By 1975 Holdsworth’s ‘Bike Riders Aids’ (with no apostrophe in the word ‘riders’) had established itself as the definitive standard text for road cyclists. Cinelli bars, Campagnolo groupset, Regina chain and freewheel, Clement tubulars, weird Belgian knitted clothing - it’s all here. The road men may have been too cheap to pay Holdsworth’s prices - there was always a better offer in the back of ‘The Comic’ (as Cycling magazine was known) - but they treasured this little book and revered its selection.
I note:
- The derailleurs are on page 44, page 45, page 46, page 47, page 48, page 49 and page 50.
- The concept of a cycling beret (page 2)
- The Campagnolo satellite on page 51.
- The Birmalux Harrier Jump jet on page 24. Everything that I ever owned that was made by Birmalux broke suddenly and catastrophically - so God help the pilot of the Harrier.
- The idea that Accolade energy drink was available in 1975 (see page 16).
- The Karrimor cycle bags (see page 20). I still use a set of Karrimor panniers from the early 1980s - and, like Robert Mugabe, they just refuse to die.
