Charles,
The title for our book "The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles" was selected because if there ever was a place and time that could be called the "Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles," it was in Paris during the 1940s and early 1950s, when handbuilt bicycles were appreciated by many people of all social classes, and when some of the most amazing bicycles ever built were made. It was a time when a "handbuilt bicycle" meant not only a top-notch frame, but also many handmade components - truly handbuilt _bicycles_.
This isn't to say that as nice bikes weren't made by other makers in other countries at other times, but I don't think you could point to one place and time that equaled what you saw in post-war Paris... The book documents this phenomenon, starting with its origins in Velocio's early machines with their ingenious twin-chain gear shifting mechanisms, and continuing to the present day, with a 2003 Alex Singer that combines some of the best of the old and the new. It was not an attempt to show the best bikes from all over the world - a subject that would be hard to treat in-depth even in a 170-page book.
On the other hand, our recent book "The Competition Bicycle" covers many facets of cycling competition, with bikes from Italy, France, Britain, and the U.S., because it attempts to give an overview of the many aspects of cycling competition. Again, we didn't try to include every worthy maker, but instead showcase bikes used for different types of competition in different eras, whether they were racing high-wheelers, Tour de France winners, American six-day racers or just amateurs in the 1960s, women's world champions, randonneurs or even a mountain biker... All the bikes were significant in some way - for example, Andy Hampsten's Landshark-built Huffy really foretold the future, with an American-built frame, Japanese parts, index shifting and clipless pedals, whereas Greg LeMond's first bike of his professional career was a Gitane with Campagnolo Super Record - about as traditional as you could get.
Finally, we also were constrained by the requirements that a) the bikes still exist and b) that their owners allowed us to photograph them. For example, I would have loved to include the racing recumbent used for an hour record in the 1930s, but sadly, that bike no longer exists... Similarly, Greg LeMond's famous time trial bike from the 1989 Tour de France was repainted in his new sponsor's colors, so it couldn't be shown as it was when it raced down the Champs Elysees with the Arc de Triomphe in the background. In the end, we were lucky to find so many authentic bikes of riders like Coppi, Bartali, Gimondi, Merckx, LeMond, Hampsten, Moser, Sean Kelly, Rominger and others.
Perhaps some day we'll make a book on the British builders, or American custom builders... I'd love to do that, but first we need to recover the cost of printing and photography of the last book. (Flying a professional photographer and setting up full photo studios in various locations on three continents is remarkably costly.)
Anyhow, I am glad you enjoy the book. You probably would enjoy "The Competition Bicycle" as well.
Best,
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
2116 Western Ave.
Seattle WA 98121
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com
>I received has a Christmas gift The Golden Age of handbuilt
>Bicycles by Jan Heine,and others. A great book. But I have a
>question on the book.The book covers nearly all French builders. My
>question is this, wasn't there other great builders in other
>countries and if so isn't the book title misleading has it doesn't
>cover those other countries. What happened in England, Italy,
>Germany, USA ,Sweden etc in terms of bicycles. Surely the French
>weren't the only ones building great bicycles for the era they were
>built in?
>Curious Charles Nighbor
>Walnut Creek, CA
>USA