Classic & Vintage - The De Rosa is finished!

Ready for my first ride tomorrow morning!

Here is a pre-garage door shot, brand new tires and all.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e324/agk972/IMG_0032.jpg

Whoeeee that's a nice bike!

Saddle needs to be level though, no? Personal pref. maybe?

Slammin'

Soooooo beautiful! Great job! I love the blue into blue fading and don't even get me started on the cable routing.

:thumb: Very nice!

Whoeeee that's a nice bike!

Saddle needs to be level though, no? Personal pref. maybe?

Ha! When I took the photo, I knew someone would catch the fact that I accidentally tipped the saddle up when I moved the bike - I was adjusting the saddle and took the shot before final tightening and tweaking!

That is a beautiful bike. Somehow I knew it was going to look that good! Bring that hot rod up to St. Paul sometime and we'll let em have it!

Beautiful bike - nice groupset. Is the groupset '95 Record?

Wow, the blue fade looks great on that bike. Nice doesn't seem to do that bike justice.

Beautiful bike - nice groupset. Is the groupset '95 Record?

Thanks everybody! Hope it rides nice too, I'll be trying it out in a few minutes.

As for the group, very observant Gary! It's a combination of '95 and '98 Record (with a '96 Chorus headset).
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e324/agk972/IMG_0034.jpg

EDIT: Rides nice too! I just got back, and after stopping to tweak and adjust here and there, I wound up liking the saddle tilted up a bit. I prefer having a level rear part to sit on. Otherwise I feel like I'm falling forward.

The bike is stiff, yet forgiving (like good steel should be)! Very solid on the road - where the Cinelli required more attention to go straight, the De Rosa just goes! Could be the slightly smaller frame (57 vs 59) has something to do with it. But so far, so good! I messed up getting LONG presta valved tubes with threading. I'll have to fix that soon - nothing like forcing your pump head off a threaded valve!

Absolutely gorgeous.

I messed up getting LONG presta valved tubes with threading. I'll have to fix that soon - nothing like forcing your pump head off a threaded valve!

I bit my tongue and didn't mention that because some people get very defensive about such matters and it effectively boils down to nitpicking. However, given the overall beauty of the bike and given that you have fessed up regarding the valves, may I also point out that you might want to shorten the rearmost bit of cable housing on the rear derailleur cable, and perhaps change the angle of the handlebars ever so slightly downward to get the classic Italian look and thereby place the brifters in the position they were designed to be in.

I wondered about the rear derailleur cable housing. How do you know what length is best? Should the "loop" be smaller?

As for the bars, I'll play around with Brifter placement when I change the tape, but I just popped them off my old frame and stuck them on the new frame, housings and all. So the Italian look is flat lever hoods?

I keep my aero levers so they have flat tops (no brifters in my case). Here is a link if you want to see how it looks:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3662/3503571921_852fdb2895_o.jpg

One other nit-pick detail. When you change your tubes, it looks nice to have the tire logos on the same side of the bike and centered with the valve. These are small details though, that's still one hell of a bike.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3466/3383594964_7753bfd840_m.jpg

One other nit-pick detail. When you change your tubes, it looks nice to have the tire logos on the same side of the bike and centered with the valve. These are small details though, that's still one hell of a bike.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3466/3383594964_7753bfd840_m.jpg

I thought you put the logos opposite the valves, to balance out the tire better?

Nice Trek! So, is my jacked Brifter angle due to placement on the bar, or just upturned bars?

Nice Trek!

Wanna trade!! :innocent: (I wish)

About the tires, maybe some people do it that way. That is just what I was told as a standard.

I don't know a whole lot about brifter placement. The rule of thumb for old levers was that if you put a straight edge on the bottoms of the drops the tip of the lever should be touching. I think I read that brifters are placed opposite of that though, but I have no clue.

Wanna trade!! :innocent: (I wish)

About the tires, maybe some people do it that way. That is just what I was told as a standard.

I don't know a whole lot about brifter placement. The rule of thumb for old levers was that if you put a straight edge on the bottoms of the drops the tip of the lever should be touching. I think I read that brifters are placed opposite of that though, but I have no clue.

These brifters are driving me nuts. Most newer brifters place the lever closer to modern bars. Mine stand pretty far away from most modern bars. They shift perfectly every time, so I'm not complaining about them, I would just love a shim to move the lever closer to the bar. I guess I'll eventually be going 10 or 11 speed, but until then...

Also, I had the most comfortable ride with the saddle nose tilted up slightly. I lost that feeling of leaning on my hands, and felt balanced on the bike! Having the saddle "level" wasn't working for me. Glad I accidentally pointed the saddle up a little!

Also, I had the most comfortable ride with the saddle nose tilted up slightly. I lost that feeling of leaning on my hands, and felt balanced on the bike! Having the saddle "level" wasn't working for me. Glad I accidentally pointed the saddle up a little!

I've found the most comfortable tilt is with the nose slightly up, otherwise I'm constantly pushing myself back up the saddle. It's the difference between sitting on the saddle and being propped against it.

Lovely bike! A DE ROSA is the only other bike I really want. Getting one in my size, 62cm, is not so easy...

AndyK,

A few points,

It's your bike, don't worry about the OCD bike police. If the bars are comfortable for you, ride it as is, is the seat suits you, ride it as is, if the shifting on the rear is fine, ride it as is, if the tubes don't leak, ride it as is.


Most importantly, RIDE IT!

I thought you put the logos opposite the valves, to balance out the tire better?

I've heard this one before - its bollocks. If you trace its origins, I dare say you'll find that the originator was a poseur mechanic :lol:

-Kurt

AndyK,

A few points,

It's your bike, don't worry about the OCD bike police. If the bars are comfortable for you, ride it as is, is the seat suits you, ride it as is, if the shifting on the rear is fine, ride it as is, if the tubes don't leak, ride it as is.


Most importantly, RIDE IT!
+1000

I think it looks great!

AndyK,

A few points,

It's your bike, don't worry about the OCD bike police. If the bars are comfortable for you, ride it as is, is the seat suits you, ride it as is, if the shifting on the rear is fine, ride it as is, if the tubes don't leak, ride it as is.


Most importantly, RIDE IT!

Thanks, I hear ya! The OCD bike police are just trying to help. But I agree, ultimately, every bike owner is different, everyone likes their own setup, and the way a bike is set up is very personal. I appreciate attention to detail - if my tire labels are in the wrong place, it's good to know. Will I put the bars in a position I'm not happy with? Nope. But it's nice of everyone to give me their opinions and advice.

Pure sweetness ------ very nice! Lp

Fine tuning a new build is part of the fun, but ultimately OFG has got it right. Tomorrow, please ride the daylights out of it. Let us know what you think after a solid 35-40 mile ride. I'm riding a 60 mile route tomorrow on my SLX and if you would like to ask a question or two when you get back let me know. I'll be happy to give you a hand!

Really good looking bike Mr Primato! Your going to love it....I wouldn't trade mine for anything. And gomango you have an interesting name, you wouldn't own an old Mopar would you? I have a 1970 Dart Swinger 340 that is Gomango orange.

Good morning MarylandDeRosa! Long story about the name-let's shorten it though. My dad was the obsessed Mopar guy. He had a beautiful 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T in gomango orange. He had no fewer than eight muscle cars when we were growing up, most of them were outrageous! I never followed his lead though-I drove Triumph TR6s and two Porsches when I was young. I'll PM the rest of the car details and let the focus stay on this beautiful De Rosa.

Very nice buddy ... coool one

He had a beautiful 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T in gomango orange.

It's early, so it took me a minute. I was looking at it as "go-mango", like you were into smoothies or something! It's Go, man, GO! Cool.

That is a nice bike Andy!

geek

Beautiful bike! I love the paint. Ride the wheels off of it. :thumb:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e324/agk972/IMG_0032.jpg

It's early, so it took me a minute. I was looking at it as "go-mango", like you were into smoothies or something! It's Go, man, GO! Cool.


gomango is right, I don't want to hijack your thread. Mopar had many cool colors back then...Panther Pink, Lemon Twist yellow, Tor-Red, Citron Yellow, Plum Crazy, Butterscotch etc.

Had a chance to ride that beautiful DeRosa this weekend?

While on our club ride, two members that ride Colnagos were talking about a beautiful DeRosa they saw on Bikeforums this morning. They were talking about your bike! Way to go.

While on our club ride, two members that ride Colnagos were talking about a beautiful DeRosa they saw on Bikeforums this morning. They were talking about your bike! Way to go.

Awesome! Thanks. My bike is famous already!

I rode the bike yesterday, and will ride it for a longer ride tomorrow morning! I'll report back how the bike rides after adjusting it properly. Perfect cycling weather tomorrow morning, 55 and clear! :thumb:

Very nice! I admire any bike with a blue fade paint finish.

I've heard this one before [AndyK "I thought you put the logos opposite the valves, to balance out the tire better?"]- its bollocks. If you trace its origins, I dare say you'll find that the originator was a poseur mechanic :lol:

-Kurt

Not sure if that was tongue in cheek or not but...

My mechanic told me that the logo went opposite the valve so that you had 2 chances of finding the valve quickly, one by locating the valve itself and the other by finding the logo and knowing the valve would be opposite. I have no idea if this is a Japanese versus Italian, or whatever, way of doing things thing but it makes sense to me.

I know that my mechanic is the furtherest thing from a "poseur mechanic" you could possibly find having been in 2 Japanese olympic track teams ('68 & '72) and been mechanic and coach for Japanese teams in many international events. Most recently he was the Japanese mountain bike coach for the Athens Olympics. He was also Katakura Silk's master frame builder for about 40 years. Every tyre he's mounted for me has had the logo opposite the valve.

My own personal preference is for the logo and valve being together. However, this does cause a sort of a very small problem when the pump you are using is the standing type and the hose is too short to reach the valve at the top of the wheel. With the logo opposite the valve you spin the wheel to get the logo at the top (with the writing the right way up) and then use the pump at the bottom.

And I have to add... that is a beautiful De Rosa! I LOVE the dark blue/silver blue fade. I WANT ONE :p

And I have to add... that is a beautiful De Rosa! I LOVE the dark blue/silver blue fade. I WANT ONE :p

Thanks! And thanks for the insight, I knew putting the valves opposite the labels wasn't totally without reason!

UPDATE: I've decided to sell the De Rosa frame. It's just too small for me, and I don't like the high seatpost / low bars position. My Cinelli is a larger more comfy frame, so I'll stick with it for now. I'd like to be fair, and get what I paid for it ($775) before it goes to Ebay.

Anyone interested in the 57cm frame/fork/headset??