Men of Steel Racing Club and De Rosa

Jim, from the Men of Steel Racing Club, writes:

"Our original intention of the Men of Steel Racing Club was to fill the gap in the cycling world between the tourist who still ride and appreciate steel, the collectors of vintage steel bikes who see them as works of art, and everyone else. Our mission statement is "To get steel frame racing bikes, off the walls, out of the basements and on to the race course". With that, we had a series of steel frame only races in 2009, which were very well received.

Steel is still used in track and cyclocross but that is about it. We hope to change that.

We would hope that this would catch on. It provides for an inexpensive bike to race and one that if you crash, you can fix it. A 20 year old Masi can be just as competitive today as it was then, at a fraction of the cost. We would really like to see USA Cycling step up and require steel bikes for their junior riders. It would control costs and would allow for more participation.

For 2010 we decided to create a team that would compete head to head against others on steel frame bikes, both vintage and modern. We chose De Rosa as the name carries so much weight and the quality is second to none. We have 5 on our A team that will be riding these. To be honest, very few believed that a new frame, even kitted with modern components could match modern carbon bikes. We have proved them wrong. The weakest part of our bikes will be the riders. We also wanted a team kit that reached back to the days of cycling's classic era and I think we hit the mark. Our sponsor, Mt. Borah, did a great job with bringing our design to life.

We are also collectors and have nice displays at our races. Pogliaghi, Masi, Gios, a Basso Gap and Ascot, Somec SR, are just some of the bikes we ride and display. It draws a lot of attention. We are also thrilled with all the talk about us on various blogs and forums."

Photos: team training camp in Brown County, Indiana, a few weeks ago; Brown County was the site of the 1987 Pan Am Games and the roads shoot up to 21%+ in some spots (click on photos to enlarge).

You can support the Men of Steel by joining their member's club, visit http://www.menofsteelracing.com/

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