De Rosa can always be relied upon to create a beautiful bicycle but when the Italian firm collaborated with Pininfarina, the result was also going to be something special. Enter the De Rosa SK Pininfarina, unveiled at Eurobike.
Pininfarina is an Italian company which has designed cars for the likes of Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Maserati, and the De Rosa SK Pininfarina is a machine with Italian flair at its heart.
De Rosa consulted Pininfarina on the frame’s elegant curves, and used the firm’s wind tunnel to fine-tune aerodynamics on a machine which is designed to cheat the wind. That much is obvious from a glance, from the svelte tube profiles led by a slender 1-1/8″ to 1-1/4″ tapered headtube, neatly-routed internal cabling, integrated seatpost clamp and aggressive rear wheel cut-out, whereby the seattube has been extended to essentially act as a fairing.
The frame is made from a blend of 24-ton, 30-ton, 40-ton and 60-ton carbon fibre; a combination which De Rosa say blends stiffness and comfort. Claimed frame weight is approximately 1,060g, which isn’t super-light by any means, though not necessarily unexpected given the SK Pininfarina’s aerodynamic tube profiles.
The geometry is at the more aggressive end of the spectrum, which is no surprise. The frame will come in eight sizes from 46cm to 60cm. A 54cm frame has a 553mm toptube and 148mm toptube, with a 73.4 degree seattube angle and 72.7 degree headtube angle.
The SK Pininfarina will be available in four mechanical and electronic builds: Campagnolo Super Record EPS, Super Record, Record EPS and Record. You wouldn’t expect anything less than Campag on this, would you? The SK Pininfarina also uses Campagnolo’s new direct mount brakes, released last week in (a long-awaited) response to Shimano’s direct mount brakes. The brakes, which fix to the frame via two mounting points, one on either side of the caliper, are said to improve aerodynamics by sitting flush with the frame, as well as offer improved braking performance.
Colour-matched Vision Metron 81 wheels wrapped in Vittoria CX tyres and an integrated FSA Plasma handlebar and stem complete the look. UK pricing is to be confirmed, but if you need to ask…
Website: De Rosa
