The history and development of the derailleur bicycle is the story of the modern bicycle and the gadget that makes it tick: the derailleur gearing system. A decade of research by three co-authors and numerous contributers on the history of the 20th century bicycle technology.
| ||||||||||||||||||
|
There is a newer edition of this item:
|
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
Author Frank Berto has crafted this tome (...) into more than just a series of data -- it's a story. There's plenty of drama, wit, and yes, even romance (...) Like any good author, Berto keeps his text sharp and, considering some of the designs he deals with, remarkably clear and easy to readThe Dancing Chain should have a home on every keen cyclist's book shelf. This revised edition presents updates and some revisions and is as up-to-the-minuet as a book can be. --Trevor Creighton, Australian Cyclist, Sept/Oct 2005
(A)ll the history, the fundamentals, and the reasons for continual changes in design... --David Gordon Wilson, Human Power, June 2001
(T)rust me on this one: The Dancing Chain is a must. --Gabe Konrad, On the Wheel, October, 2001
A few years ago, searching a bookshop for anything to interest a cyclist could be a forlorn business. Many stocked not a single volume, others could provide you with a couple of ill-conceived guides to cycling in this or that part of the country, but little else. Today, my local Waterstones devotes two whole shelves to bicycling books. Writers like Richard Moore and William Fotheringham are carving out entire careers delving into the history of professional racing and we are even starting to see celeb-endorsed volumes on bicycle-related themes, to tempt the general reader. Far the most impressive tome of recent years has yet to make it to actual bookshops but is easy to find online. Frank Berto s The Dancing Chain (Cycle Publishing £28) is ostensibly a history of bicycle gearing. But, in 400 richly illustrated pages, the Californian high priest of understanding bicycle mechanics covers much, much more. Frank Berto is one of that group of intellectuals on the west coast of the United States who coalesced around cycling in the early 1970s. A mechanical engineer by training and an oil executive by trade, he started fiddling with bicycles by chance to keep up with his children on scout camp. It was the start of an extraordinary enthusiasm, that has spawned several decades of research and fine writing. Most famously, he devised a derailleur testing machine, the data from which formed the basis for many articles for Bicycling magazine - and did much to bring the understanding of gears from the world of myth, into the domain of science. The Dancing Chain is his masterwork. A compilation of wisdom, knowledge and learning garnered over those years - with contributions from such other distinguished writers as Tony Hadland and Jan Heine. It traces the history of bicycle gears from the 1870s onwards, with a particular focus on derailleurs. It is a fascinating story and one that is told in a way that no technical training is needed to be completely engaged. How gears work, and how they have developed technically might be the thread that runs through the book, but there is much else beside. There are the history of companies that have come and gone - Berto's favourites SunTour being a particular case in point (about which there is a great article here), not to mention all the disappeared European names - Huret, Simplex, Super Champion and Nivex. Berto is very good at tracking both the 1970s US bike boom and the scale and technological consequences of the 1980s mountain bike craze. The illustrations are also superb. Pretty much every page contains either technical drawings, photographs, period graphics and publications from back into the day. Indeed, in this edition, Cycle Publishing has a fair claim to have created one of the finest and most enduringly fascinating books every published about cycling. It is a book that can be read straight though by anyone with even the most passing interest in how bikes have come to be like they are. It can then be enjoyed again and again, both as a reference work and as something into which one can pleasurably dip from time to time. --thesundaytimes (UK), September 2011
(T)rust me on this one: The Dancing Chain is a must. --Gabe Konrad, On the Wheel, October, 2001 --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
(A)ll the history, the fundamentals, and the reasons for continual changes in design... --David Gordon Wilson, Human Power, June 2001
(T)rust me on this one: The Dancing Chain is a must. --Gabe Konrad, On the Wheel, October, 2001
A few years ago, searching a bookshop for anything to interest a cyclist could be a forlorn business. Many stocked not a single volume, others could provide you with a couple of ill-conceived guides to cycling in this or that part of the country, but little else. Today, my local Waterstones devotes two whole shelves to bicycling books. Writers like Richard Moore and William Fotheringham are carving out entire careers delving into the history of professional racing and we are even starting to see celeb-endorsed volumes on bicycle-related themes, to tempt the general reader. Far the most impressive tome of recent years has yet to make it to actual bookshops but is easy to find online. Frank Berto s The Dancing Chain (Cycle Publishing £28) is ostensibly a history of bicycle gearing. But, in 400 richly illustrated pages, the Californian high priest of understanding bicycle mechanics covers much, much more. Frank Berto is one of that group of intellectuals on the west coast of the United States who coalesced around cycling in the early 1970s. A mechanical engineer by training and an oil executive by trade, he started fiddling with bicycles by chance to keep up with his children on scout camp. It was the start of an extraordinary enthusiasm, that has spawned several decades of research and fine writing. Most famously, he devised a derailleur testing machine, the data from which formed the basis for many articles for Bicycling magazine - and did much to bring the understanding of gears from the world of myth, into the domain of science. The Dancing Chain is his masterwork. A compilation of wisdom, knowledge and learning garnered over those years - with contributions from such other distinguished writers as Tony Hadland and Jan Heine. It traces the history of bicycle gears from the 1870s onwards, with a particular focus on derailleurs. It is a fascinating story and one that is told in a way that no technical training is needed to be completely engaged. How gears work, and how they have developed technically might be the thread that runs through the book, but there is much else beside. There are the history of companies that have come and gone - Berto's favourites SunTour being a particular case in point (about which there is a great article here), not to mention all the disappeared European names - Huret, Simplex, Super Champion and Nivex. Berto is very good at tracking both the 1970s US bike boom and the scale and technological consequences of the 1980s mountain bike craze. The illustrations are also superb. Pretty much every page contains either technical drawings, photographs, period graphics and publications from back into the day. Indeed, in this edition, Cycle Publishing has a fair claim to have created one of the finest and most enduringly fascinating books every published about cycling. It is a book that can be read straight though by anyone with even the most passing interest in how bikes have come to be like they are. It can then be enjoyed again and again, both as a reference work and as something into which one can pleasurably dip from time to time. --thesundaytimes (UK), September 2011
(T)rust me on this one: The Dancing Chain is a must. --Gabe Konrad, On the Wheel, October, 2001 --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
About the Author
Mechanical engineer and bicycle historian; former technical editor of Bicycling Magazine. Consultant to Shimano and other bicycle and bicycle component manufacturers. Author of Bicycling Magazine's Complete Guide to Upgrading Your Bicycle and Birth of Dirt: The Origins of Mountain Biking.
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dances With Chains,
By
This review is from: The Dancing Chain: History and Development of the Derailleur Bicycle (Hardcover)
For over 30 years, since my freshman year at UCLA, I have been an avid recreational and utility cyclist and "gear-headed" bicycle collector, tinkerer, and restorer. Since I always enjoyed Frank Berto's technical articles and insights on the design and operation of bicycle transmissions, I eagerly awaited publication of "The Dancing Chain." I was not disappointed! This well-illustrated and well-researched tome is the only comprehensive reference I have ever seen on the history of bicycle transmissions. It is a great read for any bicycle fan with an interest in history or technological evolution. My only nit-picking gripe is that the organization of the chapters sometimes makes it a little difficult to follow the chronology of a specific product line or manufacturer, although the material is all in there. I share Berto's appreciation of SunTour's innovative slant planograph rear derailleur design, which has since been almost universally copied by the competition.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Dancing Chain by Frank Berto,
This review is from: The Dancing Chain: History and Development of the Derailleur Bicycle (Hardcover)
The Dancing Chain by Frank Berto dvanhook 06/18/01 01:48 pm EDT rating: An invaluable reference document for vintage bicycle enthusiasts! It is well and thoroughly researched and fully illustrated with photographs and beautiful line drawings of bicycles and bicycle parts as they have developed over the past one hundred years. It also contains a many helpful and interesting graphs and charts. This beautiful book is as complete and authoritative as is possible, but is very readable even for those with no technical background. It is certain to become a collectors item and was published as a very limited edition.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book for Bike Nuts,
By
This review is from: The Dancing Chain: History and Development of the Derailleur Bicycle (Hardcover)
I am very glad I purchased this book. This book involves much more about the history of bicycles than the title may lead you to believe.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Inside This Book
(learn more)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence:
THE BICYCLE is a two-wheeled, rider-propelled machine. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
derailleur makers, touring derailleur, expanding chainwheel, bike gruppos, multispeed gearing, bicycle gear trains, derailleur gear trains, double chainwheel, indexed shift lever, slant parallelogram, new gruppos, railing fork, rear derailleur design, total bicycle sales, bike boom, big chainwheel, middle chainwheel, twistgrip shifters, two chainwheels, jockey pulley, racing derailleur, large chainwheel, ing derailleurs, first derailleurs, freewheel sprockets Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Tour de France, British Cyclo, Gran Sport, Super Champion, World War, Nuovo Record, Huret Allvit, French Cyclo, Cyclo Standard, Albert Raimond, Joanny Panel, Lucien Juy, Oscar Egg, Frank Berto, Daniel Rebour, Louison Bobet, Gian Robert, New York, Shimano Dura-Ace, United States, Champion du Monde, Gary Fisher, Louis Camillis, New Protean, Tullio Campagnolo New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
THE BICYCLE is a two-wheeled, rider-propelled machine. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
derailleur makers, touring derailleur, expanding chainwheel, bike gruppos, multispeed gearing, bicycle gear trains, derailleur gear trains, double chainwheel, indexed shift lever, slant parallelogram, new gruppos, railing fork, rear derailleur design, total bicycle sales, bike boom, big chainwheel, middle chainwheel, twistgrip shifters, two chainwheels, jockey pulley, racing derailleur, large chainwheel, ing derailleurs, first derailleurs, freewheel sprockets Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Tour de France, British Cyclo, Gran Sport, Super Champion, World War, Nuovo Record, Huret Allvit, French Cyclo, Cyclo Standard, Albert Raimond, Joanny Panel, Lucien Juy, Oscar Egg, Frank Berto, Daniel Rebour, Louison Bobet, Gian Robert, New York, Shimano Dura-Ace, United States, Champion du Monde, Gary Fisher, Louis Camillis, New Protean, Tullio Campagnolo New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 16
books:
See all 16 books this book cites
- Hearts of Lions : The Story of American Bicycle Racing by Peter Joffre Nye on page 141, and Back Matter
- Story of the Bicycle by John Woodforde in Back Matter
- The American Bicycle by Jay Pridmore in Back Matter
- The Ultimate Mountain Bike Book: The Definitive Illustrated Guide to Bikes, Components, Techniques, Thrills and Trails by Nicky Crowther in Back Matter
- The Moulton Bicycle: The Story from 1957 to 1981 by Tony Hadland in Back Matter
See all 16 books this book cites
Books on Related Topics
(learn more)
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
