De Rosa Avant

Lucky Luke

Any forummers got one ? What's it like ? How's it ride ? I've seen some pics of next year's De Rosas and they look fantastic . I can't buy one just for the looks though can I ?

andyp

Of course you can. If I had the money I'd buy a De Rosa Idol just based on how it looks!

Not ridden an Avant myself but have owned, and still own, De Rosa bikes and all of them have been great to ride, i.e. stable, stiff, responsive.

Monty Dog

A few people have them - check out www.comobike.it in Italy for prices - where I'd go shopping for one. I agree with Andy P - not really taken with integrated seatposts, but the DeRosa Idol truly is a bike worth lusting over and they have a genuine reputation established on proven products, not marketing budgets - the reason they don't discount DeRosas is that they can sell them all at full price

colint

I've got one and it's fantastic, best bike I've had by far. I had a Cannondale six13 before the De Rosa which I thought was good, but the Avant really is so much better. It's light and stiff, but the most impressive part is the handling. I'm cornering and descending faster than ever.

Theres a review over on cycling news, the only negative on the review was long term comfort, but I've had no problems on rides up to 70 miles.

I got mine from comobike as suggested by Monty. Saved about 20% and the service was fantastic.

BigG67

Lucky Luke wrote:

Any forummers got one ? What's it like ? How's it ride ? I've seen some pics of next year's De Rosas and they look fantastic . I can't buy one just for the looks though can I ?

Have a look at this for some ideas on the Idol if you're interested..might be relevant.

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/phpBB ... light=idol

Got to agree that they're both wonderful looking bikes (white for the Idol and bare carbon for the Avant please).

colint wrote:

I've got one and it's fantastic, best bike I've had by far. I had a Cannondale six13 before the De Rosa which I thought was good, but the Avant really is so much better. It's light and stiff, but the most impressive part is the handling. I'm cornering and descending faster than ever.

Theres a review over on cycling news, the only negative on the review was long term comfort, but I've had no problems on rides up to 70 miles.

I got mine from comobike as suggested by Monty. Saved about 20% and the service was fantastic.

I'm looking at comobike for an Idol or Avant...what was the deliver time and cost (I know to add 20% for VAT).

giant_man

OOh an Idol. In white, as in pure lust. Wow mnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.............

acorn_user

Most Eu places will show native VAT included. You won't have to worry about it if so. UK VAT is quite high at 17.5%. In Austria, it is more like 11%. In Virginia, it is 5%, but that's a bad thing because it's why a lot of our services are not what they should be...

colint

BigG67 wrote:

Lucky Luke wrote:

Any forummers got one ? What's it like ? How's it ride ? I've seen some pics of next year's De Rosas and they look fantastic . I can't buy one just for the looks though can I ?

Have a look at this for some ideas on the Idol if you're interested..might be relevant.

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/phpBB ... light=idol

Got to agree that they're both wonderful looking bikes (white for the Idol and bare carbon for the Avant please).

colint wrote:

I've got one and it's fantastic, best bike I've had by far. I had a Cannondale six13 before the De Rosa which I thought was good, but the Avant really is so much better. It's light and stiff, but the most impressive part is the handling. I'm cornering and descending faster than ever.

Theres a review over on cycling news, the only negative on the review was long term comfort, but I've had no problems on rides up to 70 miles.

I got mine from comobike as suggested by Monty. Saved about 20% and the service was fantastic.

I'm looking at comobike for an Idol or Avant...what was the deliver time and cost (I know to add 20% for VAT).

Once the frame arrived at comobike, delivery was within 5 days. Can't remember exact cost but was less than £50. They didn't have my size / colour in stock when I ordered, took 2 months to get the frame from De Rosa but well worth the wait.

Lucky Luke

Thanks for your input chaps (and chapesses) .

For me it's definitely the Avant and not the Idol I would be buying simply because of the integrated seatpost on the Idol which I'm not keen on .

As many have commented the Idol does indeed have looks to die for but the 2008 colours for the Avant are really good too .

I do have a few photos but can't for the life of me work out how to upload them . If anyone can enlighten me as to how to do it I'll put them up .

Colint , as you're the only actual owner of an Avant who's commented I'm particularly interested in your comments re the handling . You sound well chuffed with the bike which I'm encouraged to hear . Was it the full bike you ordered or frame only ? I'd be interested to know if you ordered frame only whether it came with the bb shell already faced or you had to then get this done once you'd received the frame ?

colint

I bought frame only, assumed the bb would need to be faced but was told it has already been done by LBS, had no problems at all with the build.

giant_man

Reading through the review on the Weight Weenie site, the Idol built up isn't the lightest bike out there, indeed my four year old Argon 18 Platinum is lighter. I read the comments about the makeshift seat positioning and the paint issue which surprised me.

Having said that it is a De Rosa and they are a lovely quality marque, interesting comments though.

colint

Good write up of the Idol here

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fulls ... tatus=True