Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - De Rosa

Hello everybody! It sure has been a while since I last visited this site. I have been very busy with work, and just started commercial diving college. Anyway, one of my uncles showed me a road bike he has had for a while, and said he wants me to sell it for him. It is a red De Rosa Campy Record frame with all sorts of cool stuff on it. Here is the parts list:

- Shimano 600 rear derailleur
- Original Campy front derailleur
- LOOK clipless pedals
- Shimano 600 crank arms
- Shimano SG chain rings
- Mavic CXP 30 wheelset
- Profile quill stem
- Campy Brev Int headset
- Syntace aero bars
- Cateye Mity 2 computer
- Shimano 600 brakeset
- Turbo Specialized red/black tires
- Selle Italia Titanium Flite
- French made chain
- Campy dropouts
- Shimano HG (hyperglide) 7 speed cassette
- "1973 1974 1975 Trophee Super Prestige Arc en Ciel Eddy MERCK X" sticker on right side of top tube
- I cannot find the serial number (anybody know where it would be?)

(See below for pictures)

How much do you think I should try to sell it for? I am thinking about selling it on Craigslist, that way nobody needs to pay $100 for shipping. :rolleyes: Thanks for reading!

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c292/Arice77/For%20Sale/De%20Rosa/PA170514.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c292/Arice77/For%20Sale/De%20Rosa/PA170516.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c292/Arice77/For%20Sale/De%20Rosa/PA170515.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c292/Arice77/For%20Sale/De%20Rosa/PA170513.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c292/Arice77/For%20Sale/De%20Rosa/PA170512.jpg

Send that junker to me. Heck I'll even pay the shipping charges. :) Beautiful bike.

Selling on C/L really depends on your market. In my market, a high end bike like that will sell at a significant discount to ebay, due to a lack of buyers.

Selling on ebay likely means parting it out which would be a shame. Others have espoused a strategy of putting it on ebay as a whole bike with a starting price acceptable to you. If it does not sell, at that point, consider parting it out.

I will leave the valuation to others more knowledgable, certainly it is pretty substantial (at least to a thrifty guy like me).

Those triathlon bars decrease its value as a whole bike IMHO. But if you part it out, that will not matter.

I love that frame. Since I live in your city I think you should let me ride it for a couple of weeks and I can give you my opinion on value.;)
Good luck with whatever you do.

First of all, I'm a little biased. I love DeRosas. Let's just say I like to ride them a lot. I would do a little research before you let this baby go for peanuts on CL. It will need to go to ebay to get closer to true value, maybe in a "no reserve" auction. Why don't you take your time and watch ebay for a bit? Have some fun with this and do it right. Are you ready to take great pictures? Will you ship abroad? Do you have a trusted shop that will box this up for you? Are you aware that the bike is a little bit of a mixed bag component wise, but still a beauty? Take your time, and the right DeRosa fan will come out of the woodwork. Oh, I'd buy it for my wife but she has at least one already.

I would do a little research before you let this baby go for peanuts on CL.

I am doing research right now, and I am doing the research so it doesn't sell for peanuts on CL. ;)


It will need to go to ebay to get closer to true value, maybe in a "no reserve" auction.

How, exactly, can I put it up onto eBay and not sell it? Do I end the auction before it is over? I never understood how that has worked, and I have had the account since last year. I have a feedback of 61 at 100%.


Are you ready to take great pictures? Will you ship abroad? Do you have a trusted shop that will box this up for you?

Yes. YES. YES!!!! Tell me more!!! Tell me more!!!!! :p My cousin has a Canon G10, so I will just borrow it to take quality pictures. I used my Olympus Stylus 770 (the one I use for my underwater photography) for the ones I posted here because that was the only camera I had access to at the moment.

I will ship it, but I don't like having to pay such a large shipping fee before PayPal transfers the money to my bank account. God I wish they would speed it up. It sucks when they pay on a Thursday or Friday too, because PayPal doesn't do $#!+ on the weekends. :innocent:

I work at the best bike shop in Orange County, so yeah... I have a trusted bike shop to package it up for me. :D


Are you aware that the bike is a little bit of a mixed bag component wise?

Yeah...but thats how he bought it. It isn't fully original anyways because the original owner replaced all of the components (with exception to the front derailleur) with Shimano 600. How is Shimano 600 compared to Shimano 100?

Thank you everybody for posting!

$600-700 as it sits.

Bikes with uniform componentry tend to bring the best money, for lack of a better word, cobbled together bikes bring less. Period correct bikes bring good money versus bikes with parts from different eras/generations.

I hope your not offended but, it has an odd mix of parts which is gonig to hurt the price. Syntace TT bars on an Italian road racing bike? Bad combo. If it were my bike I'd dump the Syntace setup and replace it with a Cinelli bar/stem combo. From a cost perspective you may come out ahead on the conversion if the Syantace bars and bar end shifters are resold.

My best estimate would be $60-80 to convert it.

I think you mean 105...and 600 is a notch above, second only to DuraAce. But this at least has a Campy HS and seat post, the wheels aren't appealing to me, but they are high quality and shouldn''t detract from the value...those bars might, though. If you want to maximize appeal, I'd swap out the "Triathlete stuff" for a conventional drop bar, you can keep the barcons. Clean up the surface rust, wax the paint and take your beauty shots.

I will ship it, but I don't like having to pay such a large shipping fee before PayPal transfers the money to my bank account. God I wish they would speed it up. It sucks when they pay on a Thursday or Friday too, because PayPal doesn't do $#!+ on the weekends. :innocent:!

$70 isnt alot of money in comparison to the convenience of being able to advertise to buyers around the world. Its not PP that doesnt operate on weekends, they do.....its the entire banking industry that doesnt operate on weekends. I can pay people with PP on weekends, they can pay me on weekends, their website works, PP obviously works on weekends. Dam, Bank of America's not open on Sunday, can you hold the bike for me until Monday? Feel fortunate you dont own the shop you work for, CC charges take alot more than 3 days to show up in the owners account!!!!

I would have given you advice on how to save a potential 4% on an International transaction but perhaps it can be a lesson learned. Then again, you could always take a money order or personal check

No offense taken! It is my uncles, so he will pay for the conversion. :D I was thinking about putting drop bars on it anyway. I prefer drops over aero any day. How much would you say it would sell for after converting it to drop bars? He will probably let me keep the aero bars (if he does, then I am just going to paint them black and put them on the track bike I am trying to sell... :D

P.S. It still has the mounts on the down tube for the shifters...the cable just runs through them, so it should be easy to just put the right shifter on the mount.

P.P.S. I know that I have missed a ton of other posts, but I am hungry and am gong to go eat. When I get back, I will respond to you guys. I should be back within 30-40 minutes.

I think Miamijim is very close. Watch ebay for a bit, you'll get the idea.:)

How much would you say it would sell for after converting it to drop bars?

It may not go for more but it will be much more saleable. Bikes w/ TT bars limit your market. Bikes w/ drop bars do not.

I talked to my uncle about it, and he just wants to sell it as is. I told him everything you guys told me, and he still said to just sell it as is. Thanks for the help everybody.

Oh, and I have a secret project I have been working on for a while that you may like to see ;)

PM me if you want to see the refurbishing thread.

A friend of mine just sold one on ebay full Dura Ace for $687.00 plus shipping.

Was it through "Buy It Now", "Best Offer", or bidding style auction?

I hope your not offended but, it has an odd mix of parts which is gonig to hurt the price. Syntace TT bars on an Italian road racing bike? Bad combo. If it were my bike I'd dump the Syntace setup and replace it with a Cinelli bar/stem combo. From a cost perspective you may come out ahead on the conversion if the Syantace bars and bar end shifters are resold.


I beg to differ in a couple of points:

a. there are a lot of triathletes out there (me semi-included; semi- because I am building a tri-bike on a Gios Torino Super Record frame; on a second thought... what size is that bike? ;) and that looks like a 53/39 up front with an about 26 large in the back - sweet) who would drool for such a set up; and they are used to throwing ultra-large bills at aluminum and carbon bikes.... With proper marketing (sell it as a triathlon bike, for starters) it can go far ways and will bring a better price that if you tried to restore to original

b. which brings this thought: If I was interested in a vintage Italian racing bike, as a collector, I would bypass anything that has Shimano components (that is a sure fire excommunication), other than maybe stripping it off them and restoring it with Super Record components.

the a. crowd will pay much more than the b. crowd. Starter junk Tri bikes sell for $1200 or so and they are several steps (esp. frame-wise) behind your bike...

just a thought.

It might take a while to sell, but it will eventually will and at a price that would make you happy.

I beg to differ in a couple of points:

a. there are a lot of triathletes out there (me semi-included; semi- because I am building a tri-bike on a Gios Torino Super Record frame; on a second thought... what size is that bike? ;) and that looks like a 53/39 up front with an about 26 large in the back - sweet) who would drool for such a set up; and they are used to throwing ultra-large bills at aluminum and carbon bikes.... With proper marketing (sell it as a triathlon bike, for starters) it can go far ways and will bring a better price that if you tried to restore to original

b. which brings this thought: If I was interested in a vintage Italian racing bike, as a collector, I would bypass anything that has Shimano components (that is a sure fire excommunication), other than maybe stripping it off them and restoring it with Super Record components.

the a. crowd will pay much more than the b. crowd. Starter junk Tri bikes sell for $1200 or so and they are several steps (esp. frame-wise) behind your bike....

Maybe....but its not a tri-bike. Its a classic Italian Road Racer with tri-bars. The perception of there being alot of tri-racers is simply that, a perception. If I hung out a bowling alleys all day I'd think the entire world was populated by bowlers. TDont get me wrong I'm sure there're alot of tri-racers out there but not that many. The OP's bike is neither aluminum or carbon. Tampa/St. Pete is a huge triathlete martket....thay all want dedicated TT bikes, the one's that dont are happy with whatever.



b. more than a. The bike has inherenet value as a classic Italian road racer not as tri-bike. You can buy TTT/tri styles bars anywhere......not so much with a De Rosa. Keep in mind that from '85 through '92 Campy component were second rate to even lowly Shimano 105. There's a reason ther Italians spec'd Shimano, if they didnt, they wouldnt have sold any bikes

+1 Miamijim. We started using Shimano before '85 though. More like 82-83. Worked better in crits imho.
This DeRosa is not a true TT/Ti. It would do in a pinch, or for someone that wanted to try a triathlon for the first time, or dabble on a limited basis. Then again I've seen people race mountain bikes at local tri events, but that certainly does not make it a good choice. Its a make-do. Also this argument about the "engine" being the most important component in bike racing is true, but ya gotta have the right gear to really go!

He sold his through bidding style.