Promotional Information

The serendipitous pairing up of two of the world's leading experts on the history of cycling technology has resulted in this definitive book on bicycle design. This is a remarkably complete account of the numerous technical problems encountered over the past two centuries, and of the ways different generations of mechanics and constructors have chosen to solve these problems. -- Glen Norcliffe, Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar at York University, author of The Ride to Modernity: The Bicycle in Canada, 1869-1900 The authors have given a far fuller and far more authoritative history of bicycles than has been accomplished previously. They have also laid to rest the many myths that have grown up in many so-called histories. The book is more comprehensive and more accurate than the several good histories of bicycles that have been produced in the last forty years. -- David Gordon Wilson, Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, author of Bicycling Science This is a uniquely comprehensive and carefully researched history of bicycle design written from an international perspective and abundantly illustrated. It stretches from the bicycle's pre-industrial origins to present innovations, covering features from brakes to the child seat. The seeming simplicity of the bicycle turns out to be the result of a long and complex history, which continues today. The bicycle -- presented in this book as the high-tech of the 19th century -- is now on the way to becoming the pioneer vehicle of the environmental age. In Bicycle Design, the development of this small human-powered machine is becoming big history. -- Joachim Radkau, Professor of Modern History, Bielefeld University Working from a simple but clever design, a bicycle is a machine that is altogether light and steady, singular and versatile. It is introduced in a masterly way through this scholarly and exhaustive work. Hold on tight to the handlebars, as Bicycle Design provides a ride through the Wheel of Time. -- Andre Guillerme, Professeur de l'Histoire des Techniques, Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers

About the Author

Tony Hadland is the author of Raleigh- Past and Presence of an Iconic Bicycle Brand and other books.

Hans-Erhard Lessing, formerly a Professor of Physics at the University of Ulm and a Curator at the Technoseum Mannheim and the ZKM Karlsruhe, has written biographies of Karl Drais and Robert Bosch as well as books on bicycle history.

Reviews

... a winning tour of bike design.
*The Wall Street Journal*

... visually engaging.
*The Los Angeles Times*

... definitive book on the subject.
*London Review of Books*

Bicycle Design is the authoritative one-volume reference on cycling history and cannot be recommended highly enough.
*BikeBiz*

Destined to become the definitive record of our wonderful wheels.
*Cycle*