Eugene A. Sloane - Bibliography of Published Books

Eugene A. Sloane - Bibliography of Published Books

The Complete Book of Bicycling Dust Jacket

This page provides information on the twelve books by Eugene A. Sloane published between the years 1970 and 1995. Eugene Sloane was the best-known authority on bicycles during the 1970s bike boom, and his writings likely drove that boom to even greater heights. The original 1970 book was "The Complete Book of Bicycling," and that same title with small variations was used for the editions that followed in 1974, 1980, 1988, and 1995. The image above shows the dust jacket for the book folded out producing a bike that's a three-speed in front and a ten-speed racer in back. The same cover was used in the 1974 edition, while Sloane used his personal Schwinn Paramount for the cover images on the 1980 and 1988 editions.

The odd-book-out here is the 1977 one about locks and other security devices, but that just goes to show how wide Gene Sloane's interests were. He could have written books about sailing and photography if those fields were not already saturated with books. His remaining six books were published in pairs - the original edition followed by a revised edition some years later. Thus we have the maintenance manual published in 1981 and 1991, the mountain bike book published in 1985 and 1991, and the handy pocket repair guide published in 1988 and 1993. Clicking on the ISBN number next to each book will open its page on Amazon. If I were going to pick just one book from this collection for my library, it would be "The All New Complete Book of Bicycling" from 1980. Although largely dated today, that book at 736 pages is one of the most comprehensive bike books ever written.

This page is accompanied by the Eugene Sloane Popular Mechanics Bike Articles Index with links to all the articles he wrote for that magazine as their bicycle editor.

The Complete Book of Bicycling, 1970, 342 pages, ISBN: 0671270532

The first book by Eugene A. Sloane, and a landmark publication in the early days of the 1970s bike boom. For a year it was the only new bicycle book on the market. In 1969 Sloane heard that Simon & Schuster were interested in publishing a bicycle book, so he went to them and got himself hired for the gig. But he was given a 4-month deadline, and did a remarkable job in the short time. The folded-out dust jacket is the header image for this bibliography page and shows how the 3-speed bike on the front transforms to the 10-speed racer on the back. This caused mild consternation among 10-speed purists back in the day, but also gave the book a broader appeal.

The New Complete Book of Bicycling, 1974, 531 pages, ISBN: 0671271199

For the second edition, 200 pages of additional bike information was added. This edition still has the same twelve chapters as the original, but better fleshed out, as Mr. Sloane had nearly four years rather than just four months to work on it. The 3-Speed to 10-Speed dust jacket was retained, but it looks a bit odd when folded out. The extra thickness of those 200 added pages means the downtubes of the two bike pieces no longer align properly. You can tell by the dog that the 3-speed is a slightly different picture than the 1970 edition.

The Complete Book of Locks, Keys, Burglar and Smoke Alarms, and Other Security Devices, 1977, 320 pages, ISBN: B000I4FJ3G 0688081894 (PBK)

Eugene Sloane had a lot of interests besides bikes, as this publication about locks and other security devices attests. Of course it contains a section on bike locks, with the relatively new Kryptonite and Citadel U-Locks being preferred. Bike locks had come a long way since the mention of a cable combination lock in the 1970 book. I'm including Eugene's biography (in italics) from the dust jacket, as it almost sounds like a completely different person than Eugene Sloane the bicycle guy:

Public relations man, Chicago. Security work, U.S. Signal Corps, World War II, cleared for top secret material. Consulting editor for Security World. Consultant to Locksmith Ledger magazine. Graduate of Omega Institute, offering courses in practical aspects of electronic burglar and intrusion alarm systems. Graduate School of Police Administration, University of Louisville, Kentucky.

The All New Complete Book of Bicycling, 1980, 736 pages, ISBN: 0671249673 0671494309 (PBK)

The third edition, and the biggest book Eugene Sloane ever wrote at 736 pages. Four additional chapters were added over the two prior editions, and this came in both hardcover and paperback forms. If there was just one Eugene Sloane book in my library, this would be it. On the cover, spanning front to back, is Gene's personal Schwinn Paramount from one of the last years that model used chromed Nervex feature cut lugs. If you look carefully at the bike picture, it's noticeable where the publisher air-brushed PARAMOUNT off the top tube, and SCHWINN off the down tube. Gene wrote a bike buying guide for the June 1973 issue of Popular Mechanics, and that issue had a 1973 Paramount on the cover.

Eugene A. Sloane's Bicycle Maintenance Manual, 1981, 352 pages, ISBN: 0671428063

The first book by Eugene Sloane dealing exclusively with bicycle repair and maintenance. His repair procedures state the problem, the cause, and the steps to fix it. Maintenance procedures give numbered steps for disassembly/assembly.

Eugene A. Sloane's Complete Guide to All-Terrain Bicycles, 1985, 285 pages, ISBN: 0671532332

Sloane, who was primarily a rider of lightweight bicycles with tubular tires, embraced the mountain bike movement when it exploded in the 1980s. He uses the acronym ATB extensively in this book, but it obviously never caught on. Probably too similar to ATV referring to motorized vehicles. This edition includes a chapter on ATB racing written by Gene's son Todd Sloane.

The Complete Book of Bicycling, All New 4th Edition, 1988, 542 pages, ISBN: 0671658034 0671658026 (PBK)

The fourth edition of the original 1970 book, published after Eugene Sloane had moved from the Chicago area to Vancouver, Washington. This book is exactly the same size as the third edition, but is 200 pages shorter (printed on thicker paper). The removed material such as three-speed and coaster brake info was deemed "obsolete" by the publisher. The Schwinn Paramount from the prior edition was retained for the cover, even though by 1988, downtube shifters were no longer that popular.

Sloane's Handy Pocket Guide to Bicycle Repair, 1988, 127 pages, ISBN: 0671661019

A pocket guide just over a quarter inch thick and measuring 3.5 x 7.5 inches. The idea being to carry it with you when out riding or traveling, as the most common field repair issues are covered.

Sloane's New Bicycle Maintenance Manual, 1991, 301 pages, ISBN: 0671619470

Published 10 years after the first edition the cover states "revised and updated for the nineties." The revision resulted in about fifty fewer pages, with the chapters on tandems, coaster brakes, and three-speed hubs being removed. But the book includes new information on BMX and ATBs (All Terrain Bikes).

"Sloane's Complete Book of All-Terrain Bicycles, 1991, 384 pages, ISBN: 0671675877

A revision of the book published six years earlier, with Sloane retaining the All Terrain Bicycle (ATB) nomenclature that never caught on. On the cover, this edition features a photo of Mount St. Helens with modest tree growth 10 years after the big eruption. Gene had been living in the Portland, Oregon area for some time and thus consulted with PUMP (Portland United Mountain Pedalers) on content. This group continues to the present day, now under the name Northwest Trail Alliance.

Sloane's Handy Pocket Guide to Bicycle Repair, 1993, 111 pages, ISBN: 067176943X

This edition is similar to the 1988 version. The biggest difference is a thumb index printed on the edge of each page, so the book can be flipped through quickly.

Sloane's Complete Book of Bicycling, 25th Anniversary Edition, 1995, 429 pages, ISBN: 0671870750

The final edition of "The Complete Book of Bicycling," and also Eugene Sloane's last published book. The previous four editions of the book all bore a resemblance to one another, but this edition is a complete re-write from the ground up. At this time Sloane had abandoned the "all terrain bike" terminology in favor of "mountain bike." Perhaps the greatest change is Sloane's stance on helmet use. He always wore a helmet himself, but in the 1970 edition stated "You can get by without a crash helmet in the suburbs and on country roads, but it's foolhardy to cycle in the city without head protection." In the 1995 edition, in bold, he simply wrote " Wear a helmet at all times!" He had a friend who died of a head injury in a slow-pace crash on the one occasion he forgot his helmet, and that no doubt contributed to his evolved viewpoint.

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