Pininfarina styles carbon-fiber bicycle [UPDATE]

UPDATE: A Pininfarina spokesperson confirms to Autoblog that the De Rosa SK Pininfarina will be available to cyclists in the US. Prices in Europe will be between 6,000 and 9,700 euros ($6,750 and $10,900, at current rates), depending on the components that a customer chooses.

Pininfarina isn't in the strongest financial position at the moment, but the famous Italian design house still knows how to put something beautiful on the road. If you want to park one of the brand's modern products in your garage but missed out on one of the six Sergios, then its latest two-wheeled creation might be something to consider. Pininfarina is teaming with De Rosa, which makes Italian racing bikes of the pedaling kind, to create the new SK bicycle.

Meant for triathletes and bicycle racers, the minimalist design of the De Rosa SK Pininfarina is paired down to only the most vital elements, and the shape is wind-tunnel tested to reduce drag as much as possible. Weighing just 14.8 pounds, practically the entire bike is made from carbon fiber, including the seat and handlebar stem. A special resin and 3D printing design are used to help maintain stiffness. For those that want to get down the road as quickly as possible under pedal power, the SK is available now.

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DE ROSA SK PININFARINA: LOOKS AND SPEED GO TOGETHER WELL

De Rosa SK Pininfarina, high-end racing bicycle, is the outcome of a first joint project bythe two Italian companies.

Friedrichshafen, 26 August 2015 – At Eurobike, the international bicycle trade fair that opens today in Friedrichshafen, Germany, De Rosa and Pininfarina will announce their partnership and unveil the fruit oftheir first joint project, the De Rosa SK Pininfarina.

Their collaboration is the perfect synthesis of two icons of Made-in-Italy excellence, two companies sharing the same values: family-owned business traditions, a passion for innovation, incessant search for better performance, artisanal production methods and attention to detail, love for beauty and design.

For 60 years, Milan-based company De Rosa has specialized in the design and production of high-end bicycles, which have played a key role in competitive racing in Italy and abroad. In its 85 years in business, Pininfarina has produced design icons for the automotive industry, the luxury goods sector and architecture,which have become famous throughout the world.

SK Pininfarina embodies all the values expressed by the two Italian companies. Sportiness defined by elegant lines, excellent aerodynamics, easy handling and speed are guaranteed by painstaking analyses of stiffness, weight and material properties, conducted with the aim to place on the market an exclusive and highly reliable product, a bike reflecting the passion for speed that is a distinctive trait shared by De Rosa and Pininfarina.

"Passion and design are the keywords of our collaboration" says Group President Paolo Pininfarina, "Love for speed and high level performance. Design as a means to devise solutions that are innovative from the functional viewpoint and elegant in terms of aesthetics. The SK Pininfarina is a full embodiment of the values we share with De Rosa and the first result of what we hope will be a long-lived collaboration between our two companies".

"I am very proud that Pininfarina have chosen De Rosa as their partner to undertake a project whose strengths are extremely high quality and elegance" - points out Cristiano De Rosa, Managing Director of the company - "We want to give the world a bicycle that puts the heart into design, in that it combines passion, cutting-edge technology and all-round excellence, thanks to the joint efforts of the Turin-based design centre and our R&D laboratory. Form and function in the service of the most demanding cyclists."

The SK Pininfarina is the perfect synthesis of style and performance, specially designed for those seeking a high-end Italian-made bicycle as the epitome of aerodynamics applied to each and every detail.

Equipped with a carbon fiber frame produced with the innovative inner mold tooling technology, the bicycle weighs just 6.7 kg, making for improved performance. It uses Italian-made components, comes ready to be fitted out with mechanical and electrical parts, and is available starting today on the national and international markets.

DESIGN

In its design, the SK Pininfarina personifies the elegance and the pure and clean lines that have always characterized Pininfarina and De Rosa's creations. In designing the new bike, the styling centre in Cambiano, Turin, has captured the essentiality that is the trademark of Pininfarina's creative research, interpreting the high-tech contents applied by the historic bicycle maker. Lines and details were developed with a view to reducing drag to the very minimum.

THE FRAME

The frame by De Rosa meets a present-day need for high-performing bicycles that can be used in a competitive manner: for those wanting a racing bike, for triathletes, for those seeking nothing less than optimal performance.

The mix of high modulus carbon and fibers processed by hand at the De Rosa production centre ensures ideal stiffness without sacrificing comfort and stability.

A full range of solutions has been adopted to minimize drag by every conceivable means: internal wiring, fully integrated construction, an 86.5 mm wide bottom bracket shell, a 1 1/8" and 1 1/4" tapered steerer tube.

The inner mold tooling system is a veritable breakthrough, in that it ensures excellent end results: thanks to ultra-precision 3-D printing and the use of a special resin, the frame meets the highest standards in terms of lightweight and stiffness.

The same frame is available in 8 different sizes and colors drawing their inspiration from the four primary elements, which also served as a source of inspiration in fine-tuning the aerodynamic properties of the bicycle: air white, sea blue, fire red, earth black; and 2 two-color versions: fire red/earth black and air white/sea

COMPONENTS

All components are fully in keeping with the product philosophy that went into the SK Pininfarina:

• Campagnolo Super Record EPS electronic groupset;

• Full carbon saddle by Selle Italia SLR;

• Carbon handlebar integrate stem;

• High profile wheels;

• Vittoria Corsa SR inner tubes;

• Dual pivot, direct mount braking system.

INFORMATION ON THE MARKET

In 2014 bicycle sales in Italy totaled 1,644,592 units, up 6.6% over the previous year. This figure is in keeping with the trends recorded in the other European countries, e.g., +4.2% in the Netherlands, +7.8% in Germany, + 7% in France. Production also grew by 2.1%, driven by exports which came to 1,765,819 units (+1.1%). Italy confirmed its leadership as Europe's No. 1 bicycle maker.

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