Ciclopedia. Icone e disegni della bicicletta. Ediz. illustrata

by Michael Embacher

For every way to ride, there s a bicycle to fit the need. An homage to the beauty of the bike, Cyclepedia showcases the innovations and legacies of bicycle design over the past century. Join longtime bike enthusiast and avid collector Michael Embacher for a tour of 100 bicycles, from the finest racing bikes and high-tech hybrids to the bizarrely specific (such as a bike designed to cycle on ice). Captivating photographs, detailed component lists, and anecdotal information illuminate the details that make each bicycle unique. Also including a foreword by cyclist and designer Paul Smith, Cyclepedia is the ultimate coffee-table book for devotees of the two-wheeled life.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Cycling, Art, Sports, History

Hardcover

First published February 1, 2011

Reviews

[pattrice · Rating 5 out of 5]

The trajectory of my responses to this book: (1) Excitement, (2) mild disappointment, (3) growing admiration with every page turn which (4) canceled out any disappointment, all adding up to (5) five enthusiastic stars.

(1) Excitement upon discovering the book: Wow! I can't wait to look at pretty pictures of well-designed bicycles.

(2) Mild disappointment upon initial browsing: Whoa! Many of these bikes are not much to look at and an awful lot of them are folding bikes, which aren't particularly interesting to me.

(3) Admiration as I begin to read, growing with every page turn: The perfect blend of sharp pictures and clear text illuminates why each bike was chosen. (4) Many bikes that seem bland at first glance prove, upon closer inspection by a now better-informed eye, to be subtly elegant paragons of good design. Meanwhile, as the pages pile up, the reader is learning--in easy, bite-sized steps--more than she knew before about the thousand-and-one questions involved in bike engineering and manufacturing. This leads to renewed appreciation for every bicycle, and numerous near-crashes as she turns her head (while riding her own bicycle) to look more closely at bikes passing by. Back at home on the couch, the pages of her notebook fill with scribbles and doodles inspired by the facts and images in this extraordinary book.

(5) Five stars: The book itself is well-designed, with just the right blend of text and photos for a book of this kind. Apart from the sheer physical joy of looking at (and imagining riding) these bikes, the close reader will be rewarded with information and inspiration. This book is right on time. As the planet warms, we need more people to be inspired not only to ride but also to tweak and redesign bikes of all kinds.

[Maurizio Codogno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si fa presto a dire bicicletta. Detto in altro modo, se siete di quelli che pensano che tutte le biciclette siano più o meno la stessa cosa - fondamentalmente qualcosa che può andare bene per fare un giretto ai giardinetti, ma che rompono solo le scatole in città - questo libro vi stupirà. Ho visto biciclette di tutti i tipi e marche, da una BMW a una Bridgestone, dalle bici pieghevoli a un triciclo, da una bici di plastica a una in magnesio - non accendetevi una sigaretta vicino, da una bici con la gomma posteriore chiodata (!) a una a trazione integrale (!!), dalla bicicletta che sta in una valigia quando piegata, valigia che poi viene portata come rimorchio alla bicicletta a forma di valigia. Insomma un secolo di biciclette, tutte dalla collezione di Embacher che comprende esemplari da tutto il mondo; per ciascuna bicicletta c'è un paragrafo di storia e varie foto, dalla vista d'insieme ai particolari più importanti. Bello il design del libro, con sul fianco della pagina il tipo di uso della bicicletta raffigurata; peccato per la traduzione che non mi è sempre sembrata così chiara e scorrevole e per la rilegatura (made in China, per la cronaca) che vale davvero poco.

[JAMES · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is OK as an introduction to some of the history of bicycles. A couple things were a bit off about it. The book covers a portion of the bicycle collection of one man, Michael Embacher. It is captioned with some information, and often his (or the editor's, it's not clear) opinion on the bicycles. This opinion is often accurate, often strangely pessimistic (is it any surprise he later auctioned off the collection? I wish I had bid on some of them!), but not necessarily factual. The other thing a bit weird, to me, is that many of the bikes sport anachronistic parts. This would be fine if it were just a personal collection, but when the bikes are documented like this, it might be good to point out where, say, a bike sports a saddle that was not manufactured until 20 years after the rest of it was.

That's all going to seem like nitpicking to most readers though. If you don't care and just want to look at old bikes, then it's a fine compendium.

[Mark White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant coffee table book. It has gorgeous photos of many iconic bicycles plus an impressive array of quirky designs. If you want to be critical the text is a bit dodgy in spots and one or two photos could have been better framed to illustrate the design features of the bikes but really, this book is a joy to behold.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any bike fanatic who drools when they see a fine italian steel steed will enjoy this compendium of bikes “on parade,” spanning the last 80 years or so. The author’s bike collection stable is on display here. He has good taste, but so many folders and unusual builds!

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usé este libro para mi trabajo fin de grado. Le doy un 4,5 porque aunque creo que está muy completo en algunos aspectos y diseños se me quedó corto. Lo recomiendo más que como lectura como inspiración para crear tus propios diseños.

[Ed · Rating 2 out of 5]

A visual collection of some of the most glorious, beautiful, and ridiculous, bicycles in cycling history. Not much more than that - plenty of stats for each bike, but nothing actually interesting and no narrative to the bikes presented.

[Ambrose Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not really a bike fan. I don’t ride one. I live on a mountain. But bike design interests me. And, yes I saw a few I would love to ride, but not down and up this mountain. Perhaps in Delaware (it’s pretty flat). This was a fascinating book.

[Michael Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cyclepedia is a clever book about bicycle designs. This coffee-table book features a bit of text, lots of pics, and chronological and visual indexes of 100 bikes. The bikes are further characterized through the overlapping tags cargo, curiosity, folding, kids', mountain, racing, single-speed, tandem, touring, and urban. Overall, I really liked the book, both design and content, and felt it took me a well-spent hour to finish.

Note to self: Among the designs, I was very impressed by the SCHAUFF Wall Street, the BIRIA Unplugged TM-Design, the CINETICA Giotto, the DIAMANT Ironman SLX, the DAHON Hammerhead, the BROMPTON Titanium S2L-X, and the PACIFIC CYCLES iF Mode. There, I cut it to seven.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A coffee table book. I remember as a child flicking through tomes of encyclopedia, with the glossy printed, colour images of butterflies, beetles, precious stones. This is similar, but it is full of bicycles. Lovely things to look at, and these have all the information you would expect to have accompanying the image.

I am a bit disappointed that my BSA Tour Of Britain isn't amongst the chosen. I really did love that bike.

Another book that will be perused over and over.

[Andras · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice depiction of the history of bikes.
Some rare technical/design solutions being highlighted.
Great photography and broad selection of different bike categories being the most positive aspects of this collection.

Warning: not for the undisciplined bike lovers - I can assure you that you are going to dig through ebay and other sites to try locate some of the tasty wheels you find in the book...you have been warned.

[Mike Siggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically pictures of 'important' bikes with a bit of interesting text attached,

There are some odd omissions, and rather too many folding bikes, but if you are a bike this will represent an enjoyable read.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting read, but since I am not a bicycle enthusiast, it was not really my speed. A good bathroom book, easy to pick-up and easy to put down, but one that I will never read again.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some beauties here, and plenty of oddities too. The collection behind this book impresses me more than most of the bikes in it.

[c · Rating 3 out of 5]

Preferred more gimmicks and dorky folding bikes than proper road, touring, track, or mountain bikes. Would have liked to have seen more spreads, and for it to have gotten more technical.

[TJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cool concept for a book. I found the bikes and history to be very fascinating. Perfect coffee table book.