De Rosa Vega review

We put De Rosa's entry-level frame through its paces

Cycling Weekly Verdict

I had high hopes for the De Rosa Vega, and unfortunately it never quite managed to live up to my expectations. For £2,399 you can quite reasonably expect a bike that is exciting to ride with lively performance that is as much at home in a race situation as it is plodding around the lanes on a steady club run. The Vega is fine for the latter but disappoints when it comes to the former, and I consistently felt like the bike was holding me back in flat-out sprints and when I was chasing hard to close a gap that had opened on a climb. Points are clawed back for the bike’s excellent handling, which means it is much better on descents than it is on any other terrain, and the full Ultegra groupset is exactly what you would want from a bike at this price point

Reasons to buy
  • +

    Excellent handling

  • +

    Full Ultegra groupset

  • +

    Uncomplicated frame

Reasons to avoid
  • -

    Uninspiring ride

  • -

    In need of a wheel upgrade

You can trust Cycling Weekly. Our team of experts put in hard miles testing cycling tech and will always share honest, unbiased advice to help you choose. Find out more about how we test.

There’s something about De Rosa bikes that has always appealed to me. Every keen cyclist yearns to have an Italian bike in the garage and when it comes to romantic back stories, a winning pedigree and passione, Ugo De Rosa’s eponymous brand truly has it all.

Needless to say, I was rather excited at the news that I was to spend a few weeks riding De Rosa’s new-for-2016 Vega, a carbon-fibre bike pitched as ‘entry level’.

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