Spaghetti Legs 

Nothing to see here, just move along ...

gugie 

I was with @Spaghetti Legs when he picked up that three pulley Campy derailleur in a general/antique store on last year's Tour of Virginia. I bought a stuffed Jackalope there.

Gary12000 

I live in Louisiana i saw A Jackalope killed by a chupacabra whilst out in the woods, although i'm an ex-pat from the UK i have actually tried Nutra in a Restaurant here in Baton Rouge..

in other News today i secured my time off for L'eroica California, we have our hotel booked so now onto flights and procuring packaging for the bikes for airline shipping, if you read on line it'll scare the willies out of you about restrictions and no cardboard boxes blah blah blah,
1.has anyone ever been refused by an airline if your bike was in a cardboard bike box?
b. when shipping two bikes what about removing the wheels and putting both frames in the same box?
III. then all 4 wheels in a separate box which is smaller then the bike box resulting in less linear inches?

and yes i overthink things , i think...

gugie 

Never been refused with a cardboard bike box, check with your airline. If push comes to shove, you could ship them to a FedEx office and hold for you to pick up, then drop off on the way back. Are you still flying into SFO? I know a few people driving to Cambria that might be able to assist you getting a boxed bike to wherever you're staying in case you've rented a compact car. You have friends here!

I like your idea of wheels in one box, frames in another if you're shipping two bikes.

Of course, there are proper bike cases to be purchased, but it sounds like you're already spending quite a bit on this trip,no? Cardboard bike boxes can be picked up for free at most any bike shop. Call around and you'll find some.

davester

When heading to Eroica Gaiole from California, we managed to stuff two bikes minus two wheels into a bike case and put the wheels in a separate box. We were only charged for one bike (because I neglected to mention that there were two bikes in the box). Be careful though, some airlines have weight limits on oversize luggage and if you exceed them with your two bikes and anything else you may be tempted to stuff in there you may be in for a shock due to weight overage charges.

rccardr 

So at the present time, United, Delta and American all treat a bicycle as a suitcase as long as it is under 50 pounds. Others have other rules, so check with your specific airline.
The big 3 don‘t care whether your bike is in a box or a sock, as long as it is under 50 pounds. Check with local bike/tri clubs who often rent cases for cheap.
Just FYI, shipping a bike coast to coast using ShipBikes or BikeFlights is around $140. Just flew to LAX with a bike in the EVOC case (free) and then shipped it back ($144).

Fredo76

How about this one?



14-16-18-20-22-24-28

I wouldn't want to get hassled by The Man...

gaucho777 

Kiler Canyon recon today



53-42-32 x 13-28: Campagnolo Super Record crank, Red Clover Triplizer middle ring, Campagnolo Record Italian triple BB (scored NOS for $100 plus shipping on ebay recently).

davester

Just get yourself some gold paint and you'll be golden.

Classtime 

That looks great. If the drought holds and the ebikes on Saturday's Nova ride don't tear it up, we are gonna have no trouble😉

rccardr 

...and if the locals don't "improve" it by grading like in 2019.
Hard pack with ruts is so much better than deep soft stuff.

bikingshearer 

Of course, if you do the Piedro Blancas route, even with the Cayucos and/or Ragged Point add-ons, you don't have to worry about such things.

Just sayin' . . . .

Gary12000 

Thanks for the replies on the cardboard box thing... i can get boxes from my local LBS and i believe both frames less the wheels will be under 50lbs both reynolds 531 but i will weight them to adjust as necessary, maybe hack off a bit of a frame to lighten the load.

yes we intend to do a non-stop to SFO and rent a mini van or an SUV if they are not all gone.. i love a mini van they just so dog gone cool.. a Standard SUV will do in a pinch, but good to know we are not on an island if we get in a Jam..

Regards Gary

martl

For me. Classic bike events are meant to experience how hard it was to ride with gear available at the time of the "golden era" on roads similar to those encountered by the heroes. this includes itchy wool jerseys, inadequate brakes, unreliable narrow tires, and meniscus-squashing gears. No one does the Mille Miglia in a Porsche 997 fitted with a firbeglass body that looks like a 550 spyder from afar. Eroica has deteriorated to a "lets look a bit retro while ridfing comfortably" a long time ago.

Gary12000 

while i agree in principal with what your saying, i think you have to have people show up, so as we get older if its too hard then that may prevent some from trying, for me i'd rather ride shirtless than wear itchy clothing, i had more than enough home made "wool" clothing as a kid in the UK to last a lifetime, to the point i'd rather get frostbite than wear an itchy Balaclava, i used to think as a kid, if i run ill get there quicker and wont get frostbite lol, also cyclists throughout the ages have always adopted the latest technology to get an edge.. so there's that, i hope they don't find my secret batteries and the electric motor hidden in my bottom bracket...

but in serious-ness ness i love retro but i have to show up with what i have.. which will likely be a 1982 Trek 614 with a triple sugino set up, lets hope my second order of 27 inch tires get actually delivered this time.
apparently covid has affected the rubber trees for my retro tires..
G

gugie 

People like you are one of the reasons I like to go to these type events. I really enjoy seeing riders that fully embrace the Eroica ethos. I encourage as many people who are capable of riding these bikes to do so. They are truly "heroic." For those that can't, do as much as possible.

Eroica publishes rules, so you have to follow those. They also "encourage" things like wool shorts and jersies and vintage bikes - you can ride a bike that was brazed up yesterday as long as it's steel and be "legal", but what's the point?

What some people call deterioration, I call reality. Perhaps in Europe the Eroica events would run full with only "heroic" bikes. Eroica California would run with a couple hundred riders at most without this "deteriorization."

At any rate, most of us come for the bikes, but return for the people. For me, the heroic part isn't that we're riding old bikes with inadequate brakes, unreliable narrow tires, and meniscus-squashing gears, it's the vintage riders who are still able to get out and ride a hard course, even if we're at a stage in our lives where we need low gearing, our aging bodies get beat up by skinny tires, and part of the reason we're still able to ride at an advanced age is we are using good brakes.

There are old bicyclists, and bold bicyclists, but no old, bold bicyclists.

gugie 

Gary,

If you're having trouble sourcing 27 inch tires, let me know, I have a spare set I could send to you.

I see you're relatively new to the C&V forum, so let me say that this is one of the greatest group of people you'll find online. I've met some of my best friends here, and people will go out of their way to help you out.

Kabuki12

Mark, Ditto that. One of my favorite riding buddies...met him here.... and at an Eroica Event

Gary12000 

yes new bloke to CV bicycles, but i'm just into old stuff - vinyl, guitars, cars, however the bicycle hoibby just fits me so well as i ride for fitness anyway, it enables me to itch my retro need and tinker with stuff, search for parts, collect items of beauty, on the tires i was able to pick up a set of sunlite tires that are cheap looking that might work, i had ordered some puncture resistant tires that said shipped but disappeared into the black hole of never arriving items..
but as our plan is to ride the 37 miles short route i am now aware that thee is very little gravel on that route.. ill PM you so we can exchange info, in case i get in a bind..

gugie 

davester

My two cents:

Itchy wool jerseys: Sure, cheap wool is itchy but many cycling jerseys are, and were, made from merino wool, which is not itchy at all.

Inadequate brakes, Most of the complaints I see about inadequate vintage brakes have to do with poor maintenance (aged and hardened pads, unlubricated pivots, unlubricated or unlined cable housings, corroded cables, etc). Although not as good as disk brakes or low effort like dual pivots, vintage brakes can be just as adequate as modern dual pivots.

Unreliable narrow tires: The ultra narrow tire period was actually quite late (1990s-2000s). Many of us raced and rode on fairly wide sewups (I'm thinking around 28-30mm) back in the day, especially if there were dirt roads on the course.Pretty sure the champions did also.

Meniscus-squashing gears: I would argue that since we are all much older now and our leg strength is much lower, we old folks can experience the same level of difficulty that a young bike racer experienced by using much lower gears. Using the same gears as the bike racers used will result in much more difficult riding than they ever experienced.

Spaghetti Legs 

The true heroes are those of us who listen to Gugie’s stories for the nth time when he meets new people. Talking bout pushing a 42-21 gear up a long climb …

gugie 

Hugh knows how to shut me up. Just point me uphill and push the pace.

gugie 

Coupla months away and we're already at page 10 of this thread.

Peoples getting antsy after 2 years of push-outs and cancellations.

nlerner

I'm reminded of this book (highly recommended):


I'm not sure the comparison to what professional athletes back in the day did is necessarily fair. Probably fewer than 1% of this year's CA Eroica riders have been professional racers back in the day, so a more appropriate comparison would be to what bike duffers of old had to do to outfit their bikes for climbing and touring. Cyclotourist chain sets have been around for a very long time!