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Authors: Arnfried Schmitz with Tony
Hadland.
ISBN: 0 9536174 1 6
Publisher: Tony Hadland for Arnfried Schmitz (10 March 2000 - National Book Day)
Format: 210mm x 149mm, 128 pages, 104 monochrome illustrations, full colour front cover.
Stockists: In the UK include Rosemary Hadland, Bicycling Books, Pinkerton Press. In France include Arnfried Schmitz.
Bookshop price: £12.95 suggested for the UK. 120 francs in France.
Mail order: Prices by mail direct from Rosemary Hadland, 39 Malvern Road, Balsall Common, Coventry CV7 7DU, UK: UK £12.95; Europe
£13.95 (airmail); Rest of the world £14.95 (airmail). Methods of payment accepted include sterling cheques drawn on a UK clearing bank,
International Money Orders, Eurocheques and (at sender's risk) sterling or US dollar currency notes.
Mail order in France: Price direct from Arnfried Schmitz, Quartier Gallas, 84220 Lioux Gordes, France: 140 francs.
Or order now by credit or debit card from Amazon
For a hundred years bicycles have looked the same. Most developments and design changes have happened solely for marketing reasons.
There have been few serious attempts to make a bike that goes significantly faster and in most cases these have been well suppressed.
Within the framework of the incredible but true Mochet story, Arnfried Schmitz tells of his own efforts and contacts with some of the
outstanding figures who have asked themselves what exactly is pedal power and what should the ideal cycle be like.
The story starts with the earliest work on aerodynamics and poses the question: Was the first aerodynamic vehicle a bicycle? Arnfried then
tells us about:
The Velo-Torpille in which Marcel Berthet broke world records in 1913
Berthet's later work with the fully-faired Velodyne
The rivalry between Berthet and Oscar Egg
Charles Mochet's recumbent two and four-wheeled Velocars
The UCI's suppression of recumbents and streamlined cycles
The revival of interest in HPVs in the last quarter of the 20th century
And his own personal involvement in cycling and HPV development in the company of Georges Mochet, Wolfgang Gronen, Mike
Burrows and many more.
This profusely illustrated book will fascinate anybody interested in developing the bicycle beyond the diamond frame, or who wants to learn
about an often neglected aspect of cycle history.

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