Re: [CR]Now: The '83 Data Book Was: Bike book of interest to CR group

(Example: Component Manufacturers:Ideale)

In-Reply-To: <20040108.011142.28395.1719532@webmail05.lax.untd.com>
References: <20040108.011142.28395.1719532@webmail05.lax.untd.com>
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2004 10:30:42 -0800
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Jan Heine" <heine93@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]Now: The '83 Data Book Was: Bike book of interest to CR group


In addition to Chuck's xeroxed volume, a professional hardcover reprint of the Data Book is available from Cycle Publishing (formerly Van der Plas). They went through a lot of effort to make the drawings come out nicely. http://www.cyclepublishing.com. There is a price difference - I think the book is $ 49 or so.

My gripe with the Data Book is that it doesn't give any explanation. Only in one or two instances are the French texts published with the drawings - obviously an oversight. If you want to see nice drawings, or just be amazed at what has been around before, it's great. For actual research, it's less so, because if you don't know what it is, you won't find out. For example, I have seen a drawing of a Harden hub used to illustrate an article (fortunately never published) about Maxi-Car hubs! (Rebour kept a keen eye on developments elsewhere. I even found some drawings of American balloon tire bikes!)

Finally, the dates in the book should be taken with caution. Having seen many of the original Rebour drawings published in Le Cycle and Le Cycliste, there are some errors.

This is not to detract from the book. I imagine the original Japanese collector saw the drawings more as works of art than as historic documents. In fact, they are both. For example, the best information on the first Campagnolo Gran Sport rear derailleurs that has come to light so far is from Rebour's drawings, which chronicled almost every detail change. And since the magazines are dated, it is easy to ascertain which came first and which came later... (Changes can only pre- not postdate the publishing date of the magazine!)

I was lucky to meet a French collector who knew Rebour and his wife. He has numerous photos from Rebour's collection, and he has agreed to write an article on Rebour for Vintage Bicycle Quarterly. It will be an article about Rebour as a cyclist and person. (For example, Rebour and his wife set a mixed tandem record in Paris-Brest-Paris 1948.) His work has been described by Raymond Henry as part of the Cycle History Conference Proceedings, also published by Cycle Publishing.

Rebour's output was amazing. Almost every issue of Le Cycle featured several pages of drawings, from fenders and mudflaps to amazing details of Herse tandems and even British bikes (Thanet, Holdsworth, etc.) As Raymond Henry put it: "He had the ability to make even the most mundane bike part look alluring, and made you lust after what you saw in the drawings.) The Data Book only scratches on the surface. Enough to fill many a future issue of VBQ - and with explanations!

--
Jan Heine, Seattle
Editor/Publisher
Vintage Bicycle Quarterly
http://www.mindspring.com/~heine/bikesite/bikesite/