fiamme red
12-15-2019, 10:55 AM
https://www.renehersecycles.com/frank-berto-we-will-miss-you/
Berto's Bicycling Magazine's Complete Guide to Upgrading Your Bike (published in 1988) is still one of my favorite reference books. Although much of the information is of course outdated today, it's still well worth reading.
His technical articles in Bicycling were not just very informative and thorough, but always entertaining, written in a humorous style that made the dry technical matter fun to read.
I just found this on Disraeli Gears (http://www.disraeligears.co.uk/Site/SunTour_derailleurs_-_Frank_Berto_and_the_curse_of_Duopar.html):
The high priest of this movement to low, low gears was Frank Berto, a California-based mechanical engineer. He brought a certain rigour to the subject of bicycle gearing, clearing the shrouds of myth and legend in which the European derailleur manufacturers so loved to hide. Frank Berto had first become interested in very low gears in 1971, had written a seminal article on low gears for Bike World magazine in 1973, and had become a regular contributor (mainly on the subject of gearing and derailleurs) to Bicycling magazine from 1975 eventually becoming engineering editor. Famously, Frank Berto built a derailleur testing machine, and used it ruthlessly to assess how ‘early’ or ‘late’ a derailleur shifted, and how much ‘overshift’ and subsequent correction were required. His tests consistently showed that Japanese designs, and particularly SunTour designs, were measurably superior to those of the more prestigious European brands, including Campagnolo, Simplex and Huret. We ‘new cyclists’ loved a bit of scientific rigour - and loved it even more when that rigour was used to overturn the established order. We lapped up every word that Frank Berto said. I remember waiting with bated breathe for the latest edition of Bicycling to appear so that I could read Frank Berto’s article on whichever new gear had just hit been released.I think I'll pull out some of the Bicycling magazines from the 1980's and reread his columns. And I'll take my touring bike with "half-step plus granny" gearing out for a spin today.
Berto's Bicycling Magazine's Complete Guide to Upgrading Your Bike (published in 1988) is still one of my favorite reference books. Although much of the information is of course outdated today, it's still well worth reading.
His technical articles in Bicycling were not just very informative and thorough, but always entertaining, written in a humorous style that made the dry technical matter fun to read.
I just found this on Disraeli Gears (http://www.disraeligears.co.uk/Site/SunTour_derailleurs_-_Frank_Berto_and_the_curse_of_Duopar.html):
The high priest of this movement to low, low gears was Frank Berto, a California-based mechanical engineer. He brought a certain rigour to the subject of bicycle gearing, clearing the shrouds of myth and legend in which the European derailleur manufacturers so loved to hide. Frank Berto had first become interested in very low gears in 1971, had written a seminal article on low gears for Bike World magazine in 1973, and had become a regular contributor (mainly on the subject of gearing and derailleurs) to Bicycling magazine from 1975 eventually becoming engineering editor. Famously, Frank Berto built a derailleur testing machine, and used it ruthlessly to assess how ‘early’ or ‘late’ a derailleur shifted, and how much ‘overshift’ and subsequent correction were required. His tests consistently showed that Japanese designs, and particularly SunTour designs, were measurably superior to those of the more prestigious European brands, including Campagnolo, Simplex and Huret. We ‘new cyclists’ loved a bit of scientific rigour - and loved it even more when that rigour was used to overturn the established order. We lapped up every word that Frank Berto said. I remember waiting with bated breathe for the latest edition of Bicycling to appear so that I could read Frank Berto’s article on whichever new gear had just hit been released.I think I'll pull out some of the Bicycling magazines from the 1980's and reread his columns. And I'll take my touring bike with "half-step plus granny" gearing out for a spin today.