The thing about Sloane was that he knew his audience PERFECTLY WELL!
Whenever it was time to show the disassembly of some elementary part, did he show Shimano 105 hubs? Suntour VGT derailleurs? Never! When disassembling your bike, only the finest Campagnolo Nuovo Record or Dura Ace parts could be removed! Even when adjusting the handlebars, they were always cinelli!! These parts were unobtainium in much of the midwest, where Sloane lived (Chicago), so just seeing photos of this stuff was MechE and/or artistic titillation ..
And Sloane always had a really hot babe in hot pants straddling a bike in ALL of his bike-fit photos. Turns out she was his neighbor's daughter or something. Anyway, she was always there to demonstrate (what was she there to demonstrate?? I already forgot !! I think she was the main DEMONSTRATION!)
Bike porn, and softcore porn, all in one handy volume!
- Don Gillies San Diego, CA, USA
P.S. it really is true that Americans were growing taller in the 1960's and 1970's. When my parents, 5'11 and 6'1.5" arrived in central Illinois in 1956, they towered over all the UIUC students. By the mid-70's, they were not so tall any more ...