00:00What if you want a high-quality, lightweight, modern carbon road bike, but you prefer rim
00:04brakes, a mechanical groupset, and you don't need balloon tyres for so-called all-road
00:09riding?
00:09In this video, I'm going to show you that, despite the best efforts of the industry,
00:13bikes like this do still exist.
00:15I've found the ultimate modern road bike for the Retro Grouch.
00:25Call me old-fashioned, sit in my ways, grumpy even, guilty as charged, but as I see it,
00:31the bike industry's efforts over the last decade or so to fix things that ain't broke
00:35means less choice and more expense for the consumer.
00:38However, if you know where to look, it's still possible to incorporate those retro elements
00:43into a cutting-edge road bike.
00:44Not only that, but for the same price as those flagship frames from the big brands that
00:49are electronic groupset and disc brake only, you can get it made-to-measure, handmade in
00:54Italy and with a custom paint job.
00:57Yes, it costs over £4,000 for the frameset, £4,700 to be precise, but that is about the
01:03same as the Cervelo R5, the S-Works Athos and the Envy Mele, all of which are electronic groupset
01:09and disc brake-compatible only, they're made in the Far East, they're off the peg, and this
01:14bike is actually cheaper than the Colnago C68 and the Pinarello Dogma F.
01:23If you've never heard of Racer Rosa, it's basically a London-based Italian brand that
01:28imports wholesale Italian culture into Walthamstow.
01:31And that includes the bike fittings with Giuseppe Giannachini, who is a bike fitter who fits
01:36well to a pros and flies into London one weekend every month for fittings with Racer Rosa.
01:42I went for a fitting with Giuseppe in 2016, and that's where the journey started.
01:47Racer Rosa built me an aluminium made-to-measure frame based on Giuseppe's measurements.
01:51And although I'm not particularly unusually proportioned, the advantage of a made-to-measure bike,
01:56a bespoke bike, is that everything is absolutely perfect.
01:59The stem length is exactly right, there are no spaces underneath the stem or above it,
02:03there's exactly the right amount of seatposts sticking out.
02:06Everything about the bike not only is right, but it looks right too.
02:11When I'm not reviewing a bike for my day job here at Cycling Weekly,
02:14the aluminium bike has been my go-to bike for the last few years, ever since they built it for
02:18me.
02:19When Racer Rosa offered to build me a carbon bike based on those same measurements,
02:22I absolutely jumped at the chance.
02:24Racer Rosa used established, you could even say iconic, frame builders,
02:28and this bike was made by Decordi, using the tube-to-tube construction,
02:32where every tube is mitered and cut exactly to match Giuseppe's geometry.
02:36You could even see Luigi Decordi's signature here on the top tube.
02:40I wanted as classic a frame as possible, and that means straight tubes and no drop seat states.
02:46Now, the top tube on this does have very little slope on it, it's not quite horizontal,
02:50and that's so that I can get a little bit of extra comfort with a little bit of extra seatposts
02:54sticking out.
02:55The tubes themselves are squared off rather than rounded, but the silhouette itself is absolutely perfect.
03:02Now, I did mention that I didn't want balloon tyres, and the clearance is pretty tight, like a proper race
03:07bike.
03:08Now, I'm going to be running 25mm tyres, not 28s, and I certainly don't need to run 34s, so it's
03:14got nice, tight clearances.
03:17It has a tapered head tube, inch and an eighth to an inch and a half, and that actually is
03:20a concession to modernity
03:22that I'm absolutely fine with, because the steering is so precise,
03:26and I definitely do not want to go back to one of those one-inch steerers that just flops all
03:30over the place.
03:31Another thing that I definitely didn't want is an integrated cockpit.
03:34I just want a traditional stem and bar as separate components that I can replace easily if I need to,
03:40replace the cables, and I want the cables out.
03:42If you look at the front end, you can see the Silver Campagnolo logo on the cable, and, you know,
03:47who doesn't like that?
03:48Now, the bike could have been made with the stem slammed and the steerer cut right down,
03:53but when I went for my fitting, Giuseppe noticed that my flexibility wasn't quite everything it should be,
03:57so I've just got 5mm of adjustment each way, just in case.
04:02Being given the chance to design your own paint scheme is liberating,
04:05but you can easily end up with a dog's dinner or even an accidental German national champion's livery.
04:10Now, what I actually wanted originally was some kind of a sunburst finish, like Fender guitars.
04:15I'm a bass player, and I really love that classic sunburst finish.
04:18There's a video on YouTube of guitar bodies being sprayed yellow,
04:22and then the black goes on around the edges, and then finally the red.
04:25So, I said to Diego at Racer Rosa, you know, let's do a sunburst finish,
04:29and he started putting in the yellow and the red and the black, and then it hit me.
04:34We had a rethink, and now we started with a pearl white for the main colour,
04:38and it goes into a deep orange, and then a flame red, and then it's got a blue-grey at
04:42the rear triangle,
04:42and it's all gloss, and it looks absolutely lovely.
04:50I finally and regretfully accepted that the steel Roberts that I bought second-hand
04:55and built up for that Resto Mod video last year was too big for me.
04:59I didn't want to fit a stubby stem on it, so I stripped off the Chorus groupset,
05:03and luckily I'd never ridden it in the rain, and I brought it here for its new home on the
05:07Racer Rosa.
05:08I sang Chorus's praises a lot in that video.
05:11It's a lovely groupset, and besides, it would be a crime to fit Shimano or Sram to an Italian bike,
05:16in my view anyway.
05:18If you want a mechanical groupset, Chorus is the only choice for a handmade Italian bike.
05:22I just absolutely love the snappy shifting, the marbled cranks,
05:26the aesthetic is just absolutely perfect for this handmade bike,
05:29and even though it's only the third-tier groupset, it is not underpowered for a bike like this.
05:33It has a 52-36 chainset and an 11-29 cassette, which is perfect for the type of riding I
05:38do,
05:39which includes club runs, group rides, even the odd road time trial.
05:44Next up, the wheels.
05:45Now, I reviewed these Miike SWR50 wheels a few years ago,
05:48and they're already becoming a little bit old school,
05:51because they have a narrow internal rim width of 17mm,
05:54which is not the biggest compared to wheels these days.
05:56But for my purposes, they're perfect.
05:58This bike has narrow clearances, I'm going to put 25mm tires on them,
06:02which go really nicely.
06:04Now, they're 1600g, just over, so they're not the very lightest,
06:08but I'm guessing they're pretty aerodynamic, they look great,
06:10build quality is really good, and they sound really nice too.
06:14As for the tyres, they're going to be Continental Grand Prix 5000s,
06:1825mm size, of course, and these are not Italian tyres, obviously,
06:22but they're really great tyres, I love them,
06:24and in the end it means that the German flag does get to appear on my Italian bike after all.
06:29And finally, the finishing kit, it's all Italian Deda Super Zero Carbon.
06:34And the saddle is Italian too, it's the Selle Italia SLR Superflow,
06:38which I just get on really well with, and didn't really have to think twice about that.
06:42Now, if you're wondering what the total cost of this bike is,
06:45I added everything up as if I bought it from you, and it comes to £7,435.
06:50So, here is the complete build list.
06:53Frame, £4,700.
06:56Groupset, £1,145.
06:59Wheels, £1,150.
07:02Finishing kit, £300.
07:05Saddle, £70.
07:07Tyres, £70.
07:09Total, £7,435.
07:12Is there anything about this bike that I don't like?
07:15OK, well, if I'm really honest, I'm really not sure that a press-fit bottom bracket would have been my
07:21first choice.
07:22Somebody who goes for a mechanical group set over electronic, rim brakes over disc brakes,
07:26is not going to go with a press-fit bottom bracket.
07:29But, I have enough faith in Decordy's manufacturing that I don't think this bottom bracket is going to creak.
07:34It's going to be really well made, everything is going to be straight and round,
07:37quality control is going to be at a really high level, so this bottom bracket is not going to creak.
07:42So, I'm happy with that.
07:44And, in a kind of bottom bracket, belt and braces sort of thing,
07:47it also has an aluminium sleeve inside so that the cups aren't directly pressing on the carbon.
07:52Other than that, this is my dream bike.
07:55It fits absolutely perfectly, of course, since it's made to measure the ride quality.
07:59I mean, I can probably say that I can compare it to a classic steel race bike
08:03and that is the biggest compliment I could give it because, for me, that is the benchmark.
08:07But, it's better than that because it's so much lighter.
08:09It weighs 7.5 kilos altogether, which obviously is a lot lighter than a classic steel race bike.
08:15And, you really notice that when you ride it.
08:16It just accelerates, it's so responsive.
08:19I mean, it's firmer than those bikes that have the big tyres.
08:22But, really, you know, it's got the classic ride and that's what I'm looking for.
08:25Now, as for its speed, it's a fast bike.
08:28I've already won first road bike in my local club time trial.
08:31I've been on a really fast group ride with it.
08:34I've done a couple of commutes, although, you know, you don't really want to use this kind of bike for
08:37commuting.
08:38And, you know, you're going to eat into its lifespan if you do that.
08:40I've had it for a couple of months and every single ride, I've just absolutely loved riding it.
08:45It is just an absolute joy.
08:47The only problem is, if this is my ultimate bike, what is my N Plus One?
08:52Let me know what you think of my dream bike in the comments underneath.
08:55And if you've enjoyed this video, don't forget to like and subscribe to the channel.
08:59And I'll see you again soon.
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