Someone wrote: And Mafac was dominant in the center-pull market, so you saw a lot of them.
By the mid 1970's not counting the high end market, which is predominantly the bicycles collected by this group(price level, not era), and which mostly had either universal or campagnolo side pulls, my recollection was that many mid and lower level bikes used weinmann centerpulls. The Mafac's were dominant on French brand bicycles such as Peugeot but Schwinn, Raleigh and others used the weinmann vainqueur 610 999's. I guess what you saw could be greatly affected by which lines your local shop carried but wonder what the overall market share of these 2 cp brakes were.
Sloane's Complete Book of Bicycling was a birthday present from my parents and although I was already riding a bit with friends it really focused my interest/love of bicycling. I was probably the only 13 year old in my school who had memorized all the component weights and specs listed in that book. It was a great reference for me and led me to AYH in Manhattan (listed in the appendix) where my serious club riding began. Then came the bike touring trips and summer jobs in bike shops. The other book from then that I really enjoyed was Tom Cuthbertson's "Anybody's Bike Book". It was written with a great sense of humor and had great illustrations.
I'd be interested in the proportion of CR folks who come from the racing side as opposed to club/touring riders and how that affects the bikes we have collected.
Len Diamond
Ridgewood, New Jersey USA