“Dear forums, I never thought this would happen to me” started every letter to Penthouse Forums, as some schlub would be seduced by a beautiful woman way beyond anything he could have imagined.

Well, I’ve been looking for the right DeRosa for years. To the point I’ve been collecting period pantographed components anticipating the day I’d fine one in the 1970-73 era, and in my size.

Last year in Gaiole, some panto campy brakes were found.

In some co-op bins, I located a chain ring in both 53 and 52.

A black painted (not anno) Cinelli stem was brought back to life.

I even found a DeRosa wool jersey in Cambria last year.

all that was needed is a frame.

On October 6th, I drove to Bend to deliver some wine to a famous athlete and deliver an Ibis “Spanky” to its new owner.

“Wanna see my other bikes” will always get a yes.

This gentleman, former racer, daily rider, has a decent collection of good bikes in mostly rideable condition. This being Bend, where the city created a map of all the gravel trails, you can imagine 90% of his stable is Mt or gravel related. Sure, there are a couple of Italians, an Oriental Blue mid-70s MASI, an ancient OLMO, but all too tall for me and often shod with Dura-ace, when I prefer Campy.

Over tacos and beer at the Yacht Club (great name for a food truck corral with beer), the conversation turned to the difference between a hoarder and a collector. My personal philosophy is a “hoarder” has bikes that aren’t even their size, so can’t be ridden.

He explained, some bikes are art, like his Huffy “Daisy” tandem that sits in the backyard, offering whimsy to what would be a boring patch of grass.

Then he cocked his head and said, “come with me, I have more in the shed.”

Built so his wife could park a car in their garage, and filled with bikes that aren’t his favorite, don’t fit, or future projects.

“Um, we will have to take turns, there is only room for one person,” he said.

My eyes had to adjust from the vast bright central Oregon sky to a small one window shed. I spied a DiNucchi, a Campy and 3ttt clad early 70s 3Rensho, and on a shelf, a 1971 DeRosa frame in gold.



The fork is behind the box.


“What’s up with that” I asked as calmly as possible, hoping my voice didn’t crack.

“Oh, I traded some DeWalt tools for it when I decided to go 100% Milwaukee. But I was told it’s a 57 when it’s actually too small for me.”

It was a perfect 56ctc. My size.

“So how much are you into it?”

“I dunno. I always liked the idea of a DeRosa, but I don’t have the parts, and I really don’t ride road.”

He then added, “I wouldn’t sell it, but I’d be open to trades.”

A tour of the rest of the house revealed he was also passionate about McIntosh audio.

I saw a mish-mash of components of Mac, Pioneer and Sansui. This was my in.

Two weeks later, I asked sweetie if she wanted to go to Bend, I bought her a ticket to the “Locavore” dinner, booked the Element hotel downtown Bend and grabbed the weims.

“Are we bringing our bikes,” she asked.

“Nope,” not a bike-themed weekend, I said.

And it wasn’t. Nice dinner, cocktails, wine in the hot tub. Brunch, big hike, various small breweries, more hikes, tacos, etc. She actually thanked me for not dragging her to co-ops, shops and bike swaps.

“Just one more stop sweetie, I have to drop off some Mac components.”

No money changed hands. Both parties ecstatic with the deal. Even sweetie profusely thanked me for making the trip about the things she wanted to do. Not even sure she noticed the frame and fork shoved in the hatch.

Sweet!

Kool. Vintage audio is also an 'in' with me. Good work, will make a worthy project.

Great story. Loved going to Bend to play the many golf courses.

My god! that frame is cleaner than my dinner plate!

Pics now that I’m home:







Bottle cage mounts are bolts instead of nuts!!

Oh, I guess it's okay. If you like that sort of thing, that is.

Nice score. I look forward to seeing it built up.

Resprayed to a reasonable standard.

my favorite DeRosas are from 1974-75 with the short point lugs and the more squat heart cutout on the downtube lug.

yeah, I hear you. I guess this is just trash.

haha

Like I said, I’ve been waiting for this

Congratulations! What a nice story and wonderful score!

Funny you should define a hoarder as someone collecting bikes/frames in anything other than in the "right" size. That was the one thing I put up as a "cap" on my collecting and I did it from the start. It has to be in my size (58-60 c/c depending on use/other measurements). It has served me well. edit... But I might be a hoarder anyway...

I have the same dream - an early 70ies De Rosa. I do know of one here in Sweden, in my size, and I have been trying to pry it out of the owners hands for a long time. Still no success.

Enjoy yours and the satisfaction of finding it the way you did.

Congratulations. DeRosas earlier than the mid 1980s are very rare in the US as only a few shops self-imported them.

beautiful bike. little jelly.

You going to do a Record chrome steel headset, or push it later, and go with a 74+ SR aluminum one?

I am in the same boat to a degree. I'm a rider, so getting everything dated "correct" isn't my thing on a respray.

Your stem is like +15 already, so just curious.

Dang it's like that panto was made just for this bike! Can't wait to see the full build.

I’ve always avoided the Italian marks as part of my cap, the Italian bicycle scene has always seemed like it’s own sub culture in the universe of classic bicycles. No Campy either. Just British, Japanese, and US At this point.
And this post is why! Look at those parts! The detail! Gorgeous! and that frame… sheeeesh….
Beautiful craftsmanship all over the place.
Tell me it’s got tight geo and won’t fit a tire wider than 25 or 23 with fenders. I need reasons to not want one

I just installed the proper headset, the one with the C inside the diamond…<c>.

Mainly, because I had one in my parts bin.

you are correct on the stem. It is too new, but I already own it. So I will use it for now.

A real eagle eye will notice that my brakes have the correct QR, but the shoes are post 78.

I hope nobody notices, my Derosa / campy cranks have an 82 date stamp on them.

shhhh!

How confident are you in this being a '71? I'm no expert, but a couple of features on this one say '73-'76 if I'm reading the Classic De Rosa guide correctly -- namely, the hearts on the fork crown and the circled heart on the seat stay cap. Both of those match mine, which I've been told is a '73. I like that the seat stay pantograph is off-center -- gives it more of a "hand made" feel. I've also got the protruding bottle cage bosses, which I think are very cool.

Your bottom bracket cutout is different than mine. I've got a cutout heart there. I don't think that tells us much as this feature seems to have been quite variable in those years.

Congrats on a very nice find!

Beautiful frame. High marks for the wife diplomacy, also.

The need for fenders alone is mostly going to keep you outa Italian territory.

That color is going to go awesome with the silver bits. Flashy in a reserved way if you will.

Ok
here we go

i was surprised to find more than one set with the <c> on the headset lower race, which kinda cracks me up a little. They put branding where no one would see it unless that part is off the bike.

a quick bic pen test and I grabbed the best. The other, I’m marking as “bad” and will market it for a “wall hanger.”



The is stamped on the underside of the race crown and the lower cup. This was only offered from mid 60-70s. Part number 1039, record strada.

I held up the fork and didn’t like what I saw. Then I grabbed a wheel to see just how out of true it really was.

I have some work to do. Put it in a vice. The spread was 96mm. Hmmmm. Brought the one tine out and it almost looked right. Wheel test said otherwise. Maybe a hair extra paint in a drop. A hair down there translates to many hairs where the rim rotates. A round file removed excess paint and things look good again.




Can you say Isometric work out?

50 degrees in basement but I worked up a sweat doing very little.

Remove just a touch of paint made all the difference.

thanks Andy!!

I love your bike. If the paint wasn’t perfect, I would have dipped it and painted it orange like yours.

I have no confidence in figuring out the year of any Italian bike.

It isn’t like the calendar year turned and Framebuilders said, “toss out these bits, we’re on to these now.”

both frame and fork are stamped “30” so I know they match.

the fork crown is flat. No slope at all like the 72-73s.

Panto? Yes!

Easier to add a lil panto than recast a fork crown.



The guide Andy was referring to. I totally see what he means by the holes in the tangs and the heart panto.

This crown is missing the holes in the tangs, and the panto, but the crown is flat all the way across.





Andrea had been emailed. He confirmed 71. Says it matches his personal bike exactly.

Also, there was a lil bag of parts, a slightly chewed up patent 1971 derailleur which means absolutely certain… Nothing.

could have been what was laying around or even a replacement at some point.

here is a pic of a set of lugs from 1968 (supposedly) further adding to my confusion.



Nothing makes sense.

Fantastic Bike !