De Rosa Merak

The return of an icon, delivered with style

Maintaining this month’s pro theme is a relaunched GC contender from a legendary brand that powered Merckx and many more to victory

Ugo De Rosa once built Eddy Merckx more than 50 frames in a year, including five in one week as The Cannibal prepared for Paris-roubaix. Famously fastidious, Merckx obsessed over every tiny detail of his bikes, and it was De Rosa he trusted for the bulk of his career to wield the brazing torch and make his race bikes. Two at a time, of course, so he would have a spare for the team car.

Moser, Motta, Van Looy, Argentin, Berzin, Gonchar, Vainšteins, Casagrande, Baldato, Pellizotti… the list of cycling stars who have won on frames built by De Rosa is a long one indeed. De Rosa claims that in the 1974 Giro d’italia 80% of the frames being ridden were his, although obviously many were hidden behind a paint scheme bearing another brand’s logo. As the 2021 racing season gets underway, Team Cofidis will be flying the De Rosa flag, aboard both this bike – the recently re-released Merak, which is the brand’s lightweight, all-round GC contender – and the SK Pininfarina, its truly aero machine.

‘More of the team riders will likely choose the Merak most of the time,’ says Cristiano De Rosa, Ugo’s third son, who is now at the helm of the company. ‘The frame weight is 800g painted so it’s extremely light but also extremely stiff. It’s got a real racing heritage at its heart,’ he says, gesturing with a few taps of his fist at the centre of his chest. It’s clear none of his father’s passion has been lost through the generations.

‘The Merak is an icon of the brand,’ he adds. ‘It represents our racing soul. It was in the past the very best in terms of performance and it won the World Road Race Championships in 2000 with Romāns Vainšteins. It was aluminium then, but in 2020 we decided to bring it back in carbon.

‘We have tried to match the highest level of performance in the modern racing era, with disc brakes and clearance for wider tyres, but also to match the traditional style. The frame is very easy on the eye. No big, strange tube shapes.’

White is faster: fact

I couldn’t agree more. It is, to my eye, a truly exquisite bike, resplendent in all white. Until this landed on my doorstep I hadn’t considered just how rare a sight white bikes have become nowadays. I think somehow white things – in cycling at least – have a weird way of priming the psyche for a good ride. It’s the same when you go out wearing pristine white shoes or socks. So with that, plus some more frequent appearances by the sun, I felt like I had a real spring in my