BQ 16 (Summer 2006)

Vol. 4, No. 4

The History of American Road Racing

Peter Rich was one of the movers and shakers that rejuvenated the cycling scene on America’s West Coast. He went to Europe to race, then started a bike shop in Berkeley and organized races himself. In this exclusive interview, he reminisces about finding small builders like Colnago in Italy, about the Bike Boom in the U.S. and how team tactics were considered unethical in U.S. racing during the 1970s.

The second part of our “Riding with Classic Derailleurs” looks at racing derailleurs. How does the indexing of the 1930s Osgear Super Champion work? Is it difficult to shift the Campagnolo Cambio Corsa by opening the rear quick release? Why did Campagnolo’s single-pivot derailleurs work well when they were designed in the 1950s, but were much less satisfactory in their 1970s iterations? How does the Simplex SLJ compare to the SunTour Cyclone GT? We rode all these and many other derailleurs and report on how they work on the road.

Mark Nobilette shows how to make custom lugs in the Builders Speak. We begin to examine frame flex and use the word “planing” for the first time. Two bike tests contrast an Ebisu All-Purpose with a Trek 2100C.