I know this probably isn’t the forum for posting road stuff, but I am so chuffed with this I couldn’t resist!

Just rebuilt my Pegoretti having had a steel fork built, and the whole thing resprayed. The steel fork weighs a bit more than carbon, but what a ride.

Dario did a wonderful job as ever, and whilst his finishes are love it/hate it, there’s no denying the artistry. I asked for a twist on the ‘Gunatanemo’ paint scheme with pearl white instead of flat white, and metallic grey barbed wire. He basically sprays the bike grey, then hand applies latex masking before Iaying down the white.

There are some lovely touches such as the custom Columbus tubing badge with the handwritten frame number specially for Dario by Sgnr Columbus himself. One for the conoissuer more than the plastic bike fans.

Rides even nicer than it looks. And, before anybody mentions the front end, it fits me like a glove. Dario’s geometry was good enough for Indurain, so it should suit me!

Can’t wait for my Responsorium to arrive now which is getting a Super Record lightweight build.

Lovely 😉

But Chris King?? on an Italian bike??

Not to sure on the paint job but other than that nice looking bike.

Pegoretti paint is always a bit Marmite. Wait until you see the Responsorium! That’s being finished in ‘Ciavete’, where Dario basically goes wild with a paint brush depending on how he is feeling that day. Can look brilliant or rubbish, and until it turns up I am a bit nervous.

Much as I am huge Campagnolo fan, they just don’t measure up on headsets and wheels. You can’t really go wrong with King and Zipp on these fronts.

LOL I shouldn’t really comment I had one of the original 89 Kona Cindercone where it looked like some one spilt paint on it 🙂

Yep, that’s similar to Ciavete, but a Dario makes it a bit more (ahem!) random!

Flippin nora.
That’s bordering on pure art, it’s so pretty you couldn’t possibly ride it.

Anyway you’ve just pissed on my fireworks, just ordered a metalic pink Bob Jackson and I thought that was funky. 😥 Inspired by my bestest ever road bike – Barry Hobans Miko Mercier.

i like the wheel Qr’s

Sweeeeeet! I would have sexy time with it if you let me

The paintwork is nicely detailed close up, but from a distance it just looks messy to my eyes. If we’re continuing the Marmite analogy, then put me down for a hate, i’m afraid! (and tell me the “handmade in Italia by Dario” is a joke?! It looks like it was done by a child with a felt-tip!)

Loose the deep section rims, and make it a nice pastel colour with matching seat and tape and i’ll change my vote!

But if you like riding it, then ride it!

I like it a lot 😀

Duffer – it’s those hand-written bits that ad to the charm. You don’t get that from a Taiwanese Robot!

His finishes are definitely ‘handmade’. Looks less random in the flesh, but the uniqueness is part of the appeal. You’ll never see another like it, for better or for worse.

You might like the Responsorium a bit more when it arrives in terms of colour. That will have a baby blue pearl base, with whatever Mario decides to apply on top.

Stunning. Make sure you post pics of the Responsorium too!

Cool as ****. Love it.

You might like the Responsorium a bit more when it arrives in terms of colour. That will have a baby blue pearl base, with whatever Mario decides to apply on top

That does sound nice…

Anyway, i hope you enjoy your new bike! If nothing else, it’ll stand out and devide opinion!

Edit:

Duffer – it’s those hand-written bits that ad to the charm. You don’t get that from a Taiwanese Robot!

And about this, you are absouletly correct!

Just back from a ride, and it is beautiful. I have had the frame for a while but built with carbon forks. The steel fork adds something (apart from just weight!) over the carbon fork. More comfortable and lively at the same time.

I must admit, for somebody of my size, having ridden super light and not so light bikes, there is something reassuring about a well made steel frame.

The Zipp wheels don’t work, IMHO. Needs nice 32h Open Pros with silver spokes. And black bar tape.

Had Neutrons on it before, and they looked nice, but the Zipps do ride nicer.

Not sure about the bar tape. 1st time for white, and have black ready to go when I go off the white (which may not be too long!).

Love the frame, but your wheels have someone’s name on them.

If you have to travel with the wheels out of the bike or take a spare in a race, you don’t want them getting confused for somebody else’s, particularly at that price! Name stickers do the trick.

Not sure about the bar tape. 1st time for white, and have black ready to go when I go off the white (which may not be too long!).

Just buy a trade box of the stuff. Haven’t run Campag for decades, but when I did any other colour would void the warranty.

Gorgeous 8)

Warranty small print eh oldgit? Actually, I did notice that the shifting was 5.7% smoother with white bar tape!

There you go then, the Campag thought it was in it’s homeland 🙂

That is lovely. So much nicer than the tacky Euro look that everything else seems to be going for these days (eg. Felt, Focus). Though I suspect, slightly more pricey!
Classic.

Cool looking bike.

lovely again solarider
loving the surrealist columbus tubing badge 😀

Did you bloody well have to??? Eh?? Eh?? It’s people like you that empty my bank account 🙂

Is it fillet brazed? Can’t quite tell against the white. I like steel bikes. I’d have an aero crown on the fork and chrome on the ends to stop the paint chipping but it does look nice. Build wise, I’d probably go for ally rims cos I like their look, but that is one fantastic bike you lucky sod.

Go on then, lead time and £££’s? If you don’t mind the crass questions?

Lovely bike. Needs a white saddle though – bar tape and saddle should always match.

What are you going to do with it? Dare you actually ride it?

(My steel Serotta gets ridden, and consequently looks pretty shabby these days)

The Zipps clinchers or tubs?

lovely. (would be even nicer if you got some flexibility and lost the spacers)
ignore the purists, i have shimano/king/thomson on my Duende,
the ride is superb and it looks good too (dark navy with a white pinstripe design)
Dario wouldn’t care what you put on it as long as you enjoyed riding it.

wouldn’t swap mine for anything apart from perhaps a responsorium 🙂

Lead time just for the respray was 4 months. Lead time for the Responsorium (yet to arrive by the way, so even this could move) is about 12 months. There is UK time, Italian time, and then there is Dario time!

The wait doesn’t seem so bad when you consider that he handbuilds every frame himself, and only works with 2 other guys (a painter and a machinist), so his output is limited somewhat. Does it ride better than a mass produced Taiwanese carbon frame? So much of that answer is subjective, but to me, yes it does.

OK, Boblo, since you asked. Price for this was somewhere north of £5k. The paint job and steel fork did add quite a bit to a standard Duende price. The Responsorium in Ciavete paint with Super Record and the same wheels will be somewhere north of £7k. Worth every penny to me, but admittedly rather a lot for a pedal bike (or a car for that matter!). I know only too well how fortunate I am to enjoy the finer things in my cycling life, but ‘you can’t take it with you’. What’s the point in working hard if you can’t have some fun?!

Like all of Dario’s frames, it is TIG by the way. He pretty much pioneered this method back in the day. Best welds I have seen. Almost invisible, and the tubing he uses is so thin that he needs to be incredible at his job not to distort the tubing.

This one is there to be ridden. The Responsorium might be saved for nicer days, but this one needs to work for its supper.

Zipps are tubs. Clinchers are good, but still don’t match the ride quality of a decent tub.

Glad you like yours too MrSmith. Hard to describe why they ride so well, but they really do. The tubes are custom made for Dario, the geometry is spot on and he is a talented builder, but somehow the sum is greater than the parts.

do you just race on the tubs or train on them to??

That’s not too bad is it. Handbuilt for you by a true artisan in fine materials and with one off detailing. You can easily pay £5k – £7k for a high end plastic bike from the big names with similar group set/kit.

I think you missed my fillet brazed question and what’s it weigh Mr?

<edit> I used to train and race on tubs. Not any more. Still have a pair of GP4’s at the back of the garage somewhere…

Race and train on tubs. Not quite the hassle that you might imagine, and the ride for 99% of the time is worth the hassle for the 1% of inconvenience. I don’t use the Zipps everyday though. I have some Ambrosio Nemesis (again, tubular) with Tufos injected with sealant on Tune hubs which are pretty much bombproof (see last weekend’s Paris Roubaix!) for everyday.

I edited the post above boblo. It is TIG.

it’s oversize tigged columbus spirit tubing. bigger diameter than usually available from columbus, the down tube is the same size as the head tube so phat for steel but only .5-.38 wall thickness so not heavy.
(if you want a weightweenie bike to measurebate over look elsewhere)

That sir, is beautiful.

Ah cool.. I have been looking at buying some 404s myself and could not decide on which route to go down.

Spending that much on a wheelset, I wanted weight and ride quality. A set of clincher 404s weighs as much as a set of Ksyriums, and the ride quality is not comparable.

Having said that, search the web. Tubs vs clincher forum topics occupy more column inches than the eternal Shimano vs Campagnolo (and now SRAM) debate!

Italian steel road bikes are just lovely. Having had a pop at yer Zipps I suppose it’s only fair to give you a chance to critique….

Not quite in the same league, but makes me grin every time I ride it 🙂