All,

I have a question about the BB shell on late '70's/early'80's DeRosas. From what I've read there should be slots in the BB shell? Is this always the case? There's one I saw recently on the auction block that has a solid bb shell with a flat cut into the bottom.

I am not all that familiar with the timeline and whether there are variations or not. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Kurt

https://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...5.jpg~original

Came up as an invalid link for me.

Cinelli SC investment cast shells had an area that was flat... I don't think DeRosa used them.

During that period De rosa was more like a workshop with limited production: I've seen many different BB shells' stiles in bikes of that period.

Are you talking about this repainted red one on eBay?

De Rosa Professional Frame Fork 58cm Classic Road Columbus Campagnolo '79 '80 | eBay

Seems like an odd one to me. Is that fork font correct? Sans-seriff and no heart in the O?

Yup. That's the one. From what I've been able to glean from Hilary Stone's timeline, I can understand the lack of heart shaped cutouts on the lugs, but nothing is mentioned about a bb shell like the one shown in the ad. I also didn't read where it had been repainted.

I tried reloading the pic. That's what it reminds me of is a Cinelli IC shell. I have one laying around here someplace but thought it had Cinelli cast into the flat

The font on the fork crown looks very different from any De Rosa I have seen.

Agreed.

It appears to me to be a Cinelli shell without the raised lettering. I referenced the auction.
The wallet question is if this frame set is legit or not. I guess for me, I would smile and wave.
A frame set in original paint where there would be no questions is not going to be that big an increase over the asking price here.

That sure looks like a standard Cinelli shell. Either the Cinelli logo was filed off, or it could have been provided blank (Cinelli actually made shells that were branded TREK in the flat space, I presume they were amenable to other names or even black space if requested).

Nice examples aren't that hard to find at a decent price.

I happen to know where a couple of them are located.

Do tell!

I haven't been following the market that closely, only what I've seen in recent days on the auction block. It seemed lower than a lot of other high end frames out there.

I'll pm you pronto.

I'm really curious about the fork - is that a really uncommon variant? A fork from from the "other" De Rosa? A homemade or otherwise fraudulent job? Anyone have any insight?