De Rosa has made some very pretty bikes in the past and our Mat Brett was lucky enough to ride one in the Italian hills.

De Rosa King XS – riding 02
De Rosa King XS – riding 02 (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

De Rosa’s King XS is one of those bikes that just looks right. This, the 2014 model features a carbon frame that is constructed using a combination of T1000, T800 and XN10 carbon fibre and the double triangle frame design got a slightly sloping top tube.

De Rosa King XS – transmission
De Rosa King XS – transmission (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

Naturally, for an Italian bike on Italian roads, our build came with a Campagnolo groupset. Only the best would do, so Super Record EPS was the order of the day.

De Rosa King XS – chainset
De Rosa King XS – chainset (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

While most cranksets from the big manufacturers have moved to 4-arm designs, we think that this 5-arm spider with the carbon fibre cranks was one of the nicest designs ever made. Seeing as he was riding in the hills, Mat had a 50/34T chainring combination.

De Rosa King XS – lever
De Rosa King XS – lever (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

One of the features that Campagnolo fans love about the Italian groupsets is the ergonomics of the hoods. The curved design is certainly very comfortable and that’s more than welcome on longer rides.

De Rosa King XS – riding 09
De Rosa King XS – riding 09 (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

FSA provided the bar and stem with the compact drops allowing Mat to get comfortable when flying down the technical descents.

De Rosa King XS – seatstays
De Rosa King XS – seatstays (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

Interestingly, De Rosa opted to place the rear brake under the bottom bracket, a move that was popular with brands that were either aiming for a reduction in drag or a comfort gain. De Rosa took the chance to remove the brake bridge for a claimed comfort gain.

De Rosa King XS – rim
De Rosa King XS – rim (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

Campagnolo supplied its Shamal Ultra wheelset and the package resulted in a bike that dipped just under the 7kg mark at 6.96kg.

De Rosa King XS – rear hub
De Rosa King XS – rear hub (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

The carbon hubs house ceramic bearings.

De Rosa King XS – riding 15
De Rosa King XS – riding 15 (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

As a result of the low weight and decent stiffness in the frame, this was a pretty nice climbing bike and that traditional geometry provided rather balanced handling too.

Italy Week 2018 – 8.jpg
Italy Week 2018 – 8 (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

Here’s hoping that we can get ourselves out to Italy again soon for another road.cc Italy Week. We really do love riding bikes and eating pasta.