VeloPress

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.