First I have to say I cannot a team in which both Moser and Gradi rode together. Gradi's professional career started in 1981 according to the information I have found. Sammontana rode Benotto frames for 1981 and 1982; in 1983 and 1984 it appears that they rode De Rosa frames in precisely the same colours as this track bike. And Sammontana were sponsored by Bianchi in 1985 and 1986. The team manager remained the same from 1981 to 1986. That would also tie in better with the bike - this De Rosa has cast lugs which I believe came in on De Rosa frames around 1979/80. This colour scheme I have seen on road frames too several times (I had one for sale several years ago with the same scheme and transfers) and all these frames have been from the early/mid 1980s. This leaves us then with the problem that Francesco Moser was riding with other teams in 1983 (Gis Gelati) and 1984 (Gis Tuc Lac) both teams on Moser frames. It's quite possible that Moser rode De Rosa frames rebadged as Moser at this time though I think this not very likely as Moser's own frame building business had been up and running since about 1979. There is certainly good evidence that in the 1970s Moser rode De Rosa frames rebadged as Moser before he started his own business. Perhaps there was a Sammontana track team that Moser rode with - riders did sometimes have different sponsors for their track riding... Its also quite possible that the frame had been repainted later in the De Rosa Sammontana team colours.
Hilary Stone, Bristol, England
matteo brandi wrote:
> Mr.Hollenberg et all
>
>
> Is you opinion based on checkin old bicisports or an actual facts?HAve
> you ever thought that this might be a repainted one?bikes were passed on
> ,other pros and maybe amateurs,i wouldnt be surprised if they got
> repainted.Ill call mr derosa today,as he didnt reply my last email about
> those very details.BTW,on the cover on on old bicisport,there is Moser
> with a MOSER branded bike that has DE ROSA stamped seatstay caps.I also
> wonder,why MR.DE ROSA would lie?HE told me that MOSER and GRADI rode
> with de rosa in the 70s and ARGENTIN in the 80s.Also,the guy i got the
> bike from,is the same guy(hes an ex-BIANCHI team manager)that i got a
> reparto corse built bianchi from. I offered that bianchi to the list a
> while ago,and that was eventually purchased by Ken Denny.Stay
> tuned,hope to get more infos as soon as possible.
>
> Matteo Brandi FIRENZE,ITALIA