L’eroica bike / bikes

In about 4 weeks I’ll be off to Italy for l’eroica.

As usual, despite having had the best part of a year obsessing about what bike to take, I’ve left it to the last minute (or month).

I’ve now decided on what bike to take - a Hellenic Hetchins. It’s currently set up with a Dura Ace 25th anniversary group which will never get past the compliance police, so I’ve got to strip it, clean and polish it, rebuild it with a compliant Groupset, then dissemble it and box it, ready for the annual argument at City Airport check-in.

Better get on with it.

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Nothing is ever easy in life.

Most of my kit is Campagnolo, and I have a good range of tools for maintenance.

Not so good with Shimano. I need to remove the existing Bottom Bracket and replace it with a different one. Don't have the correct tools - so I'm off to be nice to my LBS.

What a unique frame that is! What groupset you have in mind?

It's a Hetchins 'Hellenic'.

I am planning to fit a Dura Ace 7800 Triple Group with downtube shifters.

Here's my 2012 L'Eroica bike.

It performed well, better than me really. My bottom gear was 43 x 22 (about 52") and wasn't low enough - it's next to impossible to ride out of the saddle on the loose surface of the 'white roads'.

My clubmate's bike (see next post) had 36 x 24 (just under 40") and that seemed adequate.

Two other points:
You can see we had fairly rugged tyres, and they worked perfectly - in fact neither of us could find even a single cut in them afterwards. On the other hand we passed a lot of people with punctured tubs, so that little bit of modernisation served us well.

Originally I was in favour of doing the long course, on the grounds that it was a long way to go to do anything less than the full ride. My clubmate, the very experienced Jeff Marshall, was for doing the medium 85 mile course, which I agreed to partly because according to the stated rules we were both too old to be allowed to do the full 12o miles.

On the day it seemed clear that the rules were Italian rules, and all we would have needed to do was to say we were riding the long course and just got on with it. However, Jeff's wiser counsel prevailed and we stuck with the 85 miles. I'm sure we would have managed the extra distance (well Jeff certainly would have done), but but by the time we got back to Gaiole I felt I'd done enough. It may be worth mentioning that I had ridden the Kent 12 the month before on the same bike (with better wheels) - I didn't do a very good ride, but I did finish with a lot more miles that the Eroica long course.

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Just one pic is enough for Jeff's Gillott.

His bikes have always looked immaculate, but here's a word of warning.

Don't leave your preparation to the last minute so you've no time for adequate road testing at home.
Although this bike looked perfect, it hadn't really been ridden before we left and a vital spacer in one of the Mafac centre pulls broke the day before the ride. A replacement couldn't be found, so the broken pieces were bound together with tape and put back - this worked for the ride, but it was a worrying moment.

The two bikes did attract a fair amount of favourable attention, perhaps because they were both from the same maker, and were both the same colour, although this wasn't a plan, just a happy chance.

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Went to my store just now to dig out last years l’eroica bike, from which I will need to scavenge some parts. Still covered in Tuscan dust.

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That's all kinds of cool!

Random question, you're based in Greenwich, right? Preferred LBS?

Lovely. Reassured that presumably no-one bothered you about the (also very nice) 7800 on there.

Greenwich Cycle Workshop on Trafalgar Road for basic tasks - they swapped out the Bottom Bracket on my Hetchins last Saturday.

For anything a bit complicated, Parts and Labour on Lewisham Way is my go to. Brockley Bikes in Brockley is also pretty good, albeit Ashley the owner is a bit idiosyncratic.

Ta, GCW is just across the road from me and they've been good in the past. Will check out the other two as well, ta!

About 10 years ago I remember seeing the Hetchins curly stay that a customer had given to the guys at Brockley Bikes, they decided to copper dip/plate it which is very idiosyncratic imo.

Have been frustrated by the Hetchins today.

Paint on the downtube bosses is very thick, and makes it impossible to fit levers.

Have taken to removing the paint with sandpaper.

This is not helping my blood pressure.

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Have also been struggling to get the rear mech to play ball.

Went to Spitalfields for a bite to eat and a psychological break.

Things are going better now.

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In between the 7803 left hand crank arm, and the bottom bracket there is a spacer.

Somehow I have lost the spacer.

Does anyone have one, or know where I can get one?

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Quick ‘shout out’ to the mechanic at Balfe’s on Essex Road, to whom I have just been talking, and who is ordering in a spacer for me.

Apparently a cassette spacer is the right diameter for a BB...

Any time I think I've seen all your classic bikes, you post some more amazing things. The Hellenic and that Galibier!

Just on a quick coffee stop mid test ride on the col’s of South East London.

So far, so good.

The front mech and downtube shifter aren’t working 100% harmoniously, but a bit of a fettle will see to that.

I think I will fit some slightly wider bars, and maybe switch out the brake levers.

Slightly more controversially, I might fit a layback seat post.

So far though, so good.

May go for a proper ride tomorrow.

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Just finished a test ride to Brighton.

Made it up Ditchling without issue, so I guess we’re good to go.

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