De Rosa R838 Centaur

andytee87
andytee87 Posts: 414
edited October 2013 in Your road bikes
Here is my De Rosa R838, built up with Centaur Red/Black Carbon, and FSA bars/stem/seatpost. Built to be more of an all day ride than my Orca. The frame geometry is more relaxed, compact chainset and 12-27 cassette gives plenty of options for easy climbing, and the Campagnolo Eurus wheels roll really nicely. Definitely a big fan of De Rosa bikes now, and think Merak, or the equivalent by then, will be my next bike in a few years once EPS comes down a bit in price.

Couple of tarty bits from Token: skewers, chain catcher, barrel adjustors, valve caps

PS. I know, cut steerer, and I realised the brake release was open after cleaning the bike.

Be good to hear your thoughts.

Cheers

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Comments

  • Shaun67
    Shaun67 Posts: 219
    Very nice....I do like De Rosa's... a lot, infact I'm looking at getting a Merak or a Basso, I
    can not make my mind up, I'm as bad as the wife with shoes.
  • bianchi_tim
    bianchi_tim Posts: 79
    Lovely bike, going for a test ride at my LBS on a 838 tomorrow - they have a deal on during the Giro - £500 off an 838 with Athena and £200 off an 838 with Veloce, hopefully the test will help make up my mind once and for all, I've always wanted a De Rosa they are just special :D
  • Shaun67
    Shaun67 Posts: 219
    Biachi_tim, which LBS is that ???? :D
  • andytee87
    andytee87 Posts: 414
    Shaun67 wrote:
    Very nice....I do like De Rosa's... a lot, infact I'm looking at getting a Merak or a Basso, I
    can not make my mind up, I'm as bad as the wife with shoes.

    My LBS stocks De Rosa, and the Merak and King frames look amazing in the flesh. Really understated kind of class. I've never seen a Basso in real life, but they look lovely as well. Guaranteed once you buy, within a month you'll see something else you like anyway, or is that just me haha
  • andytee87
    andytee87 Posts: 414
    bianchi_tim wrote:
    Lovely bike, going for a test ride at my LBS on a 838 tomorrow - they have a deal on during the Giro - £500 off an 838 with Athena and £200 off an 838 with Veloce, hopefully the test will help make up my mind once and for all, I've always wanted a De Rosa they are just special :D

    Athena all the way if you can afford it. I wish I'd found that deal! Nothing wrong with Veloce, it's a great groupset, but Athena is lovely
  • Shaun67
    Shaun67 Posts: 219
    When I started riding I bought a Spech Tarmac but had it stolen...I replaced it with a Synapse 105 carbon which is a
    nice bike/ride but......

    I have started riding with a lad that has a Basso Astra with Chorus and that is very nice. I'm a big clay shooter and
    the wife tells me if I sell one of my many guns....I can have a Astra or a Merak, so I think that's what I'll do, the
    problem is I don't know which I like the best. If I got both I think she would leave...
  • supermurph09
    supermurph09 Posts: 2,471
    A question about the wheels, the spoke pattern looks quite different on each wheel? Is that for strength on rear?
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  • andytee87
    andytee87 Posts: 414
    Supermurph09 wrote:
    A question about the wheels, the spoke pattern looks quite different on each wheel? Is that for strength on rear?

    Hi, from what I understand it increases rigidity by havin double the number of spokes on the drive side of rim. Campagnolo call it G3

    http://www.campagnolo.com/jsp/en/tech/id_1.jsp
  • declan1
    declan1 Posts: 2,470
    That looks amazing. One hood is higher than the other though :P

    Road - Dolan Preffisio
    MTB - On-One Inbred

    I have no idea what's going on here.
  • davehmercer
    davehmercer Posts: 82
    Looks brilliant!

    Funnily enough I picked up my new R848 this afternoon! 8)
    :D
  • andytee87
    andytee87 Posts: 414
    declan1 wrote:
    That looks amazing. One hood is higher than the other though :P

    Thanks! I see what you mean about the hood- luckily it's an uneven lawn not the hood. Lent the bike with a stick against rear skewer (you can see it in top pic). OCD wins for bike over lawn any day
  • doug5_10
    doug5_10 Posts: 465
    White bar tape and blue or white cable outers would get this up to 100% sex!! I often gaze at the Merak on Wiggle to pass the time . . .
    Edinburgh Revolution Curve
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  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    8)

    Some nice little finishing touches there.
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • tlw1
    tlw1 Posts: 22,205
    looks fantastic
  • andytee87
    andytee87 Posts: 414
    davehmercer wrote:
    Looks brilliant!

    Funnily enough I picked up my new R848 this afternoon! 8)

    I'm sure you'll love it, which groupset/paintwork option did you go for?
  • andytee87
    andytee87 Posts: 414
    doug5_10 wrote:
    White bar tape and blue or white cable outers would get this up to 100% sex!! I often gaze at the Merak on Wiggle to pass the time . . .

    Yeh I like white bar tape too, gonna leave it a while until I think of changing it-at least the blue is the matching fizik colour for the saddle. "Problem" with the frame is there are a couple of route options for finishing kit colours. Either have white to match down tube and saddle, blue to match top of top tube and line on fork, or red to match logo on seat stays and other accents- dilemma haha and it's all going to be personal opinion. Problem with blue cable outers is that the blue on the frame is almost metallic effect, so difficult to match, leaving red or white as the only real options.
  • TKF
    TKF Posts: 279
    andytee87 wrote:
    "Problem" with the frame is there are a couple of route options for finishing kit colours. Either have white to match down tube and saddle, blue to match top of top tube and line on fork, or red to match logo on seat stays and other accents
    The 2nd shot, the one nobody will ever really see, looks great with the blue saddle stripe, top tube and bar tape.

    However from the side it looks a bit odd though and I'd be tempted to go with white bar tape.
  • Dizeee
    Dizeee Posts: 337
    Thats lovely. I looked at these and ended up buying a Merak. I am about to post some pics in this forum :)
  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    andytee87 wrote:
    doug5_10 wrote:
    White bar tape and blue or white cable outers would get this up to 100% sex!! I often gaze at the Merak on Wiggle to pass the time . . .

    Yeh I like white bar tape too, gonna leave it a while until I think of changing it-at least the blue is the matching fizik colour for the saddle. "Problem" with the frame is there are a couple of route options for finishing kit colours. Either have white to match down tube and saddle, blue to match top of top tube and line on fork, or red to match logo on seat stays and other accents- dilemma haha and it's all going to be personal opinion. Problem with blue cable outers is that the blue on the frame is almost metallic effect, so difficult to match, leaving red or white as the only real options.

    Is the bar tape made by Fizik, I have the same saddle and that tape is a spot on match, might try some on mine when the white gets too grubby and begins to annoy me.
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • andytee87
    andytee87 Posts: 414
    arran77 wrote:
    andytee87 wrote:
    doug5_10 wrote:
    White bar tape and blue or white cable outers would get this up to 100% sex!! I often gaze at the Merak on Wiggle to pass the time . . .

    Yeh I like white bar tape too, gonna leave it a while until I think of changing it-at least the blue is the matching fizik colour for the saddle. "Problem" with the frame is there are a couple of route options for finishing kit colours. Either have white to match down tube and saddle, blue to match top of top tube and line on fork, or red to match logo on seat stays and other accents- dilemma haha and it's all going to be personal opinion. Problem with blue cable outers is that the blue on the frame is almost metallic effect, so difficult to match, leaving red or white as the only real options.

    Is the bar tape made by Fizik, I have the same saddle and that tape is a spot on match, might try some on mine when the white gets too grubby and begins to annoy me.

    Yeh it's Fizik Microtex tape. Pretty sure it's 'Blue Sid' colour.
  • oldredpinarello
    oldredpinarello Posts: 101
    A fine addition to the stable, you must have quite the dilemma choosing which one to go out on every day! Looking forward to trying it out next time im around to see what the upgrades have done to what was already a seriously nice piece of kit :)
  • anotheroneontheway
    anotheroneontheway Posts: 159
    Andytee - would your lbs be Forza?
  • andytee87
    andytee87 Posts: 414
    Anotheroneontheway wrote:
    Andytee - would your lbs be Forza?

    It is indeed
  • anotheroneontheway
    anotheroneontheway Posts: 159
    Top place. Like all bike shops should be, in my mind at least.
  • andytee87
    andytee87 Posts: 414
    Anotheroneontheway wrote:
    Top place. Like all bike shops should be, in my mind at least.

    By that you mean hard to leave with all the money you went in with? :wink:

    Nope I know exactly what you mean, Neal is a top guy, always got time for advice or just a chat. Stock covers a good price range, but is the top spec of each price category
  • velogee
    velogee Posts: 133
    The more I look at this the more I need to have one
    Madone 4.9 2014
    Jeffsy 27.5 2018
  • tv
    tv Posts: 338
    Lovely looking bike, how are you finding the groupset? What weight is it?
  • jonomc4
    jonomc4 Posts: 891
    I have one of them too..

    dr1.jpg

    I just love riding it - it feels like we are one :)

    I built this frame up myself and went with a SRAM Red / Force mixture (I know I am a sinner)

    - weight wise it comes in at 7.5 Kg - has Ugo custom built wheels on it now.
  • andytee87
    andytee87 Posts: 414
    tv wrote:
    Lovely looking bike, how are you finding the groupset? What weight is it?

    Thanks, I find the Centaur great thanks, I'd put it just under Ultegra really. The weight of the groupset or the bike? The bike is about 7.3 kg off memory, but its got winter wheels on it at the moment- too much hedge cutting going on around here right now

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