Vintage Bicycles
I love bicycles.
I love the wind in my hair and fresh morning air while I ride. My favorites are vintage Italian bikes for sure. I understand that the modern carbon bikes with electronic shifts are way comfortable and easier to ride. But I really love the mechanical feeling of shifting through gears. I love taking apart with few simple tools, clean them, put them back on.
The simple joy of taking it out for a ride is the word freedom being realized.
De Rosa ❤ SLX/Professional
The De Rosa SLX/Professional is certainly one of the best bicycles of the 1980s, and my favorite bike. Made of Columbus SLX steel tubes (a very light and stiff tubing with inner reinforcements), the SLX/Professional is a milestone in the whole De Rosa production, the link between classic and more modern steel frames.
This bike has “IME” decal on the non-drive side of the top-tube where one usually finds Ugo De Rosa’s signature. After inquiring various forums and sites, this bike is apparently Pro-Am “IME” Team bike. There were some interesting articles about the team but not so much is known about the team beside it was based on Massachusetts. Cristiano De Rosa confirmed that this bike was produced in 1991.
The bike is equipped with Campagnolo Corsa-Record and Croce d’aune Mix. I really like the aesthetic and the performance of the C-Record rear derailleur. The streamline look of the C-Record is one of my favorite groupsets.
This is my go to bike and I ride them every where; in the city, by the beach, to the hills… well, not so much hills ;). Easy to clean and easy to maintain. I really love the aesthetic! I mean… who does not love Italian RED!!!
Colnago ♣ Master Più
The Colnago Master Più was basically meant to be an improvement of the Master, from which it differs for to the internally routed rear brake cable and for three-point lugs. According to tradition, all bicycles which left the Italian factory in Cambiago were true masterpieces of both design and technology. The tubing – “Columbus Gilco Design – Profilo S4” – has profiled sections and was specifically developed by Gilberto Colombo – an engineer with deep knowledge in race car chassis design – to improve the stiffness and to better withstand the mechanical strain.
One of my first foray into the vintage bikes, this is not getting the attention it deserves. I really should ride it more. The only thing that makes me reluctant to ride it more often is that it actually a bit small in size than what I usually ride. It is equipped with Shimano 7402(which I’d like to go full Campagnolo someday). The performance is really great although I love the friction shifter, I really like its index shifter too.