Talk of Sloane and DeLong made me go look on the book shelf. I found Glenn's Complete Bicycle Manual (1973) and Sutherland's Handbook for Bicycle Mechanics - Second Edition (1977).
John Autry Charlotte, NC USA
Phil Brown wrote:
>
> On Jun 15, 2009, at 6:48 PM, Jerome & Elizabeth Moos wrote:
>
>> Sloane was the right person at the right time. His task was not to
>> split hairs with the aficionados, but to explain quality bicycles to
>> an American public to whom derailleurs were a mystery, and who
>> regarded a Schwinn Varsity as the height of sophistication. He did
>> his job extraordinarily well. If one knew nothing about quality
>> bicycles, but wanted to learn, and could only read one book on the
>> subject, his would have been the book to read.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Jerry Moos
>>
>
> To expand on Jerry's post, I think it's hard for cyclists today to
> comprehend the dearth of information available in the early 70s. In
> those days cycling was basically an oral tradition with information
> passed down by the griots in the clubs and, hard as it may seem today,
> you learned about the Tour de France from the short wave or a 2 month
> old Cycling or the late lamented International Cycle Sport. In this
> vacuum Gene Sloane was like a hurricane of information, followed by
> Fred Delong's more technical book. And the CONI manual. That was it.
> Hard to believe today.
> Phil Brown
> Bought my CONI manual 1 mile from where I live today in Oakland, Calif.