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Le merveilleux monde de Daniel Rebour

Daniel Rebour was a French illustrator. His job consisted of drawing bicycles and their mechanical details, components and accessories. His drawings were published on cycling magazines and catalogues

During the 1950s Rebour used to visit all the international exhibitions and trade fairs. He was at the start of the major road races, from Paris-Brest-Paris to the Tour de France, where he used his patient and precise to record all the innovations, details, and curiosities.

His drawings are exceptional: they investigate all the details revealing great competence and passion. They are clean, accurate and elegant. And they became a classic. You can admire the portraits of lightweight racing bicycles built by Gitane and Peugeot, or the magnificent randonneurs built by Alex Singer and René Herse.

But drawing was not his sole activity. The company Idéale, a now disappeared French manufacturer of high-quality leather saddles, launched a special version of his racing model pre-softened with a technique developed by Rebour. These saddles bear the stamp "rodeé main selon Daniel Rebour", with the unmistakable signature of the French illustrator.

On line there's an archive with some of his drawings published on the magazine Le Cycliste between 1948 and 1951. And the guys of Jitensha studio, a very special bicycle shop in Berkeley, California, sell on their website Le monde de Daniel Rebour, a two-volumes book with two-hundred drawings.

In Italy Rebour is probably unknown.