Peroni

I got pretty lucky at auction on E-bay, I'm still puzzled about it.
This seller will ship the bicycle, I paid $1,925 plus $100 to ship from CA to FL.
I was going to try and post a link to the page, but I'm new and can't yet.
An established member could search it and post a link, it doesn't search easily, now that the auction is over.

Vintage De Rosa Nuovo Classico 56cm Road Bike All Campagnolo Mint

I tried to say it wasn't mint, for some reason, it's not a coin.
I didn't think it'is really old enough to classify as vintage either, maybe it does, sort of.

It's gray and cream with the rear tire missing from the wheel, is the bike.

I think it was built sometime in the 90's, and I'm not familiar with the components.
I have to buy a shop stand, and more bicycle tools, or pay a shop lots money, always.

I have a similar bike with a Guerciotti frame and similar components, but not the same.
The De Rosa is pretty nice, and I don't want to mess anything up due to ignorance.

cb400bill

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-De-...p2047675.l2557

cb400bill

Is there a question?

Peroni

Thanks, thats the bike.
I expect it will arrive Fri. to Wed. next week, I haven't bought a bicycle since the late 80's, and it was from a bicycle shop, never at auction and shipped from CA.
I know that I have to learn how to take care of the bicycle, if I wan't to ride it at all.
I'll start reading, and I will lean, if I search the forum, and try. I haven't changed a bicycle tire in many years, I'm embarrassed to admit.

I don't have a tracking number yet, they will probably ship it out today.
I'll start making a list, and looking for good tires on backorder.

ridelikeaturtle

If you get the bike you want, you didn't pay too much (if that was the question). A De Rosa is always going to be one of those "ooh I'd love one of those" bikes for me, but always a bit out of reach.

That frame looks absolutely stunning and perfect condition, I've never seen that design, and I love the colors. Aside from the wheels & tyres there's nothing I'd do differently (except silver pedals and bottle cages, maybe play around with bar tape options), so WELL DONE on getting a beautiful bike!

SJX426 

Lovely bike. Lovely price!

Kabuki12

Nice bike! I know these sell for a lot of money but I know nothing about the model or if you got a decent deal. It is coming from my own back yard here in Ventura. Enjoy riding and working on it. This forum can help in many ways if you are just getting into bicycle maintenance and or repair. It is a great hobby and enhances the riding part of cycling. Most folks I know , particularly in the C&V crowd , work on their own bikes.

Peroni

I had been looking at bicycles for weeks and ran across it by accident, I didn't know what a De Rosa bicycle was two weeks ago.
Luckily, the auction had several days to go, and I kept looking at it, and did some research to find out what it is.

I like the not colorful paint, too, I read that it's not very durable, so I had better be careful with spray solvents.
I've almost bought a bicycle that I'm afraid to use, I don't know why, it's easy to spend a lot more on a bicycle.

Charles Wahl

Frankly, it's not a good start to begin your cycling career with a whingey introductory post about eBay. The auction is clearly stated as being for an "estate find" which leads to the subtext that the seller is not that familiar with bikes him or herself. The bike looks pretty "mint" to my eyes, as mint as any bike that was ridden with any seriousness whatsoever. The photos and description appear to be fairly forthright, in terms of showing minor issues (rusting of a few components, not terribly serious, and to be expected in a salt-air environment like Ventura CA). Nobody holds a gun to one's head in the bidding on eBay; if you put in a top bid of (say) $2000 and you win with $1925, your margin of "victory" was $75, so don't complain about the price you've paid. Sniping is how things are done on eBay, for a long, long time now. All things considered, a lot of folks here would say that you got a good deal, right off the bat, if you're really interested in cycling.

Others will be able to tell instantly, but I can't -- the wheels (rims) may be for tubular tires (the alternative being clinchers). If those are tubulars, they might not be the best starting place for a bike-tyro -- more complicated maintenance when flatted, if an arguably better ride. The shifting system is modern, advanced, that is to say "complicated when it doesn't function properly". When you get the bike, you may, as a beginner, find all sorts of really basic issues that confront you. The bike may be the wrong size for you, or it may need some maintenance ("hanging in garage for year !" [year[b]s?]) that will be difficult to accomplish without specialized tools that are expensive. Even if the bike performs as it was designed perfectly, and fits, you may not be comfortable on a "racing" "skinny tire" type. Bike shops -- though reputable expert ones still exist, they're getting harder and harder to find; most of them having devolved into sales outlets, staffed by know-nothings who break or ruin rather than repair, and whose answer to every problem is to sell you new stuff rather than dealing with the old (again: expensive). If all you wanted was a bike to ride, buying a fairly expensive one at the outset, with little prior experience, was probably not the best place to start. I suggest that you find a local person (may also be a daunting task, especially in pandemic time) that knows more than a little about bicycles, whom you can trust for advice. The only alternative is here.

On the other hand, you might find it delightful, and just the thing you wanted. On the plus side, the photos show a bike that looks incredibly clean, and it's a very-much-sought-after brand with top-notch components. To clean the frame, start with only water and some dish soap, and don't use anything harsher unless you check out that something with folks here. For rust that's not too far advanced, I recommend "Simichrome" polish, that has a bit of fine abrasive and contains a little oxalic acid, which is the bike-saver's rust eater. I would not soak aluminum parts (esp. anodized ones) or steel ones that you can't completely disassemble in an oxalic acid (aka "wood bleach") solution -- don't think anything about this bike warrants that anyway. Light grease and a bit of oil is the lubricant for almost every component (can be bought online, stick with reputable brands such as Phil (PhilWood.com) or Park Tool or Pedro's. There are decent online bike shops (TreeFortBikes.com is my favorite, with "beat any legitimate price" and free shipping policies) and eBay sellers with free shipping often being the lowest cost for both parts, tools and other bike supplies. If you intend to work on the bike yourself (the way for most folks here), then you will need a decent metric wrench set, a set of metric-sized allen keys, and several rather specific but reasonably-priced tools that fit the particular components you have on the bike (which will be different, depending on the bike, its provenance and age -- that's just the fact of the matter). Google is your friend when researching what to do about a particular job or component -- you can limit searches to this site by adding "site:bikeforums.net" without quotes. An invaluable resource is Sutherland's manual, though for a bike from the 90s or so, less available as an online source (but you can buy it from them, so long as you know which version will cover stuff you need to know about).

Just be prepared for some sort of learning curve, and understand that it takes some time to achieve that. And don't start your posts by complaining and being negative and worried, until you've earned your chops a bit. If you have detailed questions after receiving the bike, don't hesitate to post -- people here are very happy to help beginners, in fact -- but try to imagine what the above looks like to folks who have an abiding interest in bicycles; that's a very different environment from a chat room, where anyone can show up to spew about whatever outrage has upset them that day.

If, in the end, you find that cycling is not for you, or that you've gotten the wrong bike to begin cycling, you should be able to recoup most of what you've spent, provided you don't mess any of it up. You might even make a profit, something rarely heard of in these pages, truly. This story has begun, somewhat amusingly, with both a seller and a buyer who don't really know much about the item in question -- my guess is that the original owner knew something about it, had taste and discrimination, judging by the quality of the item itself.

fender1

What is happening in this thread?

shoota 

dang $2000 for that..

James1964 

WrenchScience sells the De Rosa Nuovo Classico frameset for $4000.

ridelikeaturtle

Unless I'm mistaken, these are two totally different beasts... the above bike is from the late 90s, not a new frame.

SwimmerMike 

@Peroni Beautiful bike. You found a great place to learn about both the bike you purchased and how work on them/fix issues. I agree with @Charles_Wahl, if you can find someone local to you for advice (A bike shop with a mechanic that knows vintage bikes is great) it helps. For most of the things I need to do I find reading this forum and occasionally finding YouTube videos on a topic helps a lot. Enjoy the bike!

seedsbelize 

Detailed pics, of course, once it's in hand.

nlerner

I feel like I've been through the wringer.

bark_eater 

Insidious C. 

You have a very nice bike headed your way. Congrats. I recommend installing the tire (and whatever else is needed) yourself. I would not trust any shop with that bike.

jjhabbs 

Let's be clear. That bike is a winner. You can not go wrong with a DeRosa. The component group is excellent, the rims are excellent. Enjoy!!

John

Peroni

Thanks @Charles Wahl, I mean that sincerely. I read your post carefully and there is a lot of information in it for me.
Apologies for my forum etiquette, I didn't realize how it might look to others.
I got a tracking number today, so it's almost over, and I've been pretty lucky, too.

I'm older, and know enough not to mess the bicycle up in a major way, and I will think before doing.
It hadn't occurred to me that the rims might be for tubular tires, I just assumed clincher.
This bicycle is quite a little bit more complicated than I was thinking, at first.
I have some experience with similar bicycles, but I don't have the knowledge, or special tools lined up to go through this one in proper fashion.

So this frame from 90's is different from today's version, I looked at De Rosa in the few places I could find, I wasn't sure about the pricing, it's probably not too flexible.
It's harder to think of actually riding it is all, when I could just buy a new bicycle, or ride something disposable.

The software bidder at the last second of the auction has about 36,000 wins, so I don't why it didn't win this time.

Thanks everyone, for the welcome, and helpful information.

P!N20

They look like Mavic Open 4 CD, which are clinchers. Not to mention the shot showing the rim tape...you don't use rim tape on tubulars.

Beautiful bike, TSX tubing too, *drool*

Peroni

I tried to change the thread title, but can't.

Like @ Charles Whal said, the bike is as close to mint as it can be, I don't know why I tried to say it isn't, it's not a coin.
90's probably classifies as vintage in this case, too, I guess.

I'll look up Mavic Open 4 CD, for which tires work best, 23mm might be too wide, or I can wait and see the rotten front tire.
I have a long way to go before I can entertain the notion of riding it much at all.

I have a Guerciotti frame bicycle that I bought from a shop in the late 80's, it's 58x57 and at the large limit for me, I didn't know it was supposed to fit me better.
The shop owner wanted to sell the bicycle, and I just liked it, he didn't tell me that it was a little larger than my size.

clubman 

Pretty sure you can run 28's on Open 4 CD's if you want.

Charles Wahl

Those rims look like they have 13 mm between the beads, which is pretty typical for "narrow" rims. I wouldn't have a problem mounting and riding up to 32 or 33 mm tires on them; if you go wider then you can ride them at a somewhat lower pressure than narrower tires, which would be more comfortable. 28 mm is a common size, and should fit almost any bike, 32 also very common, 30 available but less common. Rivendell Bike Works sells a nice 33(.33) mm tire, ("Jack Brown Green", with more flat-resistant blue also available if you live in glass- or goathead-ridden territory -- has a great and unusual low-profile checkerboard tread pattern). What will probably limit you will be the clearance between the chainstays (just behind the bottom bracket) and the rear tire. Sometimes front tire clearance is the limiting factor (between fork blades or crown extensions onto blades), but much less often. You measure tire clearance (for a 700C rim) by choosing a station about 340 mm ahead (rear) or above (front) the axle position and using a metric ruler or tape (or, preferably, a dial or digital caliper) to gauge the width there. Another way is to fold a piece of paper or card, trial and error, until it just fits there, and then measure that with a ruler. Some people are leery of leaving less than 3 mm per side clearance; personally I've gone down to 1 mm per side if the wheel is true, and you're careful when adjusting the stops.

"Racing" bikes from the 70s onward are often clearance-challenged, because very few people (designers or buyers) valued having wider tires, which have only recently become regarded as a "good thing" by a enough people to sway the bike-making establishment in a limited way. The only recourse, when confronted with this in a frame one already owns, is to be sure to get high-quality tires with well-designed sidewalls that deform readily under load (read: more expensive). I would replace tubes, as well as tires if one of them is gone and the other rotted, and anyway a wider tire will need a different tube. I tend to use tubes on the "small" size for a given tire (at the top end of a tube's scheduled width range, or even a bit over it) -- the tube will have no trouble expanding a bit more, and smaller section tubes are lighter, and in my opinion much easier to handle when mounting tires.

I apologize for my tone yesterday -- your post just nicked a nerve, though I did try to be helpful, despite my pique. Please do not hesitate to ask questions here -- you will receive useful answers for the most part.

BTW, note the seeming lack of any real wear on the brake tracks of those rims. My guess is that whoever originally owned that bike used it very little -- perhaps it was a "trophy bike". That's good for you. Too bad about the damage to the saddle; maybe not critical, and probably a garage handling whoopsie/dammit. Your new bike has, of course, no provisions for mounting fenders, which are very useful to keep your bum dry and the bike much cleaner on a wet road. I realize that you live in the "Sunshine State", but I lived there a couple summers, and got plenty drenched! If and when it comes to that, there are ways of getting around the lack of fender mounting eyelets (plastic or nylon "P-clips), unless the radial clearance at fork crown, brakes and bridges (between stays) are simply too close.

cb400bill

What would you like it changed to?