Cycling Books

This is one of the dumbest mountain biking books I ever read. The section on how-to-bunnyhop is hilarious. This is a skill much sought-after skill by many avid mtn cyclists, akin to learning bumps in skiing and what does this book offer? Absolutely nothing. There is a picture of a guy bunnyhopping and the author just goes on to say that clipless pedals help, but does not explain how some bmx-ers and flat pedal users can jump as high as 4 feet. Huh? Did I missed something? Retarded book. Skip!

This is a very good book, it tells different places that you can go biking and the techniques that you should use to go over different hazards, this has to be one of the best, most informative MBing book I have ever read.

This is a very informative book. It was written with the beginner/intermediate mountain biker in mind. The book take you from the simple steps of mounting your bike, to basic maintenence and care. From tricks and trails, to races and upgrades, it is an excellent beginner mountain bike handbook!

The photos used in this book are nice, but I found them to be lacking in detail, especially when maintenance procedures are described. Additionally, the text is vague and too simplified at times. A beginners' book should not necessarily translate into less detail. Overall, the book covers a broad range of topics and is good for absolute beginners.

We just used the book as a guide to ride down the Dempster Highway (along with the Mileposts pages) and it was our best information. Even after 25 years, the information about where to find water, good camping, etc. was quite useful. And bike tourists always like to have some elevation profiles, even though you have to go over the hill whether you have a profile or not. Thanks for the book!

The second edition is a useful book covering all the major roads in Alaska and the Alaska Highway as far as Whitehorse, YT. Information is organized by region and then by roads within those regions. An introductory section describes the background of the area and provides land management and emergency information. Any communities the cyclist will pass through are described and services relevant to cycle touring are listed. Roads are broken into approximately 80-mile segments with a small elevation profile provided for each. The terrain and road surface are described and the mile post locations of any junctions, water sources, camping, food, lodging, and roadside sights are tersely noted. No mile-by-mile description is provided. Unfortunately, the service information is dated as north-country businesses seem to pop up and shut down with alarming frequency. Coupled with the Milepost, this is a helpful book. Those used to hand-holding touring guides with detailed ride notes may be disappointed.

I think this book would have been useful several years ago but this edition is almost 10 years old and the information contained is out of date. The elevation profiles provided for the roads in Alaska are also misleading and not detailed enough to be reliable.

I wouldn't recommend that you buy this book if you intend to tour Alaska. Buy a general guide book (Lonely Planet or Rough Guide) and get some decent maps instead.

This book collects essays written by amature and semi-professional writers (writer-slash-whatevers) seemingly in response to some kind of a send in your essay and get published contest. Nearly all of the essays consist of some ordinary people writing about the ordinary reasons why they like to ride their bikes in a conventional adult ed creative writing class style.

The essays lack diversity and are short on insight. Just flip through the book and read the opening sentence or two of each. Most are remarkably similar. What might make a passable one-page fluff piece for a magazine makes incredibly dull reading over and over and over again.

Some very engaging cycling memoirs have been written, such as Heft on Wheels and Miles from Nowhere. Bicycle Love does not make the list.

I got an advance copy because an essay by me is inside it. It's a collection of 60 personal essays submitted to a contest (no I didn't win), and they are all wonderful.

As a person who loves bikes this outpouring of love is more than heatwarming, it's almost overwhelming. Honestly, many of the essays moved me to tears.

I don't know exactly what a non-cyclist would make of these bicycle true confessions, but if anyone you know loves bikes you can safely give them this book for their birthday or X-mas.

I ride a bent, mostly because I'm too fat for a regular bike. I was hit by a car once and now I have a lumpy leg.

Did you know on a bent, you can ride and eat a donut?

Yum!

I loved the book, I hope they make a movie!

Bicycle Repair Step-by-Step: How To Maintain And Repair Your Bicycle by bike expert Rob Van der Plas is a highly practical and thoroughly "user friendly" guide filled from cover to cover with straightforward, simple, and clear instructions enhanced with full-color illustrations on the skills and arts of keeping a bicycle in the best possible condition. From knowing what tools assemble and keep on hand, to maintenance of the gears, brakes, and suspension, to wheel replacement and more, Bicycle Repair Step-by-Step is a superbly presented guide and first-rate reference.

If you've never worked on a bike before this is a good book to start your journey. It goes over all of the adjustments and maintenance items you will need to pay attention to on your bike.

Downside is that a good portion of the bike technology they cover is no longer standard equipment on current bikes. This isn't enough of a problem to not recommend the book however. And could actually be useful if you pick up an older used bike that you want to get back in operating condition.

Excellent graphics and easy to read directions make this a solid choice for the beginning bike mechanic. One note: You will need a few bike specific tools to work on your steed.

Pros:
Excellent design & Layout
Easy to understand
Comprehensive

Cons:
Comprehensive
rag paper pages

First off, I have been a fairly serious mountain biker and road cyclist for many years. I have taken my bike into the shop for tune ups all this time, and was looking for something that would help me do it on my own...primarily focused on derailer and brake work.

For a beginner, and by that I mean someone who has never been serious on a bike, this is probably a good book to start with. However, if you have riden at a moderate or above level, this is not the book for you.

It took until page 46 before I got past all of the things us frequent cyclists know and take for granted...checking your tire for wear (thanks, I wouldn't have thought of that!), switching tubes (you have to learn that quick), adjusting seat height, what to carry in a bike field kit, etc. When it finally gets to the good stuff, I don't think it does a good enough job with the tune-up and repair items...not enough detail. In addition, he tries to cover all bikes, so there is not enough detail on any type. It would be good to have more detail on bike computers too.

Perhaps there is a need for a book that specializes in road bikes, one in mtn bikes, and one in cruisers, the first two being at an advanced biker level.

To sum up: good if you are a beginner, bad if you are advanced.

I would not recommend this book. The publication date is 1988. That means the book was written over 20 years ago. Many of the trails no longer exixt or have been significantly changed. The book mentions stores and shops that are now freeways. I would not use a map that is over 20 years old and i would not use this book

I have reviewed the 5th Edition of "Bicycle Rides in Orange County," published January 2001, by Don and Sharron Brundidge. I can't think of a better guide for all types of riders. There is a complete description of each ride along with maps and contour plots. Rides are rated by many criteria: difficulty, scenery, distance workout, elevation workout, bike route quality (exclusive bike trail, separated striped bike lane, signed non-separated bike lane, and none of the above), sight-seeing attractions, and nature trails. This guide added 16 rides to the 1988 edition, making a total of 58. The guides also indicate parks, restrooms, water, special points of interest, and occasional eateries. I did all but the Orange County Century in the 1988 edition and so far have done 10 of the 16 new rides in the 2001 edition. Also I noticed that some of the original 42 rides have had revisions that I want to try also.

I have checked the distances and elevation gains with my own GPS and Avocet vertical gain watch and found the guides to be quite accurate. Options are described for shortening certain rides. Another feature I liked was the description of the connectivity between near-by rides for those riders who want to do multiple rides in a day's outing. I can't think of a more complete guide. When I finish the 16 added rides in Orange County, I want to start on the additional rides in the latest revision to "Bicycle Rides in Los Angeles County."

The book provides 51 on-road trip descriptions (58 total rides) in Orange County. Rides vary from those for short-length family trips on separated bike paths, many longer exploratory and workout trips for more experienced riders on various quality bike routes, and a few "gut-buster" tours for the most physically fit and motivated bikers. There are over 800 one-way miles of biking described. Included are the Orange County "Grandaddy" and a county century ride. Trip domains include cities, beaches, parks, canyons, valleys, mountains, rivers, harbors and lakes.
Included is a master map to show ride locations within the county and a master matrix that identifies ride location, level of difficulty, route composition (percentage of route on bike trail, signed bike lanes or open roadway) and a general trip characterization (i.e., Is the trip scenic? Is it in a natural setting? Are there landmarks and/or sightseeing attractions along the way? Is this a mileage and/or elevation workout?).
Each trip description contains a detailed trip map and elevation-distance profile and scenic or character-interest photographs are scattered throughout the book. The route maps note the location of water sources, landmarks, sightseeing attractions and campsites among other points of interest.
Condensed Table of Contents:
Introduction
How to Use This Book
Trip Organization
Trip Description/Terminology
General Biking Considerations
Orange County Trips
-- The Coast (16 trips)

-- River Trails (Rivers/Creeks) (4 trips)
-- Inland (12 trips)
-- The "Big Guys" (Long-distance Rides) (3 trips)
-- New Trips (16 Trips)
Index

In Australia, we use the same (correct!) side of the road as the Brits, so we don't have to translate much. John's sections on riding in traffic are excellent, and if he'd left it at that, this would rate a 5, but he delves into bike fit, still touting the hairy old myth of knee over pedal spindle and other such nonsense, and gets involved in a helmet debate that belongs elsewhere than a book on reduced risk road riding.
If you skip the bike fit myths and anti helmet evangelism, this is a great book on riding on the road, and I highly recommend it.

No doubt about it, this book has a great feel to it. Typographically the book is an easy read with great full color illustrations. But as they say down South, "When you are invited to a fish fry, no one has to tell you not to swallow the bones!" First off, you gotta translate the diagrams since the Brits drive on the wrong side of the road. Franklin, sure does not belong to the Hecktor Helmet Brigade. All of his great illustrations of cyclists show them not wearing a helmet, this may gall the club/waiver folk on this side of the pond. Franklin does have a serious discussion of the pros and cons of helmet wearing. He seriously neglects "Blinkies" and the "trashmo" or utility city bike. Otherwise it is a great read, but one which does not hold a candle to our John Forester and his "Effective Cycling".

John Franklin's _Cyclecraft_ is about how to ride a bike safely and efficiently in the seemingly harsh world of motor traffic. Franklin presents the specific techniques that cyclists need to know to start off, move along, turn safely, avoid hazards of all types, and maneuver in unusual or difficult situations. The diagrams in the book are lucid, Franklin's instructions are specific without being pedantic, and his points are clearly made and backed up with evidence and experience.

The lone drawback to this book for anyone who lives outside the United Kingdom or Ireland might be that some of the information is specific to traffic standards in those countries. The most obvious of these is driving on the left, and Americans like me will have to think "right" whenever Franklin writes "left."

This is a very minor nit, however. There is no book yet published in North America that is so succinct yet so complete on the practice of cycling for transportation.

...then this is the book for you. It's really helpful that his background is actually building various trailers and cargo bikes. Particularly I that he goes through all the different types of businesses - what their problems and opportunities entail - as he has tried to start many of them. Grocery delivery or fast food delivery often come to mind with bike delivery - but there are challenges to starting these kinds of businesses that most people don't think of-challenges that he outlines in the book, as well as legalities around hiring messengers,how to find good help etc.

Worth the investment.Down Low Glow Lighting Kit - Two Tubes-Envy(green)How to Live Well Without Owning a Car: Save Money, Breathe Easier, and Get More Mileage Out of LifeZinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance

I thought I'd pick up with book to do a little research for starting my own bicycle messanger company. Turns out, this was NOT the book for that. This is a book for someone who enjoys riding their bike and likes to wear rose colored glasses. I would not recommend this book.

The delivery of small packages by bicycle - the courier or messenger business - has a continuous history as old as the bicycle itself. In the twentieth century the role played by bicycles in delivering larger cargoes has been eroded by motor vehicles. As motor traffic finally limits its own speed in the city to that of the machines it replaced, the specialist load-carrying bicycle has made a comeback.

This book is the first how-to manual to emerge from the contemporary 'workbike' phenomenon. There are some pamphlets aimed at prospective bicycle delivery operators published by Detour, but this is an attempt to produce a more comprehensive reference.

The author of this book runs a bicycle delivery firm in Iowa, USA. Consequently, much of the advice is US-centric, such as details of tax law and insurance. However, the advice is still useful to people outside the USA because it gives the reader an idea of the kind of things they should be considering before starting in business.

The author covers the obvious areas such as selection of equipment and marketing your prospective service, but also offers the benefit of his experience on keeping a business viable and the recruitment and retention of staff, two areas where most workbike business failures occur.

A large proportion of the book is dedicated to real-life examples of workbikes in use that have proved successful. It begins with the kind of jobs that you can do without much special equipment, such as inner-city pizza, airline ticket and pharmaceutical deliveries, where speed - and therefore the lack of need to find a place to park a motor vehicle - are critical.

The book goes on to detail the ins and outs of grocery, printed matter and furniture delivery. Recyclable material collection is well covered, and mobile bike repair, lawn mowing and window cleaning get a mention too. Ice cream vending, that traditional British use for a workbike, is mentioned in passing - the Canadian operator interviewed for the book has a fleet of twelve hundred trikes.

Pedicabs - bicycle taxis - are covered, including the critical information about local laws that often forbid their use, or make them unviable. There is a view, concurrent with the idea of 'motor vehicle as liberation', that the workbike is backward and a form of exploitation, and must therefore be eliminated. Unfortunately, this aspect of anti-bike legislation is something we've recently exported globally, threatening the literal survival of thousands of becak operators in Indonesia alone. It's especially ironic that pedicabs are now seen every night in London, just as the authorities are clamping down on them in Jakarta.

The author admits to his interest as a manufacturer of trailers in the trike or quad bike versus trailer controversy. Three or four wheel bike advocates point to the greater stability and braking performance of their vehicles, while trailer fans boast how they can quickly detach the extra wheels when a small delivery is called for. It's a debate which is unlikely to be resolved.

The book contains a few typos, but as the only book of its' kind so far, it is required reading for anyone interested in the subject.

I have mixed feelings about this book -- there are sections which are extraordinarily helpful, and then he spoils it. The most useful sections, and ones which other touring books would be wise to emulate, are his selections of helpful letters to various people (hotels, cycling shops, etc.) written in French for the linguistically challenged (like me). However, contrary to the remarks of the previous reviewer, my wife and I found that the selection of roads was not small country lanes -- even when they paralleled the route selected by Mr. Simpson.

We toured through the Dordogne and Mr. Simpson's route both out of Bordeaux, and then later in the trip the section from Cahors back towards Bordeaux were on major roads when wonderful alternatives were at hand. We found this inexplicable. For the first part of the book I rate it at 5 stars -- but as the route selection is so marginal (at least where we tried to use it) I have to downgrade to 3. The best of both worlds was to use this book for preparation, and then another for actual route planning. For that I highly recommend the Whitehill's book, 14 Tours Geared for Discovery.

I have mixed feelings about this book -- there are sections which are extraordinarily helpful, and then he spoils it. The most useful sections, and ones which other touring books would be wise to emulate, are his selections of helpful letters to various people (hotels, cycling shops, etc.) written in French for the linguistically challenged (like me). However, contrary to the remarks of the previous reviewer, my wife and I found that the selection of roads was not small country lanes -- even when they paralleled the route selected by Mr. Simpson.

We toured through the Dordogne and Mr. Simpson's route both out of Bordeaux, and then later in the trip the section from Cahors back towards Bordeaux were on major roads when wonderful alternatives were at hand. We found this inexplicable. For the first part of the book I rate it at 5 stars -- but as the route selection is so marginal (at least where we tried to use it) I have to downgrade to 3. The best of both worlds was to use this book for preparation, and then another for actual route planning. For that I highly recommend the Whitehill's book, 14 Tours Geared for Discovery.

Jerry H. Simpson Jr. became interested in bicycling in France when he started touring France while part of the American Army stationed in France after WWII. While the book lacks glitz, the routes he has picked are extraodinarily good. Most of them utilize small, rural, lightly trafficed farm road (tertiary roads) in excellent condition. While this was published in 1992, and Simpson does not plan a new edition, it, still, is simply the best

This book is a must have for anyone serious about Cross. Simon Burney provides a good insight to the sport and lots of Cross specific training tips.

I have been racing CX for two years now and found the book very informative and use many tips to cut time off the laps. The book covers a wide range for most readers expert to newbies. Many great tips on everything cross.

This book is ok...but not more then that. Ok for a beginner but tyhe more advanced rider will not learn anything from this book

Rendell does a good job of chronicling the young Pantini and the promise he showed in his early races. He also details his family life and the seeds for his later emotional issues. Rendell works analytically and steps through the events related to Marco's medical evidence of doping, his mental and social issues, and his eventual death. I have read other reviews in which readers expressed disappointment that Pantani's pro racing victories are not highlighted more in the book. I think the title explains Rendell's focus and as long as the reader in interested in learning more about Pantani as a man in addition to a cycling champion, I think this is a very good read.

I struggled through this chronicling of Pantani's storied career. The author detailed every one of Pantani's races while he was a teenager then barely mentioned his early Tours de France. If I could stand more Pantani trivia, I'd buy the other two biographies to compare them with this. A disappointment.

First off, this is a good book, but it depends what you want out of it. Maybe I just prefer the cycling writings of John Wilcockson. For me, I like something like "23 Days in July" about the ups and downs, real life of a bike racer so that I feel like I am living it. This is the 3rd of the 3 Pantani books I have read and what I can say about it is; if you want to dig very deep into whether or not the guy "doped" than this is for you. If you want a book that really celebrates the champion's accoplishments balanced with what brought him down, without a ton of science thrown in, then I would recommend "Marco Pantani: The Legend of a Tragic Champion" as the best of the 3 books out there. Rendell's book is tied for second with Ronchi's overall. Ronchi's book really sheds more light onto his personal life and is also worth the read.

All good books, but I am on my second read of "tragic champion" and it probably won't be my last.

Overall, I feel Rendell thought Pantini was guilty of cheating and he made a point of proving it, which he did. Problem is, it was proven in heavy detail and took up too much of the book.