FA 100 Years of Bicycle Component and Accessory Design
AlisEvans
Edition of The Data Book,as new condition,210 pages.Large format.
Consists of acres of diagrams of bike designs,originally published in
Japan (entitled The Joyful Bicycle!) by a certain Mr Noguchi president
of Joto Ringyo,this is a legendary reference for the bike builder/
designer.
carl...@comcast.net
wrote:
Dear Alis,
Regrettably, there's almost no data in "The Data Book"--no text, no
patent numbers, just black-and-white line-drawn ads and sketches
without much attempt at detail, exploded drawings, or cutaway views.
There are no photographs in this 1983 book.
The period 1877 to 1886 takes 6 pages with 14 ads and diagrams, most
widely available on the internet.
The period 1887 to 1895 takes 5 pages and consists of 5 ads for
Sunbeam safeties.
After that, things skip around, but pretty much it covers 1900-1959.
Page 64 shows 7 drawings of bicycle sirens from 1935. Page 65 shows 9
drawings of luggage racks from 1907. Pages 62-3 show 15 pictures of
bicycle bells from 1906-1935. Page 52 features 8 slightly different
versions of saw-toothed pedals from 1911-12.
Usually, there aren't even labels. Page 66 is blank.
Frankly, I wish that I'd waited to look at it through inter-library
loan. I expected data, not unlabeled line drawings of bells and
handlebars. Possibly it would be more interesting to someone
fascinated by faint variations in the outer casings of French bicycle
bottle-generators and lights in the year 1935--a dozen appear on pages
60-61.
If anyone's curious, pick a page number between 3 and 209 and I'll
scan it to give a random sample.
Anyone interested in old designs and diagrams, with tons of text and
more than twice as many pages, should get Archibald Sharp's 1896
"Bicycles and Tricycles," easily found at www.bookfinder.com.
They'll also do better to get "King of the Road" by Andrew Ritchie.
Lots of text, old photographs, old ads, and diagrams.
Berto's "Dancing Chain" 2nd edition costs more, but has far more
detail, photographs, and interesting text, though it's devoted mostly
to derailleurs.
Cheers,
Carl Fogel