SpeedofLite 

Articles/columns included are:
Letters
QUESTION MAN
TECHNICAL -- Wheel and Bracket Bearing Adjustment (Fred DeLong)
"The Hottest Bike in Town" (steam-powered bicycle)

The following articles from this issue were posted previously:
"A Visit to Holdsworthy, Ltd." (Frames and Framebuilding (1970-1979) HOLDSWORTHY, Ltd)
"ROAD TEST: Bevilacqua Special" (Road Test/Bike Review (1973) Bevilacqua)
"ROAD TEST: Ferrare Super Chrome" (Road Test/Bike Review (1973) Ferrare Super Chrome)

As usual, let me know if you'd like to see something else listed in the ToC and I'll add it in a reply to this post or send you a pdf.
If the latter, just send me a PM that includes your email address.

smd4

Oh, man, those hub drawings!

This is some great reading!

icemilkcoffee 

Was Holdsworth really known as Holdsworthy back then? Or did the writers screw up the name of the factory they visited?

steelbikeguy

The SunTour ad brings to mind a recent/current thread about some SunTour shift levers. The levers had "SunTour" in a font that I didn't recall seeing before, and a series of 8's ran along the outer edge of the levers (not unlike the bumps on Campy shift levers of the day).
This ad happens to use the same font as the shift levers, and also features the Maeda "8.8.8." prominently, so that does help nail down the era of the mystery shift levers!
Pretty cool!
I'm intrigued by the phrase "dependable and faithful"... I suppose "faithful" is intended to also mean dependable, but I can't help but think of its use when speaking of a spouse or employee. Interesting!

Steve in Peoria
(pretty faithful to SunTour, but have been known to have Campy equipped bikes that my SunTour bikes didn't know about. Please don't tell them!)

jdawginsc 

Yeah, I noticed that too. Maybe they ARE 8s surrounding the levers.

noobinsf 

Early steampunk!

SpeedofLite 

Good question. The first two paragraphs of that article will answer it.

Erzulis Boat

I was born in the late 60's so by the time I was riding, there were not as many "killer grates" calmly waiting to destroy the errant cyclist. However, there remained one, a dinosaur of sorts, located across the street from my Junior High School (at the base of a huge hill no less) that had claimed many a student. Eventually the city welded cross beams, but I do recall swerving to get past it many times.

It is still there, and although it no longer represents the hazard of yesteryear, I still swerve wide!

smd4

Were people more optimistic back then? One of the letter writers referred to an "up tube."

Also, pretty impressive that the steam bike can get to operating pressure in 15 minutes.

Bad Lag

Thank you for once again posting these back issues.

I love them!

Now, as then, the advertisements are as valuable as the articles,... maybe more so now, as they have become part of history as opposed to simple commercials.

52telecaster

Great reading and I love the ads. We are so lucky to have guys like you documenting this stuff, plus we live in a time when great old bikes are fairly affordable.

Atlas Shrugged

Thanks for this visit down memory lane. Must have been the most frustrating time in cycling journalism, how would one write review after review about what is essentially the same thing. Columbus or Reynolds lugged frames with almost identical angles. Yet had to wax eloquently about some mystic ride qualities to sell more advertising.

bargo68 

More like "steamhippie"!

Bad Lag

That picture on page 50 , Grate Hazard, has been largely fixed. It was a real hazard and I lost a rim or two to them while in NYC (potholes took several, too).

Everywhere I've ridden in the last several decades has new grates with the gratings running perpendicular the direction of travel and they tend to be smaller openings, too.

Chuck M 

Great reading. Thank you for the post.

I love the ads in these old magazine scans. Also it is interesting that a half century ago there were efforts to log serial numbers in a database to reconnect owners with their stolen bikes. These days, registering a bike with bikeindex.org seems so simple yet I wonder what percentage of bike owners thought it was worth doing and paying the yearly fee when it would have likely involved writing paper checks and postage.

Deal4Fuji

I'd love to see the Bicycle Showcase article of 84 models starting on p 34 if you have the time to scan these pages. I think a lot of us would, but I can send a PM with my email if you'd rather me go that route....thanks as always for doing these Bicycling magazine scans !

SpeedofLite 

Will do. That article is the second part of a 2-part article.
The first part was published in the Oct 1972 issue under a slightly different title.
I only recently added the Oct 1972 issue to my collection.
So I'll post both parts within the next two weeks as the 1972/1973 Buyers Guide which is what Bicycling eventually titled this annual presentation of current bikes.