De Rosa Primato

De Rosa Primato 1994

This is my second “vintage” project, already more vintage that the Colnago Tecnos one.
I found this one in Italy too, the bike was kind of put-together mixture with Campagnolo C-Record, Chorus and Athena parts.
The frame has seen some wear and is rusty in some parts. The Columbus EL tubing was quite the top end at the time, and it’s still a light weight bike nowadays. An additional interesting feature is the Gewiss Ballan team colours pattern (blue-grey), quite difficult to find. A real “Eugeni Berzin” Replica for collectors.
Here below the listing of the components and the pictures. Enjoy!

- De Rosa Primato frame with particular reinforced bottom bracket, slightly oversized EL tubes made by Columbus. The size is a 52x53 cm, quite standard for the time.
- De Rosa fork, chromed.
- Campagnolo C-Record seat post.
- Selle Italia Flite titanium saddle, black leather with Selle Italia embroidery.
- Campagnolo seat post bolt.
- 3ttt titanium stem, 120 mm.
- 3ttt Prima 220 “Anatomic” handlebar, 42 cm.
- Campagnolo C-Record bearings.
- Campagnolo C-Record 8s ergopower levers from 1994.
- Elite Ciussi water bottle cage with titanium bolts.
- Campagnolo C-Record bottom bracket.
- Campagnolo C-Record crank set, 8s in 170 mm length, chain rings 53 and 41.
- Campagnolo C-Record pedals, Look system.
- Campagnolo C-Record brakes.
- Campagnolo C-Record 8s front derailleur.
- Campagnolo C-Record 8s rear mech.
- Campagnolo Record 9s chain.
- Campagnolo Shamal 8s aero wheels, for tubulars.
- Campagnolo Record 8s cassette, 13-23.
- Veloflex Criterium tubulars, 22 mm section.
- Deda white handlebar tape.

Impressions:
I was writing in a previous post that my Colnago Tecnos was probably the best bike I have ever ridden... well, that's not true anymore! I will put the De Rosa Primato on top of my list. The bike is just fantastic, smooth ride, pure pleasure and unequaled comfort. Even with the Campagnolo Shamal wheels and tyres, the frames absorbs most of the road vibrations, much more than the Colnago Tecnos with the same wheelset. That makes the Colnago Tecnos a pure racing machine and the De Rosa Primato more an "all-rounder", which is just perfect for my current usage.