Has L'Eroica eased its bike rules?

[Wold Ranger]

Re:

I also find it a little depressing that there is this big association with L'Eroica and Italian bikes and components, but BITD (sadly I am old enough to have been there!) there wasn't as much Italian stuff about as people perceive now.
There was an awful lot more English and French kit about in the Pro tours and being ridden by club cyclists than Italian. We should be seeing a lot more Falcons, Clements, Raleigh's, Suns Carltons' Motobecanes, Vitus, Peugeot's etc than we do.

I also don't see any point whatsoever in putting "modern" (read for softies) gearing on vintage/veteran bikes, as part of the whole experience is that we understand and experience what the cyclists of the day back then did and the equipment they had at their disposal.
If you are going to put modern ratio's on a classic pre 87 steed, may as well just ride a modern and forget all about L'Eroica IMHO.
My only Caveat would be on tyres, where Repro's are pretty much essential, from a safety angle.

 

[Spokesmann]

With luck you will be seeing a lot more Carltons next year!

 

[Spokesmann]

Re: Re:

I also find it a little depressing that there is this big association with L'Eroica and Italian bikes and components, but BITD (sadly I am old enough to have been there!) there wasn't as much Italian stuff about as people perceive now.
There was an awful lot more English and French kit about in the Pro tours and being ridden by club cyclists than Italian. We should be seeing a lot more Falcons, Clements, Raleigh's, Suns Carltons' Motobecanes, Vitus, Peugeot's etc than we do.

I also don't see any point whatsoever in putting "modern" (read for softies) gearing on vintage/veteran bikes, as part of the whole experience is that we understand and experience what the cyclists of the day back then did and the equipment they had at their disposal.
If you are going to put modern ratio's on a classic pre 87 steed, may as well just ride a modern and forget all about L'Eroica IMHO.
My only Caveat would be on tyres, where Repro's are pretty much essential, from a safety angle.

Good point about the gearing. I rode across Dartmoor a couple of weeks ago, about 45 miles and some vicious inclines. I did it on a 39/24 set up with a fully loaded bike, just to see if I could stick the distance. I think I pushed up one hill as I had about 40lbs of luggage on the bike. Not bad for a 45 year old bike and a rider just a tad older. I too think the event should done in the spirit of the thing and keep the bikes as original as possible. I do agree on the tyre front though.

 

[NeilM]

I have recently finished a 1978 bike, fitted with as many period parts as possible, but, cables, brake pads, tyres/tubes, chain and freewheel are all new, for obvious reason.

I am all for originality, but I also think that events like L'Eroica and L'Eroica Britannia, that encourage an interest in dragging an old bike from the back of the shed / garage / loft and getting it back on the road are excellent, and if the compromise that has to be made in order for a rider to happily complete a course is a handful of easier ratios, then that is fine by me, as there are very few of us who are in our late 20's and at Elite athlete level, as was the case when these older gems were used in competition. If your choice is to battle up hill in 41/19 (Tim Krabbe, The Rider), then good for you, but I've tried it and my legs are not up to the task.

What I am less happy about is the exploitation of popularity that the Bianchi L'Eroica represents, I only hope the buying public view this bike with the same disdain they did the recent Holdsworth limited edition Professional and the Raleigh Team Replica. Yes please to good light steel framed bikes, no thank you to poor and over priced representations of 1970's/80's machines.

 

[Spokesmann]

Could be looking at a 42/34 set up - might be a bit easier!

 

[Woz]

Re:

Thread gone a bit off topic, but that Bianchi is worth commenting on.

It's sad to see a "modern retro" like this, and the price tag is taking the piss. I see no benefits of modern, and the only benefit of retro / old is aesthetics.

I have a Masi CX retro modern - 10 speed STI, semi compact geo, compact gearing, modern tekto cantis with 72mm brake pads, JIS square taper BB, hung on lugged and engraved steel F&F. All at about 40% the
price of the Bianchi.

A friend said I could probably get away with L'Erioca on it which surprised me as I thought there was a date cut off strictly applied.

 

[roadking]

Re:

I agree with the sentiment regarding originality, or original components, but if the gearing: freewheels, chainrings, etc were available in the day then why not ?

And this seems to focus on racing bicycles, what about tourers ? I'm currently building*a 1975 Bill Philbrook tourer with Nuovo Record chainset and mechs using a 48/42 instead of 52/42 and a freewheel (14/26 or 14/32) that will give me touring oriented gearing rather than racing.

Or if you do want modern gearing then TA offer a huge range of rings for a touring bike and many racers used them in the period too.

My view is get those cherished bicycles ridden and let's get an RB squad together for next year.

Jon.

*build before frame restoration.

 

[Johnsqual]

Re: Re:

I agree with the sentiment regarding originality, or original components, but if the gearing: freewheels, chainrings, etc were available in the day then why not ?

And this seems to focus on racing bicycles, what about tourers ? I'm currently building*a 1975 Bill Philbrook tourer with Nuovo Record chainset and mechs using a 48/42 instead of 52/42 and a freewheel (14/26 or 14/32) that will give me touring oriented gearing rather than racing.

Or if you do want modern gearing then TA offer a huge range of rings for a touring bike and many racers used them in the period too.

My view is get those cherished bicycles ridden and let's get an RB squad together for next year.

Jon.

*build before frame restoration.

+1 on the gearing. Campagnolo, Suntour and Shimano all made double cranks with small enough BCDs to take 39 or even smaller rings, and triples have been around for a long time.

The Eroica and its offshoots are getting increasingly over commercialised. Of all the various offshoots, only the Spanish version seems as fun and unpretentious as the Eroica used to be.

Fortunately there are lots of other alternatives now: this Austria looks brilliant. Even goes through the Czech Republic (I prefer beer over wine anyway): http://www.inveloveritas.at/en/idea/index.html

I also think it would be good if people were able to organise their own smaller non-commercial vintage rides. There is a pretty solid culture of this here in Belgium, in the Netherlands and in Italy. Sort of an extension of the sportive culture.

 

[mattsccm]

I agree with the gear thoughts. Surely the point is to be period? If you can't ride a hill do what we used tovdo, push or grind. To my mind twiddling modern gears is like riding with a helmet . not in the spirit of the thing and if an event doesn't suit don't ride it rather than change it. We do too much of that lately. It is easy enough to ride low gears that suit the period if you want but they shouldn't be on a race bike.

 

[mattsccm]

Just a thought. Had the pros turned to a 39 inner ring at this events cut of the date? It was 42 minimum as far as I knew in the early 80's.