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The Bicycle Wheel by Jobst Brandt is by several lengths the best book on the subject ever written, and not likely to be superseded in this life, given that the reader pays attention and doesn't mind stretching his mind a little, because Jobst takes no prisoners. The best wheels can be built by those who've thoroughly assimilated The Bicycle Wheel; Sheldon believed it too and collated Jobst's thoughts on other matters of importance to cyclists at http://sheldonbrown.com/brandt/.
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Jobst testing his invention of slick tyres on wheels of his own construction.
The Bicycle Wheel is in print and for sale many places -- try http://www.wheelfanatyk.com/store/jobst-brandt-bicycle-wheel/ -- and every serious cyclist should at least read it, even if he doesn't venture beyond the foothills of the math. Here's a tip: Read a section from a heading to a heading -- they're all short, because Jobst doesn't waste any words -- and ponder his points on your ride. You'd be surprised how much juice is to be squeezed out of a short paragraph by the cleverest engineer to take an interest in bicycles since Mikhael Pedersen.