Since few Italian lightweights seem to have been imported into Britain c. 1950s-60s, we miss the in-depth write-ups and reviews of them which were a feature of such magazines as "Cycling". At least I haven't seen any. Was there an Italian equivilent of "Cycling" which reviewed bicycles?
Again, so much of Euro cycle sports is about the riders and personalities, it's sometimes hard to find out about the bikes. There must be four gorgeous books out recently on the Tour de France. Not a single one, not one, has anything to say about the machines. So and so won the '54 Tour but we don't know what he rode and what components it had. Amazing. OK, I know Lance says "It's Not About the Bike"... sure. I'll lend Lance my Raleigh DL-1 for his next Tour... But surely the machines did play some role in all this? For example, how many tours were won with Simplex components? How many with Campagnolo?
The bike in cycle sport seems to assume as much importance as the brand of bat in baseball or jockstrap in jogging. Since we don't collect cyclists but cycles, we seem to be at a disadvantage here..
Peter Kohler
Washington DC USA