The Data Book

The Data Book is one of my favorite cycling books. It was originally published in September 1983 in Japan by Noguchi-san, president of the Yoto Ringyo company. It culminated Mr. Noguchi’s long work as a collector and propagator of illustrations of early European bicycle components and accessories. This volume is a reprint edition of the original Japanese publication: ’83 The Data Book.

Some of the materials had earlier been published by him in four separate volumes, referred to as Data Books 1, 2, 3, and 4, and a subsequent compendium volume (though significantly less inclusive than the current work), which he referred to as The Joyful Bicycle.

This authentic reprint edition is identical to the original in all respects, including binding style, trim size, and page numbering. In addition, it contains English translations of the Japanese texts found on the introduction page and elsewhere in the book.

It contains more than 1,200 illustrations of every conceivable detail of the bicycle. And it spans the period from the origins of cycling in the early 19th century through the 1970s. Hundreds of the line drawings are by the famed French illustrator Daniel Rebour.

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