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Classic De Rosa 'swooper' (TT/ track frame with swooping shape)?

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Classic De Rosa 'swooper' (TT/ track frame with swooping shape)?

Old 07-05-20, 09:10 AM
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hannhann00
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Classic De Rosa 'swooper' (TT/ track frame with swooping shape)?

Hello, I wanted to ask if anyone knows if De Rosa made any (many?) swooping style frame designs back in the day - both TT and/ or track/ pista frames? If so, what were the model names, and any info pertaining to such frames today in terms of rarity, value, where to find, etc. I'm a fan of De Rosa frames but would like to find a nice vintage swooper (and want a De Rosa vintage to match my King RS). *Apologies as I realize swooper is a completely made-up term, but i don't know what you call this tubing style, so I've attached some pics of a Daccordi and Colnago with the "swooper" frame style I'm referring to. I've have actually seen a couple of pics of De Rosa "swoopers", but very rare to find even pics of them when scouring through vintage De Rosa pics (so not sure if there were only a very few produced or what).

Thanks for anyone's input!



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Old 07-05-20, 09:15 AM
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mackgoo
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It's called Lo Pro or funny bike. They were a craze of the 80's. All builders made one. That's all I know. I want to get one some time. I just think they look so cool.
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Old 07-05-20, 09:16 AM
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repechage
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They were in general known as time trial bikes, in track form, pursuit bikes.
small production numbers.
as the riding position for them was pretty extreme, the interest as a serviceable bicycle is low. For the young and the flexible.

they do show up, the demand is thin.

as likely to find them as a frame/fork than a full bike. Be aware often the seller’s have no idea as to if the front wheel should be 650c or 700c.
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Old 07-05-20, 09:57 AM
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"funny bike" is what I usually hear for bikes with the now-illegal larger wheel in the back.

I've seen some with 24-inch tubulars at the front which are basically impossible to source anymore, so parts availability might be an issue. I think the curving seat-tube was found on a lot of pursuit bikes as well, which didn't necessarily have the lo-pro front wheel size.


e) Classic Cycle has this on display, used for team time trials in the Olympics. The bike is now impossible to ride, because the fork will only clear an 18mm tire, and nobody makes 24''/18mm tubular anymore, for Some Reason.



My favorite feature - the hand-twisted Campy shift lever. Think of how many watts you save!!!!!



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Old 07-05-20, 03:06 PM
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Calling VintageTTfan and Lattz
There is a BF thread see it here: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ycles-why.html
But be careful reading it because you might get the TT bug, I did after looking!
Ben

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Old 07-07-20, 04:15 AM
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cool, thanks to all for the input,,, will do more digging now i know what other ppl actually call them.
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