rideandgoseek 

52-47-34 up front and 14-28 in the rear and this was my Eroica experience in a nutshell.

Pic 1 - me hunched over, about to die
Pic 2 - me walking, about to die
Pic 3 - me in the background of Luciano's triumphant moment, about to throw up and die

PS - Some will say that finishing 10 seconds in front of a 73 year old man isn't much of an accomplishment but I think it's worth noting he was probably the most fit 73 year old on the planet. Just saying

treebound 

Okay, I like that bike and those handlebars whatever they are.

iab

I believe his bike is a 1915-ish Stucchi.

non-fixie 

It's a 1907 Peugeot, according to this article and this picture from his museum.

Slightspeed

Bring all the gear you can cram onto these old bikes. Last time I did Eroica was 2016, and I rode the trusty Legnano with 42/28 best gearing. I walked 3 hills, which I never did with that bike before, in 50+ years of riding and racing. So, yes, standard Campy gearing didn't work for my (then) 66 year old legs. I skipped last year with medical issues, and took the time to bulid up a '73 Raleigh Super Course with a Sugino AT triple, 32/40/50, and a Shimano 6 speed Megarange 34t freewheel, which threaded right on the old Campy hub. The Suntour VGT Luxe long cage RD, and Suntour Cyclone II FD work great with the Suntour Bar ends. Its a sweet ride, not authentically correct, but it gets me up most hills so far. After two falls with Vittoria 1976 shoes cleated into toe clips and straps, in 2016, I've been experimenting with Velo Orange half clips, still undecided on cleats or not. I've also had good luck with a pair of Louie Garneau Nickel shoes ($39 at Nashbar !) that will ride well uncleated, have good walking soles, and take a mtb spd cleat for "regular" riding without those dammed toe clips.

jimmuller 

I realize this thread was started a few years ago but I'm still bemused by the original query. Swap out a 53T big ring for a 52T? Ah, what's that going to do?

nlerner

Give you a big ring with one fewer teeth?

Slightspeed

It's called fine tuning, really fine. I just bought a 52 t to replace the 50 on my Sugino AT. Call me crazy, but it's part if the fun of tinkering, and it was only $5

jimmuller 

Yes, I get that. But this thread is about L'Eroica which seems to be dominated by LOW (spelled L-O-W) gear requirements. Lowering your high gear ain't gonna' help nuthin'. It isn't a race so being able to crank while running downhill a bit faster gains you nothing.

since6

I've restored a Vintage Grand Tourer, Nishiki Cresta to ride the 40 mile loop. I have a 14-34 freewheel and a 26/36/46 front triple. I am a heavy rider, shedding the pounds in preparation and hope I will not run out of gears given this set up. Another issue to consider besides gearing is your tire width. I'm running 32c on 700c rims and will run lower pressure to ensure both a supple ride and grip in the dirt and gravel.

This ride is an interesting throwback as I started on rural roads that were all gravel and/or dirt, paved in town and on US 20 but not much more, though I don't plan to wear Levi's, Flannel Shirts and Red Wing Flyer half boots, or ride my nearly 50 lb Schwinn 3-speed. The big lugged balloon tires though made all the difference in the gravel and the dirt.

Classtime 

This thread is about low gear requirements for a hilly century that has some rough dirt and gravel roads and some folks are modifying vintage road bikes to stand in for their CX bike or MTB which they would prefer to ride to make the ride easier. L'Eroica is about riding vintage race bikes on a challenging course.

non-fixie 

It can actually help: a smaller big ring means you can run a bigger cog in the rear (or a smaller inner ring up front) at a given maximum chain wrap capacity of the RD.

Many vintage short cage derailleurs can handle no more than a 28T difference, so it's definitely something to consider. My Eroica bikes typically have a 50/36 chain set so I can use a 14-28 FW.

mackgoo

Just out of curiosity. I know they're pretty picky. Would your bike qualify? I think I do recall they did relax some of the qualifications but I'm not sure about the years. I guess you would know.

rccardr 

Yes, it falls within the rules, which have been relaxed somewhat for the California events.

Dean51 

I'm late to this party, but I'll offer some thoughts on my experience from the 2017 ride....

I arrived a day early and used that time to drive as much of my chosen route as possible. I soon realized the Coastal Route would be too much for the bike I had with me and my state of conditioning. Later that day, when I picked up my registration packet, I changed to the Medium Route.

I saw ZERO evidence of anyone inspecting bikes for rule infractions. NONE!

I was somewhat obsessed with keeping my bike "correct" with respect to components. As such, my small gear was 41 x 28 and my crank speed was awfully slow during the tougher climbs. This took some of the shine off my Eroica experience. Should I participate again, I'll have a bike set up with gearing better suited to my ability and the demands of the course.

Dean

non-fixie 

FWIW: I appreciate you keeping your bike correct. Very much in tune with the spirit of L'Eroica. It's not supposed to be easy!

since6

Going over the rules and regulations there are two different rides from what I could read for the California Eroica. The 40 mile ride loosens restrictions a lot and I think this is a good thing for those who want to try the ride and get their feet wet. It is still quite challenging, but no 12% climbs as there are on all the other longer routes where they do restrict to a vintage race bike. But even in the case of the latter allowances for bigger gearing for climbing and wider tires are allowed. Yes, if you want to ride a 42 x 19 on 19cm tires you can do so, but it's not required which given an aging ridership is a good thing. We will all suffer enough.

dansafe

Need help with gearing: Got back into cycling last year, to find the old legs are not what they were in the 1970s...duh.
So, due to all the newer style bikes out there, my Raleigh Pro ("74") has original gearing 52/42 chainrings & 13-28.
Is there any suggestions in order to lower my ratios yet keep my gear Campagnolo stock?
Thank you for any response or solution offered!

Classtime 

We have 3 months to get stronger I did the long route 2 years ago with campy 42/24 low gear and walked part of the first gravel climb and two parts of Kiler. There is no shame in walking the tough parts. But can you imagine the horror of pushing a compact crankset up a hill? You want yourbike to look cool at the controls/rest stops so leave the crankset as is.
P.s. Thanks for reminding me that I better start doing my lunges.

dansafe

Greetings Lenos,

Since we may have the same Raleigh (72), I was hoping you could opine on the gear ratio on this bike please?
I'm thinking of finding some lower gears due to the years and beers that have gone by!
Thanks, D

rccardr 

If you want to keep the rear at a large 28 cog but get easier gearing, try to find an SR Apex triple in 86 BCD. They look a lot like fluted Campagnolo crank arms and you can easily make them into a vintage compact with 50/34 rings (or smaller rings if you like).or a triple with a 24 small ring. Just put it on for Eroica and remove & store it afterward. You'll need about a 110 JIS BB for it.

Second best in terms of matching Campagnolo but easier to find (and find rings for) would be a Shimano 6206 or M series Deore triple crankset. BCD is 110/74, lots of rings out there to fit 'em and they tend to be less expensive.

cdmurphy

dansafe, There aren't many "period correct" ways to lower the gearing on your Raleigh, and certainly not any good ways to lower it and keep it 100% Campagnolo. Even the 13-28 freewheel would have been considered old man gearing back in the day. That being said, there are plenty of decent options for lowering your gearing, just understand at some level it's a bit of a kludge, and you'll lose some bragging rights and street cred :-)

Your two basic options are either larger cogs on the freewheel, or smaller chainrings up front. Both present problems with your stock Campagnolo bits.

On the rear, the NR derailleur may have trouble handing more than a 28T freewheel. Depending on dropout geometry, and where you place the wheel, I've heard of folks running 30T without too much trouble, and in one case, even a 32T, but I would consider that very lucky. If you want to run a 32T or maybe even 34T freewheel, you will need a touring style rear derailleur. The best at the time were the Suntour Vx GT, or V Luxe GT. Also their Cyclone GT came out in 75, and was a very light, excellent touring derailleur. After that, maybe the Shimano Crane GT, or Campagnolo Rally (first version with dropped parallelogram). You will lose some shifting crispness, and will have to live with larger gaps between gears if you go this route. (This is a deal breaker for some, personally, I don't mind big gaps.)

Up front, you can't use a chainring smaller than 42T with the stock 144mm BCD Record cranks. If you really want to keep the crank, you can either have it drilled for a smaller inner triple, or use a tripilizer. (A special 42T inner chainring that has mounting holes inboard at a 74mm BCD for a third chainring down to ~26T). With either of those options, you would need a new, longer bottom bracket. (Probably not Campy, as they're quite rare and $$$$ for triple lengths.)

If you don't mind swapping out the crank, there are some other vintage options that will let you go for a smaller double, or a double with a much smaller inner ring. Just a bit smaller would be the first generation Shimano Dura Ace crankset. It uses a 130mm BCD, for a smallest inner ring of 39T. After that, there is the Sugino Mighty Tour with a 110mm BCD. This would let you have a 34T inner. Both the Shimano Dura Ace, and Sugino Mighty Tour are stylistically, very similar to the Campy Record cranks. Smaller than those, but somewhat different looking would be the SR Apex that used an 86mm BCD. That would let you run a 30T inner, but the rings are hard to come by, being obsolete. There are still plenty out there, but they can get pricey, especially in the smaller sizes.

Finally, there are the 50.4mm BCD cranks like the TA Pro 5 Vis, and Stronglight 49. They were probably the most popular "touring" option back in the day, with a bewildering array of chainring sizes available in doubles and triples. There are also some modern copies by Sugino (Px), and SunXCD. Depending on the outer chainring, you can go as small as a 26T inner. Lots of little bolts/nuts, and some of the vintage chainrings were known to be quite flexy. Stylistically, they scream "touring", which means old school racers wouldn't touch them, but they're period correct, and will certainly help get you up those hills.

jonwvara 

I'm a very powerful rider, and such superb condition that riding the full route with a 52- 42 crankset and a 14-24 freewheel would be as easy as pie.

Should I switch to something like a 55-49 with a corncob in back? I want to remain true to the spirit of this thing.

Classtime 

You should. And do the route with the clipless, carbon, electronic, suspension, fat tire people and show em how it's done

pastorbobnlnh 

Is there a "tongue in cheek" emoji?