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De Rosa is the family brand of Ugo De Rosa. De Rosa's company became renowned during the late 1960s and 1970s for manufacturing road racing
bicycles.
History
Company founder Ugo De Rosa was born on January 27, 1934, in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. Before becoming a noted bicycle frame builder, he was also an amateur racer.
De Rosa's passion for racing led him to study mechanics and engineering at a technical college, and in 1953 he opened his first shop and commenced the manufacture of racing bicycles.
In 1958 he was asked by the famous cyclist
Raphaël Géminiani
Raphaël Géminiani (born Clermont-Ferrand; born 12 June 1925) is a French former road bicycle racer. He had six podium finishes in the Grand Tours. He is one of four children of Italian immigrants who moved to Clermont-FerrandColin, Jacques ( ...
to build him a bike for the upcoming
Giro d'Italia.
Following on from this initial interest, De Rosa bikes became a fixture in the professional peloton of the 1960s. The team was the first team to ride De Rosa frames. Other De Rosa teams of the decade included
Tbac (1964) and
Max Majer (1967).
In 1969 De Rosa was approached by
Gianni Motta
Gianni Motta (born 13 March 1943) is an Italian former bicycle racer who won the 1966 Giro d'Italia.
Gianni Motta was born at Cassano d'Adda (Lombardy). His main victories include the Giro d'Italia (1966), a Giro di Lombardia (1964), a Tour ...
, who wanted to engage De Rosa as his frame builder and mechanic. De Rosa accepted and became the bicycle supplier to Motta's team as well. It was during this period that one of the greatest stars of cycling was rising -
Eddy Merckx
Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...
. DeRosa built some frames for Merckx around this time, but it was not until 1973 that their relationship was formalized and De Rosa became the official frame builder and mechanic for the
Molteni
Molteni was an Italian professional road bicycle racing team from 1958 until the end of 1976. It won 663 races, many of them earned by its most famous rider, Eddy Merckx. Other riders included Gianni Motta and Marino Basso, who contributed 48 a ...
team which Merckx captained.
[ Merckx and his teammates won nearly all the major European races including the ]Tour de France
The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
, the Giro d'Italia, Milan–San Remo and the World Championship. This partnership with Molteni remained in effect until Merckx's retirement in 1978. In 1981 De Rosa worked as technical consultant to Merckx, who began his own bicycle manufacturing company.
In 1974 Francesco Moser
Francesco Moser ( or ; ; born 19 June 1951), nicknamed "Lo sceriffo" (The sheriff), is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. He finished on the podium of the Giro d'Italia six times including his win in the 1984 edition.
Moser wa ...
engaged De Rosa for his Filotex
Filotex was an Italian professional cycling team that existed from 1963 to 1980. The team's main sponsor from 1976 to 1980 was Italian food producer Sanson.
History
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Filotex riders such as Italo Zilioli, Ugo Colomb ...
team, and went on to win the World Championship.[ Later, in 1982 De Rosa sponsored the ]Sammontana
Sammontana is an Italian Ice cream manufacturer based in Empoli, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean ...
team led by Moreno Argentin and Giovanbattista Baronchelli. From 1985 to 1989 De Rosa worked with the Ariostea team - a small start-up team which would later become dominant in European racing.
Demand for De Rosa bicycles from new markets skyrocketed in the 1980s - including the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
, Japan, Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, and Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. Subsequently, De Rosa's company outgrew the small workshop adjacent to his home, and moved to a larger space in Cusano Milanino
Cusano Milanino (local lmo, Cusan ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Milan, in Lombardy. Cusano Milanino is about 13 kilometers far from the center of Milan.
It borders Paderno Dugnano, Cinisello Balsamo, Cormano and Bresso.
...
, Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. Later, his three sons entered the business, with Danilo and Doriano assisting in production management, and Cristiano taking over the commercial side of the business.[
In 1990 Ugo De Rosa began research and development in ]titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resista ...
tubing, culminating in a new model, the De Rosa Titanio, used by the team in 1994. Aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
and carbon fiber
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
frames were added to the product line in 1996 and 2000 respectively. In 2005 De Rosa launched its Corum frame, a lightweight steel frame built using contemporary frame building techniques.
On December 10, 2007, it was announced that the UCI Continental team, Team LPR would be riding De Rosa bicycles for the upcoming season. UCI Continental team Rock Racing rode De Rosa bicycles up until the end of 2008.
For the 2018 UCI Season, De Rosa returned to professional cycling and sponsors the spanish pro-contintal team Caja Rural-Seguros RGA.
For the 2020 UCI Season, De Rosa became an official supplier of road bikes for Cofidis
Cofidis is a French company, now majority owned by Crédit Mutuel, based in Villeneuve-d'Ascq.
Founded in 1982 by 3 Suisses International in cooperation with Cetelem, Cofidis specialized in the consumer credit business of the 3 Suisses Group. I ...
, a World Tour team. This has led to a stage win in the 2021 Giro d'Italia for Lafay.
See also
* List of bicycle parts
For other cycling related terms (besides parts) see Glossary of cycling.
List of bicycle parts by alphabetic order:
* Axle: as in the generic definition, a rod that serves to attach a wheel to a bicycle and provides support for bearings on whi ...
* List of Italian companies
Italy is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe with the third largest nominal GDP in the Eurozone and the eighth largest in the world. As an advanced economy the country also has the sixth worldwide national wealth and it is ranked third ...
Notes
External links
Ugo De Rosa: Father of the Future
o
Ebykr
De Rosa official web site
DE ROSA BICYCLES - BIKEADELIC /// THE LARGEST DE ROSA COLLECTION WORLDWIDE ///
{{Authority control
Cycle manufacturers of Italy
Italian brands
Manufacturing companies based in Milan
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1953
Italian companies established in 1953