My 54cm (c-c) Derosa Neo Primato is here!!! There’s something epic about Italian steel and this is my own little bit of all that romance and artistry. Yes I know I’m buying into an image, but it’s fun. So, I went over to ATA Cycles last Saturday and picked up the frame. I took a couple of Phil Wood bottom bracket tools along so that Andy could install the bottom bracket, he’d found that it’s impossible to do it will only one tool. I walked into the store and there was my Faema Neo Primato on a bike stand. Andy had the headset spacers installed and we quickly put the crankset on to check the chain line. Everything looked good so I gave him the go ahead to cut the steerer tube down and tighten everything up before I took it away.
At home I started the build by installing the Selle San Marco Regal saddle, Nitto Dynamic (this may become a Deluxe) stem and Noodle handlebars. Then I put on the Dura Ace hubs and Mavic Open pro wheels and stood back to eye the proportions. It looked good although it’s going to take me a while to get over my French fit/Rivendell prejudice against the lower handle bars of the Eddy fit that I’m going for with this build. Next on when the Sugino Alpina (48t-34t) crank, the Dura Ace rear derailleur and the IRD front derailleur. I positioned the derailleur at the bottom of it’s mounting bracket as I’m using a smaller than spec big ring, but it looks fine. Then I mounted the brake levers, the Dura Ace bar end shifters and threaded the SRAM chain through the derailleurs, and around the crank. Somehow I feel that a bike comes to life as soon as I feel the tension of the rear derailleur against the chain. Not long now, just the cabling to finish off and the handlebars to wrap and we’ll be all done.
And here’s the finished article.
President’s day gave me the opportunity to go on my first longish ride on the Neo Primato. The weather wasn’t ideal, cold and windy, but I couldn’t resist and the thought of tea and cake half way through the ride spurred me to wrap up warmly and get on the road. I noticed two things almost at once. The Neo Primato is far more responsive than my Rivendells, I can turn quicker and more sharply and the San Marco saddle is doing my butt in. After 20 miles it was pretty uncomfortable. I suppose I’m just accustomed to the give of a Brooks leather saddle so a Team Pro or Swift will have to be purchased.
Filed under: Bicycle, De Rosa Neo Primato Build
Beautiful frameset, Stan. I have a very similar stable to your’s – Rambouillet, Surly LHT, and some nice Italian steel (Tommasini Sintesi). I hope you go for some nice downtube shifters on that De Rosa (as opposed to bar ends or brifters) and some white Cinelli cork. Love the tour diaries by the way. Makes me want to get out there and tour once my kids are a little older.
Regards,
Sean O’Bryan
Austin, TX
Thanks for the compliments. I’m going to disappoint you on the shifters as I’m installing Shimano barends, but the tape will be Fizik white so at least we agree on the colour.
Woops. I just read your previous post about the build specs (shifters and tape). That De Rosa is going to be a fantastic ride. I enjoy all the performance differences and ride qualities of the 3 main bikes I ride: LHT (grocery hauling, commuting, rough stuff), Rambouillet (all around, fast brevet riding, commuting, long rides carrying some gear), and the Tommasini (shorter, race-style riding, speed, minimalist outings). Love the account of your Woods Hole trip too (just read it!). Makes me yearn to be back in Mass (not during the winter though!).
Cheers,
Sean O’Bryan
(Masshole ’til death)
Austin, TX
Thanks, I agree that MA is not great for riding in the Winter. I don’t mind a bit of snow, but the single digit F temps and all the salt on the roads are the big problems. I’m setting the De Rosa up with an “Eddy Fit” rather than the “French Fit” of my Rivendells and I’ll use it for fast weekend rides.