December 17/13 19:13 pm - Canadian Cyclist Christmas Gift Guide - Day 10
Posted by Editoress on 12/17/13
It is the final day for our 2013 Canadian Cyclist Christmas Gift Guide. We've covered a broad gamut of suggestions; from clothing, shoes and helmets, to charitable giving, to accessories, to getting bike fitted and training camps, to a very cool portable espresso maker. To finish off our Christmas list we are going to an item that can inspire and entertain during those long winter months when you either can't ride or have to ride indoors ... a book.
There are so many choices, depending on the interest of your recipient - a biography, a photo book, a training guide, the history of a race or individual ... with online options there are no limits.
We are going to mention a few books that we have reviewed over the past months, but first, a couple that we have not (to this point):
Rebour - The Bicycle Illustrations of Daniel Rebour 
If you are of a certain age - mid-30s or older - then you will have definitely seen the illustrations of Daniel Rebour. This French bicycle illustrator was the artist of choice for major bicycle companies through the late 1940s to the 1980s, when photos and computer CAD drawings took over. His meticulous drawings included both complete components and exploded diagrams and, to my mind, showed the features of products more clearly than photos (and I'm a photographer...).
Campagnolo, Shimano, Zeus, Simplex, Huret, Ideale, TA, Cinelli, Wolber, Mavic ... you name it, he drew it. Over 2000 of his illustrations are beautifully reproduced with descriptions and historical notes.
Rebour - The Bicycle Illustrations of Daniel Rebour by Rob vander Plas & Frank Berto, Cycle Publishing. ISBN 978-1-892495-71-6 Available through Amazon.ca
Cinelli - The Art and Design of the Bicycle When Italy was king in the bicycle world, in the 1970s and 1980s, there were certain brands that were considered the best: Campagnolo, Columbus and Cinelli. Columbus tubing for the frame, Campagnolo components for the drivetrain, brakes and wheels, and Cinelli for the 'cockpit' - handlebars, stem and saddle. Cinelli also produced a limited number of exquisite bikes each year, with lustrous paint jobs that were accented with chrome - the original 'bling' bikes. From there, the company expanded into clothing, tape (the original cork tape), toe clips and disc wheels.
This coffee table sized book is a celebration of that era, with beautiful photos of sculpted stems, exotic bike designs (Francesco Moser's world hour record bike was a copy of the Cinelli Laser, and Hans-Henrik Oersted rode a Laser to the sea level hour record), and fascinating inside info on the collaborations the company has had with others.
Cinelli: The Art and Design of the Bicycle by Lodovico Pignatti Morano, Antonio Colombo, Felice Gimondi and Barry McGee Rizzoli International Publications ISBN 978-0-8478-3867-7
Now, onto some books we have reviewed in the past year:
The Sports Gene
Seven Deadly Sins by David Walsh
The Secret Race
Wheelmen
Road to Valour
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