Bicycle: Love Your Bike: The Complete Guide To Everyday Cycling [Paperback]

Had I read Jogon's review before I ordered this I might well have thought twice. I was very disappointed when it arrived - a triumph of style over substance. Also, as previously pointed out, this is NOT a hardback edition. I therefore returned it for a refund and bought The Bicycle Book (Cycling Plus) instead - far more informative at a fraction of the price.

This book is of great use to quickly learn and check various matters from what bike suits one's needs and interests, and basic technical knowledge to adequate attire, insurance and safety advice, maintenance, and leisure, sportive and commuter cycling.

It's a very interesting and easy-to-read title, with exquisite aesthetics and lots of personal experiences and anecdotes from the community.

A book that reflects the author's ongoing relationships with her bikes and the art of cycling.

This is not 'The Complete Guide to Everyday Cycling', other better, cheaper books (mentioned at the end of this review) are.

The author is a Guardian journalist. And so, Mountain Bikes "Flat, knobbly tyres" should of course be 'FAT'.

"Hardcover" (it isn't).
"256 Pages". 196 contain text varying from Orange on Black, to White and Black on Orange. Hard to read. Style over content?

5+ photo's of the author on her 'Dutch' bike. Pidd is silly & rude about classic bike books by (male) authors Fred Milson, Rob Van Der Plas, and Richard Ballantine:-
"..All are dated looking tomes featuring photographs of the ageing and bearded authors wearing criminal sweaters and jeans pulled up to their nipples..". Style versus content?

More importantly "they tell you all you need to know". Quite so Miss Pidd, content over style.

Book feels built down to a price - photos repeat:-
Bike Rear P3/76+77/83;
Cycle Lane P54/55, 135;
Emmelle tourer P8, 61, 133,161 & guess it's bell at P65 it's light at P59;
Indoor Bike Rack 181, 193;
College bikes P40, 196;
Child Seat 79, 201 and
Cycle Lane P142/143, 201.

To sum up, I felt that a lot of people had given the author a lot of information which she only just (or didn't quite) understand. At P47, FAQs Do I need suspension? A- Only for serious off roading, unnecessary for urban riding. At P34 "If...you aren't (doing) actual mountain biking resist a machine with 'loads of suspension'"!?

Yet the cheapest best-spec urban-proof bike is usually a Hardtail Mtb with the added physical advantage that the front susp smooths poor English roads and protects arms, wrist, palm, Ulnar nerve, shoulders etc. None of this is mentioned. Or understood? I'm amazed at the difference (and removal of hand & shoulder-ache) that my new front susp Giant made over my older fixed fork Raleigh.

Expensive cleats and riding shoes overshadow the limited mention at P103 of cheap effective 'toe clips'.

Don't take my word for it.
On 'Kick Stands' (a lever-'foot' fitted to a bike so it can stand alone, like motor-bikes):-
HELEN PIDD - "Ideal if there's nothing to lean your bike against (or if you don't want to damage the paintwork). Pidd's later section on security, "Always lock the bike to an immovable object, lamp post, railings etc"(?).
-versus-
RICHARD BALLANTINE, [Richard's Bicycle Book 10.06.1983 ISBN 0330267663] - "A kickstand adds a lot of weight for very little useful function. There is almost always something against which a bike can be leaned."

Pidd's anti-bloke thing raises it's ugly head in an odd tirade against bike shops:- (P48) "..many are staffed by truculent young men with oily hands who either patronize you into submission or blind you with unnecessary cycling science".

Unreal. Or Pidd pandering to/plays for an easy point from a target (female only?) audience. She seeks to validate this non-point with a quote from fellow Guardianista, Matt Seaton from his Book The Escape Artist, (& anecdotal "my friend hissy-fit/stropped out of a shop after...etc etc". Calm down dears.

Perhaps there's another reverse 'sexism' at work here, her presumption that women want 20+ pages on 'cycling chic' and a web list/directory including dashing tweeds who's capes start at £450. Maybe they do, but hope not. It seemed a bit patronising, slightly "what a lovely colour dear" & "oh wow, a girl riding a bike".

Sample of Pidd's really Barmy stuff:-
P88 - Can you cycle in high heels (oh pleeease!)
P130 Bike Maintenance FAQs
What do I do if the chain comes off- put it back on etc
How can I get this oil off my hands - Washing up liquid and sugar
P154 Is it ever acceptable to (can you guess the answer, children?)
Cycle whilst on a mobile or texting
Listening to an ipod
When drunk or high

Security, locks etc 'A Cautionary Tale'...! Having reported bike stolen, Pidd had looked at the wrong lamp-post - her bike was still there. Helpful stuff to free up the Met from dippy time wasters.

Arguing against myself, any book that gets a new generation (or section of society) cycling is good. And perhaps this appeals to people unlike me.

But the book and/or Miss Pidd just felt a bit too smug, London-centric-set, style over content, dumbed down.

The Bicycle Book (Cycling Plus Magazine) ISBN 1841882631 does a far better job at a third of the price- £6-78 cheaper.