Hey

I recently bought a De Rosa Merak off of the internet from Total Cycling in Northern Ireland and had it shipped to the USA. I have had the bike for two weeks now, and I love the bike. I am really not the one to be able to make comparisons to other bikes though. My last bicycle was a 1983 Benotto with suntour components, and my 2002 Merak equipped with 2002 Campy Record components is a huge, huge upgrade. The forum members here were a great help to me in deciding which cassette size to buy, which gruppo, which wheelset, and even frame size. Thanks guys!!! If you are serious about getting a Merak, right now is probably a great time to buy because its the end of season. The American retailers who deal De Rosa are even starting to lower their prices. Still www.totalcycling.com is probably your best bet for price. If you can't find the size or color you want on their website I would suggest calling them by telephone. They MIGHT be able to hook you up. It cost me $30 to ship the frame/forks and I paid 3.9% duty which came to $55. I went to the Interbike Show yesterday to check out all the other brands, (and I may be biased now that I am a De Rosa owner, but IMHO De Rosa makes the best looking frames). I saw Eddy Merckx at his booth. His bikes are beautiful. Guess who built many of his frames for him when he was busy winning 5 Tour de Frances and his 3 World Championships??? You guessed it Ugo De Rosa. De Rosa also helped him set up his frame building factory in Belgium.