ThermionicScott 

L'Eroica began in 1997. I wouldn't be surprised if they lopped 10 years off the current year and figured that 1987 was as good a cut-off as any

hobbs1951

Cinelli M71s, see attached and the original Look (PP65) pedal, developed by Bernard Hinault - he was a Director of Look at the time and saw the ski bindings and thought...

I bought a pair of these pedals-and still use them-in 1987. I also have new style Look pedals on my modern; SPDs are a no-no on a road bike...not for the purist.

The rules are of course arbitrary, e.g they don't allow aero brake cables (under the tape), but this treatment was around many years before 1987 - in the pro peloton (e.g Renault/Gitane) as well as in TT bikes here in England - there's much evidence.

Or is 1987 the cut-off simply because 1987 was the last year a TdeF was won with toe clips and straps - the great Stephen Roche, winner of the Triple Crown in that golden year.

Their rules though, John.

gioscinelli 

BC Before Composites!

non-fixie 

L'Eroica started, at least partly, as a protest manifestation against the paving of the white gravel roads - the now famous strade bianche - in Tuscany. Farmers found it increasingly difficult to get their heavy modern machinery to their fields, and during the eighties the gravel roads were paved over at such a rate that they would disappear if no-one intervened. Some people thought that would be a shame, and decided to protest.

The form that was chosen was a recreation of the heroic period of cycling, which began- at least for the Italians - in 1909 when the Giro d'Italia was first organized and sort of climaxed with the epic battles between Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi during the immediate post-war years. During that period the strade bianche were an important part of the challenge that the riders faced during their races.

Giancarlo Brocci, the founder of the event, has stated in an interview that he wants the participants of the event to experience what their heroes BITD had to deal with: bad roads, basic materials and limited support. He wants them to get a real feeling of accomplishment if and when they managed to finish the ride. Bicycletimesmag.com put it nicely, when they stated:

"The start happens in the “French way”—that is to say, in small groups, and before the sun is fully up. Men and bicycles test one another on the roads, reminding us of an altogether more innocent age when human values were more important, and there was less consumerism and no headlong rush towards modernization and progress. The participants stick to the finer details of this period reconstruction, so that rather than swallow maltodextrin and other energy supplements, they drink wine and eat bread with cold meats and pecorino cheese, and they climb back into the saddle still chewing. Some more organized riders keep chunks of polenta in their pockets, wrapped in pieces of newspaper for snacking along the way."

I'm sure the purists would have found a cut-off date of 1960 more appropriate.

So no, L'Eroica is not about whether clipless pedals were available in 1987. A discussion about that is totally beside the point.

iab 

Correct.

But so what? Their party. Their rules. I don't go to synagogue expecting to hear about jc.

OldsKool19

I will say though nothing is better then leaving a guy in the dust who's modern bike probably costs 20x as much as my bike lol

Kevindale

L'Eroica has been flexible with their cutoff. I believe when they started it was a strict "1983 or earlier" policy, period. Since then they've loosened up a bit. Most of this makes sense - there are some classic bikes that can't be dated to either 1983 or 1984, for example. Non-fixie gave a good description of the spirit of the race, and that's more important than a strict cutoff (and explains why they veto some bike innovations that came before 1987, but aren't in the spirit of the heroic age of riding).

ThermionicScott 

Well put, @non-fixie.

qcpmsame 

+1, excellent reply.

non-fixie 

Well, I had actually put off that post a couple of times, because I do realize that for many Americans, bicycle racing history sort of starts in the 1980's with Greg Lemond coming onto the scene, who sort of kick-started the modern era.

Cougrrcj 

'Classic' or L'Eroica - for me at least - is a lugged steel frame with level toptube, non-index shifting, toe clips w/straps. Aero brake levers are pushing it (my '86 Miyata 710 has them as OEM) but acceptable. Ideally, the wheelset should be freewheel, not freehub/cassette. Brakes - do we exclude dual-pivot calipers?