Cycling UK Forum

Jamesh wrote:What about a spez venge with brown bar tape and a spa saddle......?

Cheers James

Its time will come soon enough

one of the rules, when i rode the UK edition, was a minimum of 32 spokes per wheel, luckily no one counted the 28 spokes in my '78 build wheels

I think if you are going to take part you should at least honour the spirit of the event but some of the rules do seem to be made by pedants.

The only thing that i used which wasn't correct to period were my shoes and i did use modern undershorts as the chamois in my period shorts was shot

The UK edition, went from a celebration of vintage to a 'to do' for the rich, much like The Goodwood Revival, which put prices up and alienated much of the cycling community.

I did go to the Cycling Erotica exhibition at the Mildenhall Cycle Rally several years ago. There was one room with a sign on the door warning those of a certain age might be advised to not go in. It did not stop me of course.

As to the Eroica events. The original one is in Italy on gravel roads. Too far to go for a one day ride and shortened for older riders. The Loire Valley events were brilliant and I once rode in a small group with Thevenet, Zootemelk and other old TDF stars. The Peak District events seemed a rip off and I gave them a miss. Overcrowded trails and busy roads are not my idea of fun.

I don't think anyone has yet mentioned that 'Eroica' is the Italian for 'heroic' which is where the name comes from...

scottg wrote:A friend of mine took his Cambio-Corsa equipped bike to Eroica Kentucky.
He was denied entry, no down tube shifters.

If that is true, shows a serious lack of competence. Incredible.

londonbikerider wrote:

scottg wrote:A friend of mine took his Cambio-Corsa equipped bike to Eroica Kentucky.
He was denied entry, no down tube shifters.

If that is true, shows a serious lack of competence. Incredible.

I've ridden the Britannia and Limburg versions (on a 1965 Moulton Speedsix, no 32h wheels here and no downtube for the shifters!) and my experience of the application of the 'rules' has been entirely positive. Both had a primary emphasis on enjoyment and looking the part rather than a slavish desire to enforce fairly arbitrary rules. We met a couple of guys on the 2018 Britannia who were on their gravel bikes as some scrote had nicked their retro rides, and although lots of people had given them funny looks no-one had denied them the right to ride.

Similarly in Limburg, where the Moulton was completely unknown, there was only interest in the bike from the ride organisers rather than any attempt at nit-picking. Nor did they bat an eyelid at my wife's original Suntour thumbshifters on her 1984 Galaxy. I have also heard that the US and Italian rides can be more arsey though, and I can't see who benefits from such jobsworthery.

Yes, that sort of snobbery it's sort of defeating the purpose of the event, isn't it?

In one way, no. If the point of the event is in the rules then stick to them. Why compromise? We live a life of silly compromises to avoid upsetting people.
I do feel that in some events the rules are poorly thought through, eg down tube levers only when bar ends were current for the cut off period but thats a totally different issue. It is the organisers ball after all.

The irony with these events is that they're designed to celebrate a nostalgia for a time gone by that many share but because of their nature they end up as a celebration of pedantry that tries to invent an imagined past.

My old racing bike sits in the garage exactly as it was built in 1986 but isn't Eroica compliant. It's a753 frame with a full Campag C Record Delta groupset on tubs. So it's got concealed brake cables exactly as anyone in 1986 would've had and it's got first generation black Look pedals which arrived in '84 or '85. It's also got 52-42 13-21 7 speed gearing which I (and many younger) would struggle with now.

When I get round to it I'm going to build up the (new) Soma Pescadero frame that waits in the garage too. It'll have DT gear levers, CP brakes with flappy cables, an old style sub compact chainset (SunXCD), an 11-34 10 speed cassette, 35mm tyres on new wheels with high flange hubs and probably pedals with toe clips. This would satisfy the pedants but will be built from entirely current components and I'd see no point in anyone riding it in an Eroica event.

The one thing I'm really nostalgic for would be to have my legs exactly as they were round about 1974 or so.

I'm surprised the forum smut-filter allows the thread title. I wonder what else it will allow?

Pornography and retro-cycling?
A celebration of sexuality and vintage cycling?
Cycling orgies?

Yes, it allows all of those! It must be relaxing its rules. Or perhaps it's fallen asleep?

Martin has it. The rules may be misguided. However they are the rules.

I rode my 1976 Falcon in the L'Eroica at Buxton a year or two ago. I chose to refit the downtube shifters and brake cables had to be exposed from the levers to the frame. I have a feeling that bar end shifters are permitted.
I fitted a stronglite chainset with 46/34 sprockets (very necessary with my knees) but used the original Normandy/Weinman wheels with 14/28 freewheel.
I think you're allowed modern shorts but I had a period knitted jersey.
I used Lyotard Berthet pedals with straps and wore Pete Salsbury shoes from about 1977. The saddle was a period Ideale and I had a Caradice saddle bag from 1976. Bottles were mounted on the bars. I think most people kept well within the spirit of the event. Why not?
I think Shimano brought in free hubs in 1987? As long as they were the original type with external thread I daresay they would be allowed?
There was no scruteneering as such but an eye was cast over the bikes to see they looked the part. I didn't see any 'ringers'.
There was quite a bit of off road including a decent stretch along the High Peak - which was great till we went down the incline from Middleton Top - not much fun with my centre pulls. The road sections weren't busy on my 100km route but some roads can be in the Peaks.
It wasn't cheap - but was worth doing the once.

Bmblbzzz wrote:I'm surprised the forum smut-filter allows the thread title. I wonder what else it will allow?

I think the rules are about particular words, not particular meanings. Excrement is permissible for example, but not its four-letter synonym. We could have fun seeing what we could squeeze past it, like they did with the Hays code in '50s Hollywood

mattsccm wrote:Martin has it. The rules may be misguided. However they are the rules.

I'd prefer the idea of 'guidelines' rather than 'rules'. To whom does it matter if your rims are anachronistic? The rejection of nuance is totalitarianism, and the girdle of our loins should surely be fun.

At the Eroica Limburg I attended, Jan Janssen rode in his 1968 yellow jersey. His bike was regulation, but his clipless pedals and shoes were certainly not. They managed not to deny him a ride!

Tyres, chains and brakeblocks are obvious consumables. I don't think it would be a stretch to consider rims the same.