Another little thing that I picked up in Italy, that I am not presently planning on selling, is a book titled: 'Storia del Velocipede e dello Sport Ciclistico' It was written in 1946 by Angelo Gardellin on a commission organized by the CONI (the Italian olympic committee). Gardellin also had a unique viewpoint as he was the 1905 and 1913 Italian speed champion.
The book is a real treasure trove of information about bicycle development and all the important bicycle racing results from the advent of races up until 1946. It also has photos of all the CEO's of the important Italian bicycle manufacturers, their production bikes and all the top pros. Camapgnolo does not appear with any true relevance except for a few photos of bikes with the Corsa gear. The same goes for Cinelli, although he does appear for his racing results. There are also a few pages dedicated to the women racers that links into the recent thread relating to this. All told there are over 2000 illustrations (mostly 3 cm x 6 cm). I am slowly reading the book (all 480+ pages) and would be glad to share any information that any of you would like to see.
A few interesting facts:
Italian bicycle brand names, their CEO in 1946, their foundation year and their location:
Bianchi (Edoardo Bianchi) 1885 Milan Olympia (Borghi) 1893 Milan Velox (Fabbre) 1894 Milan Maino (Maino) 1896 Alessandria Dei (Dei) 1896 Milan Frera (Scoizzato) 1897 Padova Lygie (Rizzato) 1905 Padova Taurus (Fabbri) 1906 Milan Legnano (Bozzi) 1906 Milan Atala (Rizzato) 1907 Padova Torpado (Torresini) 1908 Padova Ganna (Ganna) 1910 Varese Faggi (Faggi) 1911 Milan Fuchs (Tappella) Milan 1914 Brambilla (Brambilla) Milan 1919 Gloria (Focesi) Milan 1922 Bottecchia (Carnielli) Vittorio Veneto 1925 (My oldest daughter was born there 72 years later!) Benotto (Benotto) Torino 1931 Olmo (Olmo) Celle Ligure 1941
Steven Maasland Moorestown, NJ
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