Charles wrote:
"My more or less annual plea to buy outright, or trade for, a pressed-lug De Rosa, in Ugo candy blue, from the early 1970s, with the short-point dubois lugs, as shown here:
http://www.43bikes.com/
55-56 cm center-to-top seat-tube only. Can be a full bike, partial bike, or just frame and fork. Besides color and size and lug-style/vintage the other non-negotiable is that it must be original finish and graphics.
If you have one to pass along, or know where one might be had, please let me know. I'll pay a more than fair price for the right example. I also have a number of interesting things to offer in trade, so let's talk if you have one of these."
While not quite what Charles was asking for, there is a friend of mine who is offering an even somewhat more uncommon De Rosa bike, namely the 1969 De Rosa bike that you can see in the photos located here for sale: http://fotoalbum.virgilio.it/
This bike was built for the pro Franco Mori when he raced for the Sanson team in 1969. The ownership of this bike is known from day one, so there is no mistake that it is indeed Mori's bike. This has also been confirmed by Ugo De Rosa who pointed out a number of features that would not normally have been found on regular shop-sold bikes in those years. The bike has been repainted twice, the present paint color is the one that Ugo said would have been original on the Sanson team bike.
The bike is fitted with what seems to be mostly all original components (the previous owners were not absolutely sure whether parts had been changed out apart from the bars and stem and saddle). The brakes are the "no-name" 1st generation calipers and the levers with the round hole access on the rear of the levers and extra-light anodizing of the brake lever bodies. The rear derailleur is the correct "Patent" model. From what I recall the hubs have the period-correct lock nuts and cones... The bike originally came with Cinelli bars and stem and a Unicanitor saddle, the bars and stem were changed some time back and the NOS saddle was just fitted now. The bars were going to be switched out but this would have meant destroying the leather wrap, so were left for the time being.
I will be getting the exact measurements by tomorrow. I do seem to recall that it was a 56 cm C/C X 56 cm C/C.
The asking price is $5,000
Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ
USA