The Responsorium is Pegoretti's one-and-only steel bike that isn't made from Columbus Niobium Spirit tubing. Rather, it's built from Columbus XCr tubeset -- stainless steel. Why stainless? The obvious virtue is its rust-proofness. But Dario expressed his keenest interest in the attractive mechanical properties in XCr. It's 20% stronger in all the right ways in comparison to Niobium Spirit, allowing him to build the Responsorium with smaller tubing diameters, thinner walls, and more substantial butting than what you get on his Niobium Spirit bikes. The smaller diameter tubes, thinner wall thicknesses, and enhanced butting profiles on the Responsorium are complemented by 16mm seatstays (vs. the 18mm seatstays you get on the Marcelo). These changes to the tubeset have two net effects: First and foremost is that it gives, according to Dario, the most comfortable ride of any steel Pegoretti (which, in our minds, means it's the most comfortable ride of any Pegoretti). Secondly, it weighs 100g less than the Marcelo. Yeah, you don't buy steel to get a flyweight bike. But shedding weight is always a plus when you're not sacrificing ride quality or durability, so we're all for it.

A common (and very good) question is whether stainless steel in itself offers any unique ride qualities vs. what you get from Niobium Spirit. Dario's answer to this is an emphatic 'no'. The difference in ride quality between the Responsorium and his other steel bikes is a function of tubing dimensions, not tubing composition. The composition of the XCr tubing itself is what allows the specific tubing dimensions of the Responsorium. But if he built a bike from stainless steel with tubing dimensions identical to a Marcelo, Dario assures us that it would ride just like a Marcelo.

Also, from the Ministry of Trivia: "Responsorium" is the name of an album by a bandoneon musician named Dino Saluzzi. We dig jazz in a big way here, but our taste runs more along the lines of Bill Evans. Dario took the better part of 5 minutes explaining to us what a bandoneon looks like (our impression is that it's an accordion on HGH) -- a sufficiently exhausting exchange thanks to his thick Italian accent and his near-perfect-but-unequivocally-imperfect English that we neglected to segue into a discussion of what it sounds like. Our loss, yes, but we were worn out by then.

Like all Pegorettis, the Responsorium comes equipped with a Reynolds Ouzo Pro full carbon fiber fork. It requires a 1-1/8" threadless headset, a 32.0mm front derailleur, a 30.0mm seatpost (no, that is not a typo), and an Italian bottom bracket. It is offered in a tantalizing paint scheme known as "Catch the Spider" -- a Blue and Green scheme in a geometrically-elaborate modernist scheme. He first introduced it at the 2007 NAHBS, and it's the rare scheme that nearly everyone loves. It's also available in custom paint and custom geometry at an upcharge.

2008 Pegoretti Responsorium Pricing
	Frameset	Record / Chorus	Centaur / Dura Ace	Ultegra SL / Red	Force / Rival
Responsorium	$3700	6520 / 6113	5518 / 6264	5426 / 6255	5630 / 5252

2008 Pegoretti Responsorium Geometry

Seat Tube (c-c)	Top Tube	Seat Angle	Head Tube Length	Setback	Chainstay	Head Tube Angle
49	52	74.5	9.8	13.1	40.5	72
50	52.5	74	10.4	13.8	40.5	72
51	53	74	11.4	14.0	40.5	72
52	53.5	74	12.6	14.3	40.5	72.5
53	54.8	73.5	13.8	15.0	40.5	73
54	55	73.5	15.4	15.3	40.5	73
55	55.8	73	16.5	16.0	40.5	73
56	56.5	73	17.6	16.3	40.5	73
57	57	73	18.7	16.6	41	73
58	57.5	72.5	19.7	17.4	41	73
59	58	72	20.8	18.2	41	73
60	58.5	72	21.8	18.4	41	73
61	59	72	22.8	18.8	41	73
62	59.5	72	23.6	19.2	41	73