' Cycles de France ' Book review

I saw a post earlier this year on social media about a new book published called
' Cycles de France '. The book is obviously written in French and only available from the co-author Patrick Munoz. The front cover image whetted my appetite as the quality of the images were comparable to the book ' The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles ' by Jan Heine.

Firstly, the book and dust jacket are beautifully printed. My copy came wrapped in clear plastic inside the cardboard packaging. The book is hardback with an attractive dust wrapper. The end papers in the book are of heavier paper and the book itself has 194 pages. Philippe Montagne is responsible for the text and Patrick Munoz for the superb photographs.

The book is an illustration of high quality hand made French bicycles. The book starts with bicycles from the early 20th century and then progresses to the work of the artisan builders. The book is roughly divided equally between the Paris constructeurs and those from the regions. Of those, the constructeurs from the Lyon region form the largest group outside Paris. The book is interesting because of the number of aluminium frame bikes which are illustrated. However, probably the best known early brand of aluminium bike to the english speaking world - Caminargent, doesn't feature. Instead the authors chose to have an earlier steel frame Caminade illustrated (pages 20-21). I found that very interesting and shows the author's approach to avoid cliche.

So, the authors illustrate the aluminium frames of Nicola Barra, Paris and the work of regional constructeurs Andre Sabliere, Andre Marcadier, and Raymond Clerc. The book features three lady's bikes. Two 'mixte' frames, a Hugonnier-Routens in steel (pages 58 - 59) and a Velo Barra in aluminum (pages 82-83). The third bicycle is a 'Dame Anglais' by the Paris constructeur Cycles Innovation (pages 56-57). I know this style of frame is unusual, as the Springhill Cycle Collection holds a very rare Andre Bertin 'Dame Anglais'.

By far the biggest number of bikes illustrated are those of Rene Herse, followed by those of Nicola Barra and Alex Singer in third place. What did surprise me was, only one example of the work of Louis Moire - Goeland and nothing of Oscar Egg's work. Surprising given his cycling history that the work of this Parisien constructeur is absent. Perhaps the authors have been constrained by space?

The racing scene has not been ignored. Two track bikes and three road bikes used by professionals feature. The bike used by an amateur J Anquetil built around a Barra frame is also featured. Of the professional bikes, the one I remember the best is the Gitane Profil. I recollect Bernard Hinault riding it in the Tour de France. The frame was made from specially drawn Reynolds 531 tubing which was not available to the great unwashed. Given the involvement of Peugeot, Helyett, LeJeune and Liberia in the professional peloton, no examples feature. The Mercier ridden by Joop Zoetemelk was actually built by Bernard Carre, confirming many of the stories from my youth.

The book cost 60 euros plus postage. I was given the option of regular postal delivery or having my parcel tracked at extra cost. I chose to have the parcel tracked to ensure delivery.

Do I think the book is worth the purchase price? A resounding YES. I have highlighted a few omissions I was surprised at, but, in fairness the authors have a very rich vein to tap and that wealth of material out of necessity has be constrained by the limitations of size and cost of their book. A further question would be, are there any bikes featured, which do not deserve to be in the book? The answer would have to be, NO. So the authors have done a good job. I would love to see a second volume, by these same authors, featuring more constructeurs not covered in this beautiful book. The French have an amazing cycling history and their passion for both the bicycle and the sport covers many disciplines. That variety is accurately reflected in this volume. It is a tribute to both authors that this book is a jewel for anyone interested in French bicycles. I can heartily recommend this book.

If you wish to order a copy of this book, email Patrick Munoz at:- cyclesdefrance@outlook.fr

The book 'Wiener Mechaniker Raeder'

I recently purchased the German language book 'Wiener Mechaniker Raeder' which has dusted down long forgotten and little used, A level German vocabulary. My computer keyboard is English, so I don't have the umlaut or eszett and have used the English dipthong 'ae' instead of the 'a umlaut' in the title. The book is subtitled 'A journey through more than a 100 Vienna bicycle makes 1930 – 1980'. The blurb on the back translates as:-

Vienna is big, but the diversity of Viennese bicycle marques was once much bigger; more than 100 marques existed in the city from the 1930s to the 1980s, among them innovative, oblique, noble, freakish, good dependable, solid and off the peg, - for example, noble racing bikes with paint finishes from another time (Rih), Aero bicycles from 50 years before the aerodynamic craze (RZ), prototypes from aluminium and small diameter steel tubes (Austria-Alpha), lugless welded frames (Degen), rethinking of frame design ( Wisent Einheitsrad), to name but a few examples.  For the first time, the complete history of the Vienna bicycle marques in a picture book, with all marques from Alpenrad to Ziel. 

I found the contents of the book fascinating. It educated me as to the variety of different bicycle makers working in Vienna, some from the 19^th century onwards, others appearing for a few years after WW2, then disappearing. The bicycles used to illustrate the book are well photographed and in some cases I would have liked to have seen a little more detail, such as head lugs etc. However, I'm sure the authors were forced to cut down the amount of material, to be able to make the book format and they have done a superbe job. The book has the following chapters:- Introduction (Prolog), Authors thanks (Dank), The bicycle marques A – Z (Wiener Fahrraedermarken A - Z), Puzzling machines (Ratselhafte Gaule) , And now? (Und Jetzt?), Picture index (Abbildungsverzeichnis), Bibliography (Literaturverzeichnis) and finally about the authors (Uber uns). The book is printed on glossy art paper, and each marque is given an introductory text box showing the years of production, the company address, the owner details and whether they built their own machines or not. There is then narrative text, accompanied by the superbe photographs. The authors have a passion for their subject and have done their research well, as they mention some bicycle makers lost in the mists of time, of whom, only a printed advert from a newspaper or magazine show they existed at all.

The cast aluminium RZ / Err-Zett children's bicycle illustrated on page 235 of the book and on the front page of the publisher's website, predates the Kirk Precision cast magnesium frame by some years. The authors record 'Wem dieses Design einfiel, ist leider nicht uberliefert, vielleicht war es ja ebenfalls Ottomar Rosenkranze selbst' – 'Whoever came up with this design, is unfortunately not recorded for posterity, but perhaps it was Ottomar Rosenkranz himself'. The frame material used in the Kirk Precision may have been different, but the concept of a cast frame was clearly established much earlier by RZ / Err-Zett and gives weight to the old saying 'There is nothing new under the sun'.

The book has a small section pages 332 – 338 on puzzling machines (german jocular chapter heading meaning enigmatic old nag, or gift horse!) which the authors believe to be Austrian bicycles made in Vienna but of which they have little or no information. The book finally brings the story up to date with information on modern framebuilders working in Vienna.

The book can be bought via the publishers website and is now available through Amazon,  the ISBN number is 978-3-85119-342-8. If you order a book through the publisher's website, you will be sent an invoice in Euros, which will have to be paid through your bank. Once payment has been made, delivery to the UK takes around two weeks. The book is well worth the money and is cheaper than some of the recent Japanese and US books on Toei, Singer and Herse. The authors have set out to record methodically the custom built marques originating in Vienna over a 50 year period and add considerably to the body of historical knowledge. It shows what can be done and it would be nice to see a similar work published on the framebuilders working in the London area over a similar time period! The only caveat is that if you rely on an internet language translator, you will get a literal translation of the words. The danger here is that you often need to translate the concept, not the literal words, to make sense of what is meant by the authors. However, it has been a very enjoyable and educational time spent with my old German dictionary and this book, discovering the delights of the Vienna bicycle trade. I can heartily recommend it.