The Competition Bicycle
Jan Heine — Photographs: Jean-Pierre Praderes
"There is no better gift for the die-hard bike nut."
"Striking Images – even noncyclists can't help but become engrossed."
"The photographs make every detail of spoke, chain and handlebar pop out on the page."
"Truly superb!"
"Beautiful and inspiring!"
"If you intend to own only one book about racing bicycles, make it this one."
Click on the links to read the full reviews.
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See more images from The Competition Bicycle in OUTSIDE Magazine's photo gallery.
Eddy Merckx, 1974 World Championships
"Exquisite photography, interesting to read."
roadbikerider.com
"Great photographic history of handbuilt racing bikes."
"A visual feast"
Oregon Cycling
"A velo-bibliophile's dream tome"
Citycycling UK
"You can almost feel the machines through the crisp and detailed photographs."
V-CC News and Views
"Sumptuous, magnificent photographs."
Momentum
"This coffee-table photographic art book is enthusiastically recommended"
"Seeing these bicycles in all their glory will captivate readers."
$60
176 pages, 9.5" x 12", hardcover. ISBN 978-0-9765460-1-6
Vintage Bicycle Press' new large-format book explores the world of cycling competition through the actual bicycles ridden by champions and amateurs.
Great champions battled the mountain passes of the great tours. Others whirled around the banked oval of a track. Randonneurs embraced the open road unsupported. Newspaper carriers raced each other over the cobblestones of Paris with 15 kg of newspapers on the front rack. Mountain bikers did away with roads altogether and raced on mountain trails.
Their bicycles are shown in The Competition Bicycle, from a rare 1890s racing High Wheeler to Tony Rominger's 1994 hour record bike. In between are 32 carefully selected bicycles. Most are the actual, unrestored machines ridden by great champions like Fausto Coppi, Gino Bartali, Eddy Merckx, Greg LeMond, Andy Hampsten and many others.
These bikes tell their stories through sweat-stained handlebar tape and well-worn saddles. Each bicycle represents a milestone in the history of cycling competition, as well as in the development of cycling technology.
The Competition Bicycle is a celebration of beautiful bicycles lovingly crafted for one purpose only: to go as fast as possible.
The Author:
Jan Heine is editor of Bicycle Quarterly, a magazine about classic bicycles and cycling's history.
The Photographer:
Jean-Pierre Pradères' photography has been published in many magazines and books, including the Guggenheim Museum's The Art of the Motorcycle.
Fausto Coppi, 1949 Tour de France
$60
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1903 Dursley Pedersen
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Jacquie Phelan's 1983 Cunningham
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Henry Burton, Fremont Place Books, Seattle
Gino Bartali, 1949 Tour de France