's all about keeping your options open. To me ordering an ultra high end road frame with track ends and no brazeons makes as little sense as hacking the brazeons and derailer hanger off that derosa up there. If I was ordering a dream ss frame it'd at least have a derailer hanger, a pip on the downtube and a cable stop on the right chainstay, a la the old path racers.

I wasn't wowed at first, but I've been liking Indy Fab stuff more and more lately.

Knowing both builders, I am torn on this one.

Doriano is a world class builder. He welds all the DeRosa's in house, including brazing the lugged models.
Its a little known fact, but back in the 70s, Merckx rode a DeRosa, rebranded as an EM, to victory in many races. One of those frames was built by a 15 year old Doriano. The bike still sits in their shop.

otoh, I have been to the shop in Boston of IF and they do world class work as well. I have seen them work. I have seen their quality control up close. I like the fact they are as close to totally green as a bike company can get.
Check out my blog post on my visit to IF (and ANT) . http://deedubbayoo.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-trip-to-boston.html

Cant go wrong with either of them. They both do great work. Its going to come down to your personal preference. Dont listen to anyone but your heart.

DW

I would go with IF just because a number of bikes they build appeal to me and I wouldn't mind getting a small stable going (ss/fixed, 29er xc, cyclocross).

i personally love both. i would go with the indi fab though, because i really just don't want to see that de rosa built up as a "conversion," no matter how nice. the frame deserves better and frankly, if i'm gonna drop the kind of money i think you will, my bike isn't going to have shifter bosses and derailler hangers

IF is the De Rosa of the new century. Go with Indy.

what type of riding will you be doing? i know nothing about their geometries but i'm going to guess that the de rosa will be a much nicer distance bike. just keep in mind that if you're going to have horizontal dropouts, you won't be able to take it on the track.

it's hard to really give an answer without knowing your intentions.

Man the welds on that IF look pretty damn nice from here. is that welded or filet brazed? Either way I can't see anything wrong with it. The lugs on the Derosa are beautiful as well. You really can't go too far wrong with either. They are both beautiful frames in their own right, and I can't imagine either is likely to break. If it's a question of aesthetics, then do you prefer the clean simple lines of the IF, or the ornate lug work of the Derosa?

have you guys seen the new Indy fad catalog? those frames are give me pounds of boners. get an indy shot peen ti frame.

derosa, nice. IF, nice too, http://www.ifbikes.com/frames2/single-road.shtml
i'd get a della santa.

Go for the...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2392/2335900319_e9775b9644.jpg
I love my Neo Primato, descends like it's on rails and jumps up hills.

I'd personally go Indy Fab, but I bet you'd be equally happy either way.

Robin Williams rides a 953 Indy Fab. I saw him at the Portland bike show.

IF all the way. I dream of getting one built one day.

My Yo Eddy is in storage back home and I have nightmares that some mad drip from the ceiling of the supposedly climate-controlled storage facility is corroding my love as I sleep innocently in Tokyo......

just keep in mind that if you're going to have horizontal dropouts, you won't be able to take it on the track.


Do you know this for a fact? Is it in UCI regulations or something? I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just curious. At my old local drome (Burnaby), road conversions weren't allowed but the reason they always gave was that the bbs are too low for the banking. Naturally this doesnt have to be a problem on a custom roadfix frame.


i personally love both. i would go with the indi fab though, because i really just don't want to see that de rosa built up as a "conversion," no matter how nice. the frame deserves better and frankly, if i'm gonna drop the kind of money i think you will, my bike isn't going to have shifter bosses and derailler hangers

Wearyourtruth I see where you're coming from but it still seems absurd. You say that a custom high end road frame deserves better than to be run as a fg, and then in the same sentence you imply that a custom high end road frame is not good enough to run as a fg. I guess it has to do with personal preference but I really do like the old British path racer aesthetic for its built in flexibility.

Sorry bonzo for the OT.

Do you know this for a fact? Is it in UCI regulations or something? I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just curious. At my old local drome (Burnaby), road conversions weren't allowed but the reason they always gave was that the bbs are too low for the banking. Naturally this doesnt have to be a problem on a custom roadfix frame.

I don't think there's any UCI regulation, but most velodromes I've seen aren't eager to allow road conversions on. There's usually some hang-wringing, someone measures a bottom bracket to determine whether or not, and the rider either gets a rental bike or goes home. Major Taylor in Indy has a whole fleet of conversions they use as rentals.

i just read through the rulebook, and it didn't say anything about track ends v. horizontal dropouts. that being said, everyone i've spoken to has told me that you need track ends. also, you need rear-facing bars, and you must ride in the drops.

I'm interested because it seems like an easy way of keeping low-bb bikes off the track that may net a few false positives. Like if I had a regular track frame and just for S's and G's i had someone put horizontal dropouts on it, it'd be hard to justify keeping it off the track.

Fun Fact: the burnaby drome requires that spokecards be removed, to prevent them from flying out and causing hideous paper cuts I assume.

no, a spokecard could cause a nasty crash if it got between the contact patch of the tire and the track surface.

i'm sure tracks with aggressive banking check bb height, it's pretty easy to look at a bike and judge whether it has track geometry or not...and it it looks like not, it's gonna get a bb height check.

no, a spokecard could cause a nasty crash if it got between the contact patch of the tire and the track surface.
.

I can definitely see that working, if instead of a spoke card, it was a banana peel, and instead of real life, it was Super Mario Kart. I don't care though because it's one of those arbitrary rules that still makes sense, like how you have to wear white to play cricket. Also it's funny to watch people sheepishly pull all the flair off their hipstermobiles. At any rate at the burnaby velo there is a hazard that's much more sketchy and fun than either a banana peel or a 3*5 card. There are volleyball courts in the infield---this pays the drome's bills---and the players practice at the same time that they have cycling practice. So, every once in a while a volleyball comes over the netting and bounces on the track. Fun at 45 km/h? Yes.

If

A lot of great advice so far, thanks... Fyi I'm not riding this on the track. I'm using it for short commutes, weekend rides and moderate 20-25 mile rides. I'm not racing or anything like that. I'm just in my mid 30s now and want to see what the nicer bikes are all about. Maybe I'm gonna be flamed but I don't ride down in the drops too often. If that makes a difference.

Anyways, what do people think are the ride characteristics of both bikes? God, I am so torn and every week that goes by with my indecision is another week waiting to wait.

Go with your local framebuilder.

Oh yeah and BTW the frames are about the same price. I was also thinking that the De Rosa was too nice a frame to set up single speed but the reason I was led to it was because I was already thinking about spending it on an Indy Fab. Once I saw that I could get a steel De Rosa for the same price I went, "omg". Although I have no idea how it rides comparatively. I just love the looks. But I love how they both look! Argh.

Your requirements sound easy to satisfy and either way you'll have an amazing bike. This is, like, the opposite of a dilemma.

Flip a coin.

heads- De Rosa
Tails- Indy Fab

Go with your local framebuilder.

I agree with this guy.

IF
I have 2 and seriously thinking about a 3rd.
My experience with them was great.

go with the IF *drool*


after looking around on their site, i might just have to buy one one day *day dreams of IF bike sexiness*

does anyone know if the ride quality is going to differ much between the two frames?

Both are going to ride like magic carpets.

I'd say De Rosa...the Indys are nice, for sure, but the De Rosas are just beautiful. Though I do have a bit of a fetish for Italian lugs....

Go De Rosa!

IF's are real nice but a De Rosa made for you would be a special bike and give you the classic steel ride everyone tries to copy.

I do believe in supporting your local frame maker but at the same time you would also be supporting a historical handmade Italian frame maker in a dying field. The longer they stay around the better.

Cheers

I agree with this guy.

Me too.

get the one that fits best!

i personally love both. i would go with the indi fab though, because i really just don't want to see that de rosa built up as a "conversion," no matter how nice. the frame deserves better and frankly, if i'm gonna drop the kind of money i think you will, my bike isn't going to have shifter bosses and derailler hangers
Bikes don't have feelings. They are tools built up with interchangeable components. Sorry, but I think your statement is silly.

i mean horizontal dropouts. ... i'd have to do the eccentric bottom bracket thing with the vertical dropout and from what i hear it doesn't work out so well...

Why not just get a White Industries Eno hub for the rear wheel?

If you're building a velodrome racing track bike, that's one thing, but if you're getting an all-arounder, then why not make the frame flexible and then swap components?

What's the verdict?

oh man... i'm gonna get **** for this. so i go into this shop, looking for a neo primato to ride. well, turns out it's the owner's bike, and he's not in right now. great. instead i allow myself to get suckered and end up staring at a carbon fiber roadie. purely out of curiosity, wasn't looking to buy or anything. anyways, long story short - i took it for a test ride and was floored by the weight and feel of it. now i'm looking at getting a look frame. fully geared. go figure.

oh man... i'm gonna get **** for this. so i go into this shop, looking for a neo primato to ride. well, turns out it's the owner's bike, and he's not in right now. great. instead i allow myself to get suckered and end up staring at a carbon fiber roadie. purely out of curiosity, wasn't looking to buy or anything. anyways, long story short - i took it for a test ride and was floored by the weight and feel of it. now i'm looking at getting a look frame. fully geared. go figure.

Get out.

Well, that's one retrogrouch cured then!
Although I do disapprove of the gears;)