Originally Posted by
bigbossman
I've got one of those later, Basso built Pogliaghi's - a 1993 model I believe. It runs neck-and-neck with the Palo Alto as my favorite bike, and I regularly run it for long distances - last Saturday 114 miles and 9500 feet of climbing. Love love love it.
Just having some fun with you, Kurt. I'd have bought it already, but I'm not sure I wanna shell out 6 bills for an Italian bike with 9 speed Dura-ace.... >shudder<
I'm usually happy to shell out $400-$600 for a nice Italian ride with Dura Ace.
1) I know I can get my money out of the gruppo and the wheelset. Case in point is my Tommasini Sintesi. Buy the bike at the right price. Let's say $400 for grins. Sell the the entire drive train and wheelset to my buddy Tommy for $250. I just bought a legit 1994 Tommasini Sintesi frameset for $150. Hang a ( nicely aged) Chorus 10 speed gruppo on her, along with a Serotta Forum purchased wheelset, and you have a standout Italian steed for a grand. That works for me just fine. Its just a smart transaction at that point.
2) In the case of Pogliaghi, I swapped the non-Dura Ace bits for DA. I'll ride the bike with pride until I decide what to do. Do I give up a thing in terms of performance? Hardly. Do the guys I ride with care for one second that its DA. Hardly.
3) I raced Colnagos with DA 7400. This stuff just plain works. I also have a Colnago Master Extra Light w/ 9 speed DA. Does anybody care other than the "guys" on the boards? Nope.
I know some folks that even have 9 speed DA on De Rosas. Shudder!
Ride both brands, enjoy both brands for their own merits. So simple really.