We still haven't figured out the red DeRosa on e-bay, and I really do want to know...
To summarize the discussion:
Ken Denny appears to own two very similar late 1950s De Rosas, one green and bought about a year ago (the bike on 43bikes), the other red and restored, with unknown provenance. Both are the same size, and both feature the "Cinelli-type" seatstay attachment that the Ken reports to be unique based on a purported communication from the De Rosa family.
Unfortunately, Ken Denny is unable to contribute to this discussion, because he is barred from this list. I believe that it would be useful to have his voice heard, and - pending permission from the listmaster - I will gladly forward anything Ken has to say to this list. I already received two messages from him on this subject, but they are not suitable for forwarding...
If Ken has additional documentation, as he claims, he can share it in a variety of ways. He can post scans of his trade catalogues, original invoices and whatnot to his photo account, and send us the link, so we can all look at it. His current stance of "I have documentation to prove this is genuine, but I won't show it to anybody" is hardly going to instill a lot of confidence.
I am assured that Ken is an honest gentleman, otherwise, my working hypothesis would be that the red bike on e-bay is a recent copy of the green (original) bike. The two are so similar, yet apparently not the same bike. Considering the prices of custom frames these days, the financial payoff for such fakery would be small, so my hypothesis would be that this is a prank. (Hypothesis 1)
An alternative hypothesis is that the red bike on e-bay is in fact the green bike, and the restoration was one of those "Pebble Beach - make them better than new" jobs, involving "cleaning up" De Rosa's original workmanship. That seems to be even less viable financially, as it might be easier to make a copy than to clean up the original. (Hypothesis 2)
The third, and perhaps most likely, alternative hypothesis is that Ken Denny owns two almost identical historical De Rosas. That is not as far-fetched as it might seem - maybe he bought the green bike to serve as a guide in restoring the red one. However, that would make the auction claim of the "unique" seatstay attachment incorrect, as there are at least two bikes with this attachment. Note that Ken does not say that the bike is unique, he just says that De Rosa said that the bike was unique. (Hypothesis 3)
I am sure other listmembers can come up with more hypotheses. Then Ken can tell us which is correct, and the listmember who guessed it correctly wins the prize for the "super bike sleuth" at the next Cirque. I offer a 1-year subscription to Bicycle Quarterly to the winner.
Seriously, Ken, we know you are reading this. Let's hear from you. Where did you buy the bike? What did it look like when you bought it? What was done to it during restoration?
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
140 Lakeside Ave #C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.bikequarterly.com