Greetings all, I've come in very late to this thread, but I can't to date see my favourite cycling book listed in any of the postings.
Delong's Guide to Bicycles and Bicycling, Fred Delong, first published 1974, Chilton Book Company, Radnor Penn.
Hardback, 278pages including (as I thumb through it), Racing, Bike Fit, Comparison of tubing and frame construction, Repairs, Safe Riding and covers many issues still spoken about in contemporary cycling like Crank Length, Gear ratios, cycling "supplements" and Power to weight ratios of climbing. What I always enjoyed about the book was the many exploded part drawings though many are more US and Japanese than Italian but Campagnolo does get coverage. Then a picture of the land speed record holder for a bicycle (1973) of 138mph (motor paced). My other favourites are the collection of Campagnolo catalogs, #17 onwards where you can track innovation and evolution of groupsets (yes debateable in some cases).
Anthony Kinder,
Perth, Western Australia
eBay alias: retrocolnago