Originally Posted by
Old Fat Guy
The reason De Rosa's command a premium is that they are amongst the best riding bikes available.
To me it makes no difference if it is a pressed lug bike or an investment cast lug. I think the ride quality tells it all. Ugo and his son are top tier builders, by anyone's metrics. It would stand to reason that a bike that was built after 40 years of experience would be better than an early bike, or else you are saying he didn't learn a thing in the decades he's been building, and is a lousy teacher and couldn't pass anything to his son.
I respectfully disagree. With any hand-made object, craftsmanship comes into play. Anybody can build a bike that rides well - and De Rosa certainly does. But it doesn't require a high-level of frame-building technique in and of itself to achieve that. What has set De Rosa apart is indeed craftsmanship. I don't think it at all "stands to reason" that a bike built later is necessarily better than one one built earlier - unless you don't understand the role played by labor-saving technology and marketing. (Incidentally, Ugo has three sons - I'd expect a De Rosa fan like yourself to know that. And are you really saying it took Ugo 40 years to understand what makes for good ride quality?) De Rosa has at times been compelled by market forces to employ and emphasize elements of bicycle building other than those of hand work and traditional skills. If you can't discern the difference between the carefully sculpted lugwork of a circa '77 De Rosa from the "taped" plug-in drop outs of some of the De Rosas of the 80's - well, then, I honestly feel sorry for you. Like I said, I didn't expect everyone to "get it."