The Elite Bicycle: Portraits of Great Marques, Makers, and Designers

If you ever wanted to see where great bicycles are made and what goes into making them, if you have ever wanted to be an apprentice in a World-class bicycle maker then this is the right book for you.This is not a picture book about great bicycles or even what makes a great bicycle so good. There are no reviews of ride quality. It is about the physical location and photographs of the machines at production facilities that produce famous, small-production bicycles. Being a behind-the-scenes collection of bicycle workshops and production facilities it would be more aptly titled "A Photographic Essay of The Elite Bicycle Workshop". The strength of the book is the art-quality photographs. Most of the photographs document the workshops or factories. Only 3 of the 250 photographs are pictures of finished ready-to-ride bicycles. The rest are bicycles in some stage of being manufactured or pictures of just the workshop. I counted and 92 of the pictures show some kind of power-driven manufacturing machine such as a drill-press, lathe, grinder, tube extruder, shaper or milling machine. A number of them are surrounded by piles of metal shavings. 22 of the pictures show a torch, 16 have a vise in the picture and 6 have lathes.This book may be the first book to document the production facilities of high-end bicycles and equipment. It takes you inside the Mavic factory and gives you 14 close-up photographs the machines processing the freshly extruded famous rims. Similarly, you get 18 pictures of the Continental tire factory producing their famous tires. There are 16 photographs of the Brooks saddle factory, 15 photographs of the Columbus tubing factory, 13 of Specialties T.A. & 11 of the Reynolds tubing factory. Smaller production facilities included are Chris King, Independent Fabrication, Ben Serotta, Richard Sachs & Dario Pegoretti. The section on Time bicycles are the first photographs of how a they make a carbon frame. It shows close-ups of the machine weaving a carbon fiber/Kevlar sock being woven and details of wax inserts being positioned into the carbon fabric and the entire affair being carefully positioned between a pair of molds to have resin injected under high pressure and heated to remove the wax sections. Even if you went to France I don't think Time would give you a tour of their factory. If you like carbon fiber the 17 photographs from the Time factory alone are worth the price of the book.Even as an encyclopedia of mystique a number of current frame-makers are missing such as Baines and Hetchins in Europe as well as Bruce Gordon in America. Not including Japan and 3Rensho is a major oversight. 20 of the 29 companies included are European. There is one Canadian and 8 USA companies. None are from Australia, Russia or South Africa. The book seeks to perpetuate the European mystique to Americans ("you know how they just love the Old World over in the New", pg.#74)A few important details are not covered in the companies that are included. The Columbus section has no discussion of the new stainless-steel tubing they currently make and no discussion of the many different tube sets they have made such as the elliptically-shaped Max tubing and why they quit making it. No discussion is made of the effect different tube dimensions on ride. The majority of the section on Time describes pedals but includes no pictures of pedals. In the chapter on Seven bicycles no mention is made of Rob Vandermark's role in pioneering titanium bicycles at Merlin. It doesn't explain whatever happened to Merlin Metalworks and only shows art-quality close-ups of the drill-press in the work-room of the Seven bicycle company. The article describes the personal drive, aspiration and deeply personal commitment of the employees to their jobs.In spite of its being written by a magazine editor, the weakest part of the book is the text. The narrative is so wandering the reader is easily lost with the author's intoxication with words. It waxes sometimes a little too poetic for a non-fiction book. For example, in the section on Cyfac, the author describes a brazing torch as watching 'the dart of the gas jet, quivering like a glow-worm eager for some action on the grass verge.' (pg.#74)I have not seen a glow-worm before and the analogy of one quivering for some action 'on the grass verge' seems strained. In other sections it is difficult to understand what the analogy has to do with bicycles. . .

Would like to see more makers, but good coffee table book.

I don't wish to seem a malcontent and have never before taken to drafting a negative review on Amazon, but my expectations of this book based upon the title and book cover (and although a book should not be judged by its cover, many a book is purchased because of an inviting cover) were high and actual book fell well below what I hoped. Had I found this book in a bricks and mortar store and paged through it, I would never have purchased it. Such are some of the limitations of on line buying.The book is effectively a "picture book" with the size and format of a "coffee table" book. Many of the most celebrated and honored bicycle manufacturers and legendary creators of parts and equipment are identified and each receives a 5 to 7 page chapter filled with random photos and a lesser amount of text, which is informative on a cursory basis although fairly dry and unexciting. The problem is that especially with the bicycles, there are few actual photographs of completed bicycles and surely none quite as interesting as the photo on the cover. For the most part the book serves as a photo essay of the oft cluttered machine shops where bikes are created, and there are far more photos of brake-presses and drill presses and assorted machinery and employees wielding brazing equipment than there are of the completed "elite" bicycles.I found the section on Richard Sachs most interesting and it presented his background and experience and esthetic and contained photos of Mr. Sach's wielding a torch, or some of his equipment or a brazed lug after sanding. There were however, no photos to reveal what a actual Richard Sachs bicycle looks like, and as they are a thing of beauty the chapter contained a glaring omission. In the same manner, the section of Seven Cycles contained one photo of a bicycle and many more of pieces of equipment that one can speculate as to their function. Seven creates exquisite welds on the titanium tubing for which the company is renown, but there are no photos of that work.I suspect that if there was a chapter on Campagnolo, the editors would have chosen to insert a series of photos of the employees on break working the cappuccino machine in the lunchroom rather than depict a single crank or brakeset.If I expected a book on "bicycle machine shops", I would have given the book a high rating.

This a good book for knowledgeable enthusiast. It takes you back to the original makers of high end race bikes and up to the the present day players. Lots of pictures and commentary. It's a large, coffee table style of book. You definitely get your moneys worth.

great price fast delivery

Interesting, well illustrated, and yes, fascinating if you are interested in seeing the process of making bikes and parts. I would have wished for a more European selection of manufacturers.

He could let the book down so much information and fun reading. Arrived timely in excellent condition no bumps or bruises.

My favorite bike book. thank you very mucho. it came at time, and super good shape.

Continuing the blizzard of excellent books about bicycles and their makers, this beautifully photographed and written account of a number of makers, from one-man to medium size, is a welcome new arrival. With excellent photography, giving a strong impression of the places of work and the makers, and informed descriptions of them , this is a valuable record of a flourishing industry. There will be makers that haven't been included, but the selection gives a breadth and overview that is impressive. The range of styles, experience and scale of operation is one of the strongest features of this book.Compared to some other recent volumes of a similar type, the production quality is a bit disappointing; nasty brown cloth binding, and glossy but thin paper stock. Minor matters that shouldn't deter anyone from ordering this book.

Let me start by stating that the photography in this book is excellent. However, the narrative is really very bad indeed. Perhaps this book was primarily intended for the US market where the sort of flowery, pompous and irrelevant twaddle which this book is full of seems to find resonance. Such a shame that the narrative does not match the excellent photography.

Beautiful book & delivered in time ( little tear in cover paper, but it's a hard case book so it's ok. Thanks 👍

Amazing book! Was a gift and the person absolutely loved it.

Molto altro non c'è....secondo me il voler fare un mix fra artigianato di nicchia (più o meno) e industria, secondo me crea confusione e non rende granchè merito ne agli uni ne agli altri. Non lo ricomprerei. Classico libro da coffee table e null'altro.