Italian Racing Bicycles: The People, The Products, The Passion traces the rich history of 40 landmark brands intimately connected with racing. The book is now available in bookstores, bike shops, and online.

Tracing the lineage of Italy's most cherished cycling brands back more than 100 years to the early days of the velocipede, this lushly illustrated hardcover book reveals through painstaking research and more than 230 photographs how Italy’s manufacturers have evolved into the brands beloved by the world’s cyclists today.

Not surprisingly, the brands have deep roots in cycling. They also share a hunger for advanced technology, pushing engineering to new heights with exotic metal alloys, elaborate weaves of expensive carbon fiber, and aerodynamic studies that help their bikes and riders cheat the wind for greater speed.

 

Beyond these commonalities, though, the stories diverge. The restless inquisitiveness of Ernesto Colnago could not be more different from the methodical calm of Ugo De Rosa, for example, and yet these two iconic frame builders contributed immeasurably to the racing victories of the great Eddy Merckx. The passion for experimentation of Pinarello, the brazen creativity of Cinelli, the barrier-bursting hour machine of Moser - in search of racing victories, the volcanic inspiration of Italian artisans has repeatedly reshaped the dynamics of cycling.

Melding painstaking historical research with personal visits to each artist's workshop, author Guido P. Rubino has unearthed the stories, the methods, the dreams, and the personalities of these cycling firms, large and small, that have contributed so fundamentally to the glory of the sport.

40 Historic Brands: 3TTT Alan Ambrosio Atala Bianchi Bottecchia Campagnolo Casati Cinelli Colnago Columbus Daccordi Dedacciai De Rosa Ganna Gios Gipiemme Guerciotti Legnano Masi Miche Milani Modolo Moser Olmo Olympia Passoni Pegoretti Pinarello Rossin Scapin Selle Italia Selle Royal-Fi'zi:k Selle San Marco Somec Tommasini Torpado Universal Viner Wilier Triestina

Hardcover with jacket 230 color and b&w photographs throughout
10 5/8" x 9 1/2", 192 pp., $39.95, 978-1-934030-66-0
Download the Table of contents and an excerpt (2 meg pdf).

About Guido P. Rubino

Guido P. Rubino (guidorubino.com) has been writing about cycling technology since 1996, with articles in such magazines as BiciSport, Cicloturismo, and MTB Magazine. He is the coauthor, with Paolo Faccinetti, of Campagnolo: 75 Years of Cycling Passion and author of La Bicicletta da Corsa and La Mountain Bike.

Team 7-Eleven Reveals the Inside Story of America's Greatest Cycling Team

In 1980, there were exactly four professional bike racers in America. Six years later, an American cycling team would wear the coveted yellow jersey of the Tour de France. And that same team would go on to win Italy's greatest race—the Giro d'Italia—only two years later. Team 7-Eleven is the extraordinary story of how two Olympic speed skaters, Jim Ochowicz and Eric Heiden, pulled together a small group of amateur cyclists and turned them into one of the greatest cycling teams the sport has known. From humble beginnings in a barn in Pennsylvania to soaring victories in the French Alps, Team 7-Eleven is the complete history that has never been fully told—until now.

The 7-Eleven Cycling Team launched the careers of American cycling superstars Andy Hampsten, Davis Phinney, Bob Roll, Ron Kiefel, and many more. It also changed the cycling world, creating a new team structure based on multiple stars, unified goals, and personal sacrifice for the greater good. And yet at the time it was formed, the number of American cyclists with world-class experience could be counted—literally—on one hand. And the number of American teams that competed in Europe's biggest races was exactly zero.

Team 7-Eleven is the amazing story of how two cycling fans found one exceptional sponsor and created the greatest American cycling team of its era.

Written with the enthusiastic cooperation of the team members, Team 7-Eleven will impress cycling fans with behind-the-scenes stories of the team's founding, its growing pains, and its lasting success as the team that established America as a powerhouse in the world of professional cycling.

Hardcover with jacket 100 color photographs
6" x 9", 320 pp., $27.95, 978-1-934030-53-0
Download the Table of contents and an excerpt (400kb pdf).

"The new Team 7-Eleven book brought back great memories. Och and Geoff did a great job capturing the evolution of the team. I want to thank Och for his tenacious energy and 7-Eleven for their financial support. Together, they gave us a chance to live out a kid's wildest dream." — Eric Heiden, 5-time Olympic Gold Medalist and Team 7-Eleven cofounder

"Team 7-Eleven is a true joy to read; it's very difficult to put down. Geoff Drake is to be congratulated on a book that successfully occupies two distinct spaces; it is an essential read if this period of cycing is one that passed you by, or one that is before your time. But it is also a more than indispensible appreciation of a team that undoubtedly occupies a favoured place in recent cycling history."— TheWashingMachinePost.net

About Geoff Drake and Jim Ochowicz

Geoff Drake is the former editor of Bicycling magazine and VeloNews, and has covered cycling events worldwide including the Tour de France and Olympic Games. He also writes regularly for national motorcycle magazines and is the author of Smooth Riding, a motorcycling book. He is an avid cyclist, a Category II road racer, and an Ironman triathlete. He lives in Aptos, California.

Jim Ochowicz is a two-time Olympic cyclist and former speedskater who cofounded the 7-Eleven cycling team in 1981. He managed 7-Eleven through 1991 and its successor, the Motorola Cycling Team, through 1995. He served four years as president of the board of directors of USA Cycling, and is currently the manager of the BMC Racing Team. He was inducted into the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame in 1997.