Name: 2020 De Rosa SK Pininfarina Frameset
Brand: De Rosa
Rating: 4.848000000000001 (1 reviews)

De Rosa has long known how to tease out a great ride from frame materials. They went to Pininfarina to get the great ride as slippery as possible. The result is the SK by Pininfarina, a bike that succeeds the Super King because of this happy marriage.
Pininfarina is a name you’ve seen on cars from Ferrari, Maserati, Fiat, Alfa-Romeo, among others. Battista “Pinin” Farina cut his teeth on automotive design, and the firm bearing his name conjured supercars for others. But it also has wind-tunnel expertise, and has branched out into industrial design and architecture as well. De Rosa came to them for both their wind-tunnel and design chops. The SK by Pininfarina is the first fruit of this partnership.
De Rosa is often overlooked because they don’t sponsor a WorldTour team anymore, which is a pity because they’ve been doing great stuff by following their own muse. De Rosa doesn’t rely on a single geometry or even a few geometries: they tweak the frame angles to maximize the ride of every frame. The materials are different, the shapes are different, the geometry should be different as well. Here, the bike is designed for hard and fast riding and racing, with a moderate head tube length, and trail getting shorter the taller the bike gets-the thinking here is that a taller rider needs a more agile front end to balance out the greater bulk. Road racers will like the feel, but so, too, will triathletes looking for something that has the aerodynamics of a TT frame, but the weight (1050g for a 52) and comfort of a road frame.
But the bike is so comfortable; it gives the impression of the vertical flex of an endurance bike when hammering, despite the racier geometry, lateral stiffness, and the aero seat post. This is thanks to design ingenuity. First, De Rosa mixes 24T, 30T, 40T, and 60T carbon fiber, which is strategically placed to resist stresses in the lateral plane and give in a little to those stresses on the vertical plane. Second, they trick out the tube shapes to further enhance the efforts of the fibers. You’ll see it most notably in the shaping of the stays. The seat stays join the seat tube well below the top tube, and their route from the rear hub to the brake bridge, while it looks straight from a side view, is swayed and shaped, both for vibration absorption and aerodynamics.
The aerodynamics are fascinating. The design was created to wrap air around the frame, rather than move the air into the churn of your moving legs. Take a look at the shaping of the fork crown and hourglass-shaped head tube, and how the shapes transition with the head tube, Kamm-tail-styled down tube, and seat tube shroud. The idea is the air follows a path between the frame and your legs without pushing air onto your legs.
Internal routing of cables is a must for aerodynamics, and the derailleur cables, be they electronic or mechanical enter behind the head tube. The internal electronic battery, be it Di2 or EPS, goes in the seat post. All the stops, grommets, plugs, etc. are included: you don’t need to choose when you buy the frame. Likewise, the aero seat post. It’s a one-off for De Rosa, comes with the bike, and its carbon-fiber and features 24mm of setback.
The bottom bracket standard is BB386 EVO, which is both for maximizing the design mandates and providing component flexibility. With a wide and oversized shell, building in aerodynamics and lateral rigidity is easier. With the 46mm inner diameter, thru-axle cranks from Campagnolo, Shimano, and SRAM easily fit, and you can also take advantage of 30mm thru-axle cranks that work with the 86.5mm width.
Brakes are direct-mount and do not come with the frame. De Rosa opted for the ease of service by putting the rear brake behind the seat stays rather than under the bottom bracket. When De Rosa sells these as complete bikes, they put TRP brakes on with Campagnolo groups, Shimano brakes with Shimano groups. There’s room for most 28mm tires under the brakes and all wide rims between the fork and stays.
The frame also comes with a tapered steerer that works with 1 1/8” to 1 ¼” bearings. The headset is provided and comes from FSA.
The De Rosa SK by Pininfarina is the king of all dominions.

De Rosa SK Pininfarina Frameset

54cm

Eye-catching curves and a flashy paint job on the Shimano Dura-Ace 9100 equipped aerodinamic speed machine

Frame	Carbon
Fork	Carbon
Wheels	700c

Frame	HM Monocoque Carbon BB Standard: BB86/BB92, Press Fit
Fork	SK PininFarina Carbon
Bottom Bracket	BB386
Headset	Integrated 1 1/8"-1 1/4"
Seatpost	SK Aero Carbon Type: Rigid

2020 De RosaSK Pininfarina Frameset

2020 De Rosa
SK Pininfarina Frameset