I agree: "The Golden Age of French Handbuilt Bicycles" would have been less misleading and dismissive of all makers of fine machines, other than those of French bespoke touring and porteur bicycles. That said, and having bought myself a copy, it's a beautiful and fascinating book, covering machines which are very rarely seen here in England, and I cponsider it money very well spent.
I find it interesting that, in view of the English tradition of bespoke goods for the wealthy, such as cars, clothing, shoes, sporting guns, etc., I'm not aware of any small maker during the 1920s or 30s or 40s actually manufacturing his own components for the well-off cyclist, other than on a very small scale, the way the likes of Herse or Singer did. Perhaps it's a question of national attitude. There doesn't seem to have been the same snobbery in France regarding the bicycle. Reading the English cycling periodicals of that period, the impression is that generally, those who could afford a car wouldn't be seen dead on a bicycle, and despised cyclists; even the courts tended to treat motorists with leniency, should they have had the misfortune to kill a cyclist on the road, at least if reports in "Cycling" are to be believed
> From: cnighbor1@comcast.net
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Date: Sun, 3 Jan 2010 13:12:56 -0800
> Subject: [CR] A question on the book, The Golden Age of handbuilt Bicycles
>
> 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