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Bianchi Eroica bike


jjb1970

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http://www.eroicagaiole.com/bianchi-eroica

 

For those who like classic steel road bikes, this is bike porn. Unlike most modern steel bikes which provide a modern cycling experience based on a steel frame but maybe with some retro looks, this bike is the full on retro experience. Its a Bianchi, its steel, its celeste, how much better could it get?!!

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This is a replica of a 1950's era Bianchi Specialissima, they've done a brilliant job with the looks but then Bianchi bikes are known for their style. To non cycling people the price is probably frightening but for a good steel bike of this kind the price is not bad.

The gearing is their concession to the modern world I guess, I suspect many cyclists today will already be freaked out by the down tube gear shifters and pedals with toe clips and straps. Despite the retro interest in steel frames most people really want retro style, not retro functionality. I must admit that as much as I love classic steel I'd not go back to down tube gear shifters or clips and straps for anything other than a Sunday afternoon toy.

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OK, educate me a bit guys, if you wouldn't mind.

 

I used to do a lot of long-distance touring, using bikes that were pretty much like that (not that quality; couldn't afford it, but in general). For the past thirty years, all I've done is commuter-cycling and family rides, which means a hybrid, because it is mainly on reserved cycle ways, canal towpaths etc.

 

Now, I'd like to get back into distance if/when I can afford to retire. And, I must confess that I was looking forward to "proper" gear shifts, and toe-clips. Why are those things frowned upon now? And, surely there is massive power loss without toe-clips?

 

K

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I ride an Ellis Briggs built with Reynolds 531 tubing.  I got my first in 1973 as a 21st present and when that got damaged in a car accident got the second in 1996 and it's still going strong. 

 

Jamie

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In the early  60's  used to have a bike with a French Mercier 531  frame and the rest that looked and spec'd very similar ,mainly Campag ,Weimann etc ,almost the same colour .Sob sob .got it from Rory O'Brians  in Manor Park .

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Very nice, and I agree with jjb970 re the price. I'd far rather spend that kind of money on something like this than on the latest whizz-bang technology which will be obsolete in 6 months anyway.

 

However, I think I'll just soldier on with The Hard Rubbish Special, a 1970s Japanese (I think) frame, built as a fixie using anything that was cheap on Ebay or from online purveyors.

 

 post-17123-0-71572100-1445161810_thumb.jpg

 

Here it is at what I thought was the top of the Centenary Trail around Canberra (it wasn't; oh my aching legs :(), complete with skinny roadish wheels and tyres, heavy steel mudguards and half toeclips. It doesn't look much but, as my sole means of transport during 18 months of working in the national capital, I estimate that we clocked up beteen 15 and 20,000 km together. It now gets flogged up and down the gravel surfaced former railway line from Chidlow to Midland here in WA, still fixied and still skinny tyred. I'm tempted to have a crack at the Munda Biddi Trail down to Albany too, although I might have to think about a smaller chainring and some cyclocross tyres for that little expedition.

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OK, educate me a bit guys, if you wouldn't mind.

 

I used to do a lot of long-distance touring, using bikes that were pretty much like that (not that quality; couldn't afford it, but in general). For the past thirty years, all I've done is commuter-cycling and family rides, which means a hybrid, because it is mainly on reserved cycle ways, canal towpaths etc.

 

Now, I'd like to get back into distance if/when I can afford to retire. And, I must confess that I was looking forward to "proper" gear shifts, and toe-clips. Why are those things frowned upon now? And, surely there is massive power loss without toe-clips?

 

K

These days most bikes above a certain price point are sold with cheap throwaway pedals or no pedals at all as people will fit their own preferred clipless type. For road bikes the popular choices are Look, Time and Shimano, all are pretty similar in securing a cleat affixed to the bottom of the shoe. You need special cycling shoes, these systems offer a very secure joint between shoe and pedal, allow a degree of float and are very easy to use. Most people find that they become comfortable with clipless pedals very easily. The other big change you may not be familiar with is that almost every roadbike bike sold now outside of supermarkets and catalogue specials uses integrated brake/gear shifters, the three options for road bikes are Shimano STI, SRAM double tap or Campagnolo Ergo. All are a bit different but all have the great shifters up in the brake lever assembly. Personally, whilst I love retro bikes and steel, I think it would be pretty hard to argue that both innovations are not vast improvements on what went before and for a working bike I planned to ride a lot (as opposed to a Sunday afternoon indulgence) I'd not buy a bike without clipless pedals and integrated shifters now. I you have deep pockets you can also get electronic gear systems (including an electronic hub gear) which are superb and a joy to use but still very expensive and cable operated systems work perfectly well. Road bikes are currently in a transition from rim calliper brakes to disc brakes, if you want to start a good melt down on some cycling forums go on and start a thread to ask if disc brakes and better than rim brakes, sit back and enjoy the fun........

 

If you are coming back to cycling it is a great time to get a bike. The market has fragmented and is chasing all sorts of niche markets so you should be able to get a bike ideally suited to your own needs. I'd avoid very cheap bikes, but equally there is no need to spend £££££££'s to get a good bike. Yes, you do get what you pay for to some extent but entry level bikes from recognised brands in the £400 - £500 range will offer good build and functional components and ride well. Compared to the sort of bikes sold at Toys R Us or in an Argos catalogue they're in a different world. Above that then the sky is the limit, a particularly competitive price point where you often find very well specced bikes for the price is £1000 as that is the Cycle to Work threshold and many manufacturers have Cycle to Work specials intended to offer a great spec and dip just below the £1000 threshold.

 

The road or road - like market is now split into:

 

Road performance bikes, now split into out and out racers and endurance (sportive) bikes which are made to go fast but with more relaxed geometry and often shock absorbing technologies.

 

Gravel bikes, or sometimes adventure bikes, some of these are basically like endurance road bikes with big tyre clearance, others are basically like cyclocross bikes with lower bottom brackets and more relaxed geometry. Many have mudguard mounts and some have rack mounts, as a general purpose fast bike they're very attractive.

 

Traditional touring bikes, nowadays you see a lot more of the Euro style flat bar tourers on sale, and some tourers have adopted mountain bike wheels. There are also Audax bikes which are either an endurance racing machine with mudguards or a lightweight tourer with racier wheels/tyres and higher gearing depending on particular design. Audax bikes are fantastic all rounders and ideal for many who want a fast bike which is also very usable as a working tool.

 

Cyclocross bikes, OK not a road bike per se but most cyclocross bikes sold seem to be used as road and commuter machines, tend to have racey geometry and higher bottom brackets and big tyre clearance. Generally lower geared than a road bike,the current fashion seems to have gone back to a single front ring.

 

Hybrids, look like a mountain bike but with road wheels/tyres and road biased gearing.

 

Traditional flat bar bikes are still available although most of the market for these bikes seems to have adopted hybrid bikes.

 

The trend for fixed speed or single speed bikes seems to have waned but there are still plenty of fixies available to buy, the Specialized Langster is still a popular choice in that market.

 

Don't ignore hub gears, some of the hub gears available now are excellent with very wide ranges, if you have deep pockets then the Rohloff system is truly superb. Hub gears open up the possibility of using a belt drive which has a few advantages over a chain.

 

Material wise, despite the hype around carbon fibre there is no shortage of superb aluminium bikes and steel is still a good option. Up to about £1500 aluminium is fully competitive with cheaper carbon fibre and up to that price point aluminium is often the better choice if buying a bike. Once you go above that price point then carbon fibre does become predominant and with good reason. Steel is found a lot on very cheap bikes then there is a bit of a jump before you start to see it again on expensive custom bikes, although many tourers are still steel and companies like Genesis are doing a good job keeping steel alive in the mainstream bike market.

 

My best advice is get a bike that suits your needs. I think it is very easy to get carried away by carbon performance exotica when often a good solid audax bike or one of the newer gravel/adventure bikes or a hybrid would be much better suited.

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I ride an Ellis Briggs built with Reynolds 531 tubing.  I got my first in 1973 as a 21st present and when that got damaged in a car accident got the second in 1996 and it's still going strong. 

 

Jamie

Ellis Briggs made a fine bike and 531 is still great steel. Buy once and buy right, if you buy a good bike it never stops being a good bike and with a little bit of TLC a good steel bike will last for life.

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The Eroica "lookalike replica" is actually quite cheap at £1950. The frame appears prettily decorated but the wheels are nothing special, and "Campagnolo gears" covers a multitude of sins. Not something to salivate about really. The Brooks B17 saddle is nice though but a crime to lean it against a wall.

 

For a truly classic steel bike a hand brazed Reynolds 753 frame, and Mavic Open Pro wheels, with a Shimano Dura Ace group set would cut the mustard - but it would cost a lot more than £1950.

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Thanks, especially 30801 and JJB.

 

One option I might consider, as a first step, before launching into a totally new bike, is to fit different tyres, handlebars, and pedals to my present general purpose bike, a 20+ year old Specialized Crossroads Cruz. I'm sure it's the wide-ish handlebars that make it uncomfortable after an hour or two, because they throw weight on the shoulder-joints in the wrong way.

 

Thanks again, Kevin

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I once owned a Humber 10 speed and then discovered cars were faster. :jester: The roads are too busy to rekindle any interest in pedal power. It all seems to be a bit expensive as well - though I can still understand the appeal, I can't understand the finer differences between one bike and another. Isn't it all about brand worship - a bit like I drive a red Ferrari (I don't) but dreams on ..

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One slightly special bike I had was an Armstrong works frame,Its paint was poor ,metallic blue from memory  but original  .I bought it of a guy in the early 60's and Tom Brasher of Brasher Cycles in Walthamstow  identified it.I had no ideas ..I paid 3 quid for it but had it stoved  in bright yellow with black Armstrong lettering and the correct decals Tom got me ..It was very light .I ran it with a fixed wheel ,one brake to keep its light ambiance .

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All this is a very long way from my dear old Raleigh 'Grand Prix' that I bought as a frame from one of the staff in "Samways Cycles" Derby for about £100 in c.1985/8?

It may not sound too special but it was built in Ilkeston at the SBD from Reynolds 531, I think 753 was highly 'exotic' material then!

Over time I built it up using the best components I could afford and rode it throughout Derbyshire and surrounding counties, I found it a great bike until some scum stole it, with two locks on it to boot.

I was in the CTC then and quite a few members rode Claud Butlers or the local brand, Merican. I always aspired to a Mercian, especially after I had the tour around the factory.

Ho hum, my career was on a downer after I lost the GP, I went all new fangled and bought a mountain bike, well I did like 'off roading' but some 80 miles and straight handlebars and 2.1" 'nobblies' nearly killed me.

The Bianchi Eroica (I thought it said 'erotica'!) does look sweet but I'm practically retired from cycling now.

Cheers,

John E.

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It all seems to be a bit expensive as well - though I can still understand the appeal, I can't understand the finer differences between one bike and another. Isn't it all about brand worship - a bit like I drive a red Ferrari (I don't) but dreams on ..

There is a bit of that. Ultimately a bike is two wheels driven by a pair of legs. As a transport tool a low end flat bar bike works just as well as an exotic machine. In some respects, better as you're less likely to be worried about leaving it anywhere if you use it to go shopping or acting as a magnet to organised bike thieves. Bikes are different though, the most extreme are time trial and track bikes of the type most normal riders would struggle to ride as a result of the pretty extreme aero body position. Going less extreme, bikes are designed to do different things and depending on what you want or need a bike for will determine what is best for you. And yes, some of it is brand image and pose value. Magazine don't help, if their bike reviews consisted of "we've tested five £1500 sportive bikes and they all work well so choose the one with the nicest paint job and frame stickers" they'd be out of business so just like car magazines they tend to blow these things up and find differences everywhere. And many of the real differences are very subjective, the contact points are crucial to feel comfortable but things like saddles and handlebars are notoriously subjective and one persons ideal is another's poison. Bikes are like almost any other passion, those bitten with the bug will find that moving up the ladder to more expensive bikes is rewarding and does add to their enjoyment but to people outside of that passion it must look bonkers.

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Thanks, especially 30801 and JJB.

 

One option I might consider, as a first step, before launching into a totally new bike, is to fit different tyres, handlebars, and pedals to my present general purpose bike, a 20+ year old Specialized Crossroads Cruz. I'm sure it's the wide-ish handlebars that make it uncomfortable after an hour or two, because they throw weight on the shoulder-joints in the wrong way.

 

Thanks again, Kevin

Thanks, especially 30801 and JJB.

 

One option I might consider, as a first step, before launching into a totally new bike, is to fit different tyres, handlebars, and pedals to my present general purpose bike, a 20+ year old Specialized Crossroads Cruz. I'm sure it's the wide-ish handlebars that make it uncomfortable after an hour or two, because they throw weight on the shoulder-joints in the wrong way.

 

Thanks again, Kevin

Changing tyres can make a huge difference to how a bike feels and rides, it is probably one of the most cost effective changes you can make. Ditto, new contact points can make a big service, as can a full service, strip down the gears, brakes, bottom bracket etc, service, rebuild and adjust and a bike can feel like new. That said upgrading a lot of bits can add up to a lot of money which is when it is worth considering whether a new bike might make more sense to buy a new bike.

That said, bikes don't stop being good bikes and if you like the one you've got then keep it going.

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It was back in the dark ages when I did a lot of cycling 1960s-early 1980s and I have been amazed by the changes since then.

 

Currently I have mountain bike that I bought (new) about 20 years ago which I ride very occasionally. It has knobbly tyres, straight bars and V brakes and, it seems to me, too many gears at 18 (3 x 6). It is ok off road but I am thinking of a road bike for relaxed rides after I retire next year.

 

When I was a lad, my mates and I used to build our own bikes out of used, occasionally new and sometimes dubiously obtained parts. I still like the idea of hub gears and also building my own bike again. Is this still a practical option? I'm guessing it should be, given the amount of bike shops and marketplaces about. (I will stick to legitimate sources these days!) How about hub gears?

 

steve

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Hub gears are still very popular for urban and commuting bikes, they're also popular on touring bikes. Shimano even offer a Di2 electronic version of their Alfine hib gears whilst the German Rohloff system is a seriously well engineered (and expensive....) gear hub favoured by high end touring and expedition bikes.

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I don't see why one shouldn't build up a bike from bits. That's mostly how the hard Rubbish Special came about. When I got it pretty much everything on it was more or less shot or, at least, didn't work very well (fossilized brake blocks on chrome steel rims in a size that limited tyre choice, for example) so I started scouring Ebay and online retailers like Chain Reaction and SJS Cycles for replacement stuff, having found, to my delight and surprise, that there is a high level of standardisation in the late 20th century bicycle world.

 

So I ended up with what I think is a Sakae Ringyo frame (based on where the remains of the derailleurs, cranks and original handlebars came from, and some research in Google Images), fitted up with a modest Sugino crankset ($50 on Ebay), a Shimano cartridge bottom bracket ($10 from pretty much anywhere), Halo track wheels (less than $90 an end) and Dia Compe brakes (Weinmann knock offs and, IIRC, not very expensive), and a saddle and seatpost that were on clearance from one of the aforementioned retailers. Of what I started with, I'm left with the frame, the rear brake caliper, the headset and a set of cheapo flat bars and levers that came with the original wreck, along with the mudguards.

 

It's a very long way from high-end but it's light(ish), comfortable, huge fun, especially when overtaking the odd carbon-fibre mounted lycra merchant, was very enjoyable to do, and took me to work and back, plus ~200 km recreational riding each weekend, for 18 months with no reliability problems apart from a couple of punctures and one pedal spindle bearing failing for no very good reason.

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With the market being so competitive it is possible to buy a new complete bike at a very good price these days.

Chris Boardman pointed out that you can buy a bike for less than £1k that is better than any thing that he rode in the Tour de France.

As with the model railway field some old things are collectable and priced accordingly, while others can be picked up very cheaply. The problem in doing a self assembly job with old parts bought on ebay is knowing what parts are compatible. With 9,10and 11 speed gears mix and match can be a nightmare.

A word of warning. For any one buying a carbon framed bike or a bike with carbon components do not attempt to remove and refit any parts. Torque figures are marked on them and compliance with these is critical, as is accuracy of assembly. I have seen a few serious accidents of late caused by bad assembly, usually involving the steering column/head set. Even some local bike shops are not aware of the degree of care and attention required.

Bernard

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The problem in doing a self assembly job with old parts bought on ebay is knowing what parts are compatible. With 9,10and 11 speed gears mix and match can be a nightmare.

 

 

That's exactly why I opted to go to a single-speed rather than try to repair or replace the knackered, decidedly non-standard 10-speed derailleurs that came with the HRS. I figured that, as long as the bottom bracket had standard English threads (a gamble  that paid off), I'd be able to juggle BB lengths, spacers, freewheel/sprocket etc. to make everything match up. I still don't know whether the headset is anything standard as it hasn't yet needed doing, so that was another gamble, and I did subsequently find out that the seatpost is 25.8 mm rather than the 25.4 I originally thought, which makes it less easy to find replacements than it might otherwise be.

 

If I ever want gears, I'll go with a hub set. I'm rather taken with the 2-speed automatic that SRAM do which, according to internet wisdom, is a rather better unit than the Sturmey Archer equivalent.

 

Incidentally, while I was working in Canberra a few months ago, a  chap was killed as a result of "mechanical failure" which, I'm given to understand, was the sudden collapse of his carbon frame. Nasty. I really like the forgiving nature of steel.

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Unfortunately carbon fibre got a bit of a bad name for being susceptible to damage and breaking apart. Whilst the material does have certain properties that mean it will often break rather than deform as for metals my own carbon bike is now over 13 years old and is still in good order despite a few of the normal road rash incidents. As has been pointed out, tightening torques are absolutely critical for carbon fibre bikes, if you do any adjustments you need a torque wrench set to the appropriate torque. Despite a lot of internet wisdom, carbon fibre is repairable under many circumstances however the repairs may not be cheap and many manufacturers offer good crash replacement policies. If you do consider a repair I’d be very careful about it and check with the manufacturer first. Sometimes the repairability of steel is held up as the ultimate virtue of the material but in all honesty how far do people really go with repairs to steel bikes and whilst minor repairs and correcting misalignments caused by a crash etc are easy enough with steel the costs and associated respray costs if needed often mean it is only sensible for expensive frames. I’m not advocating a throwaway mentality, but going too far in the other direction can be just as misjudged IMO.

Putting an old bike together is great fun however and can be a bargain way of getting something very nice. Some bikes are very desirable and priced as such (you don’t see many bargain basement Colnago Master frames, mores the pity…..) you do see some lovely old steel frames around for prices which mean you can pick them up and play with them as a rebuild project without committing a lot of money. You can pick up a lot of the components on EBay etc and there are companies that make replica classic equipment. I’d be careful with S/H wheel rims, stems, handlebars etc as if you don’t know the history they can hide a lot of sins and older rims may be heavily worn on the brake track making them a safety liability. For all that, it is true that new bikes offer a lot of performance and you can buy a really nice bike at a sensible, sub £1k price. The £1k price point is one of the sweet spots in terms of performance per £ in the UK market but you can get very good bikes for a lot less. Nobody outside of those actually competing in elite level competition needs a bike costing thousands (and even there, many pro riders compete on bikes priced way, way below what you can spend if you really want to) and although I’d recommend avoiding the sort of very cheap bikes sold in toy shops and catalogues entry level bikes from recognised suppliers are perfectly good bikes. I bought my little lad a Jamis 26” mountain bike for his birthday last month, it was reduced to £190 from £290 and I was quite impressed as it is a proper bike and the quality of the components and frame finish are both very good. Certainly compared to what he looked at in Toys R Us it is in a different world and not even much more expensive.

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For comfort, you could alway invest in a proffesional bike fitting. This is where you have a chap work out what and where the contact points should be. Be aware that this does cost money but the benifit is that you spend all day in the saddle (if you wish) and not get back, neck, arm etc ache.

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