Bikes Reviews

This book serves the road bicyclist with an interest in recreational riding, regional history and natural features of Wisconsin. The 30-some tours described are evenly distributed over the state, and each is no more than about 30 miles in length.

If you like biking, rustic roads, local history and small-town cafes, you will appreciate this book. This book reminds me of the "Touring the Backroads" books for motorists designed for appreciating history at a small-town, local level. However, the focus is primarily on good cycling routes. Introductory notes by the author indicate that Wisconsin cycling clubs contributed their favorite routes to this work--a credit to the author's trust in real experience.

Features you'll appreciate: (1) template-style presentation of routes--safety, difficulty, length, time required, highlights, route diagram, route cue sheet, narrative profile, etc.; (2) discusses suitability of rides with respect to children or older adults; (3) tips on rest stops and food; (4) physical size of book makes it easy to carry while you ride.

If want to extend or shorten a described route, you'll have to do it on your own. For the most part, the route descriptions don't suggest variations. Look for maps published by the Bicycling Federation of Wisconsin or a bicycling club in the region, if you need to tailor a route.

This appears to be part of a series and I wish I could find the rest. The writing is concise and well-done with an interesting plot and line of characters.

Travis H. Culley writes a stirring love letter to both the city of Chicago and the profession/culture of bike messengers. It is such a rare accomplishment to conjure the unexpected romance and beauty of these two unique worlds. Culley situates his colorful and real characters, (fast, philosophical bike messengers), in a Chicago that seems to be of their own design. The Amoco building becomes the "Oil Can," and the NBC Tower becomes the "Peacock." Messengers become one with their cities and construct their own language and geography to navigate through them. Culley's descriptions convey not only a knowledge of the culture of Chicago messengers but a deserved respect that they have never been afforded before. Culley authorizes messengers to own the city, as they should, because it is they who truly know and feel its rhythm and texture. This book is fun to read because of its passionate representation of one of the wildest, most invigorating and most misunderstood professions. Regardless of your background (young or old, 'knowing urban' or sheltered, rich or poor), if you are not fortunate enough to know a real Chicago bike messenger, you must buy Culley's book and be initiated into the most textured, fun, and fast paced culture around. Culley has the rare talent of being able to place his readers right into the action. Readers interact immediately with Bobcat, Pork Chop, Bones, and Superdave in this whirlwind virtual tour. Culley's book inspires, as it debunks myths and stereotypes about messengers and evokes the beauty of their unexpected reality. They are athletes, they are philosophers, they are the most loyal of friends to one another, and the freedom they enjoy daily will inspire you to quit your day job and join the immortal class.

Reviewer: A reader from Chicago, IL United States wrote
"The Immortal Class is a book with endless potential, but Culley let's his bloated ego and misinformed angst get in the way."

Bloated ego?? Misinformed angst?? Did I read the SAME book as this person who chose not to name themselves in their review???

I don't even remember how I ended up buying this book, to be honest. Perhaps a recommendation when searching authors or something, but I'm thrilled I did. Seems everyone else (who have said POSITIVE things!) has stated my feelings about this book - I loved it. (And every one of the 4 different bike messengers who have come into my place of employment has read this book and loved it as well.) I just wanted to say that Travis Culley HAS reached his potential. His powers of observation are unparalleled. His insight into human behaviors is right on. His passion is intense. His ability to put into words his every movement, feeling, ache and pain so that it transfers from the page straight to the reader seems effortless. It's a wonderful read. Pure and simple. I hated finishing the book, and I'll miss my lunch 1/2 hours that I spent reading it, which I called "lunch with Travis." All I want to know now is... what's next, Trav??

I read this book while recouperating from a cycling accident in which an automobile and I went head on. The car won, but I'm still waiting for the re-match. This book was a confirmation of the cycling lifestyle, and I can't imagine any cyclist that wouldn't get something from it...Especially one who had had a run-in with a motorist at any point in his or her life.

This book is not so hot. The cartoonish illustrations do not help one bit. If you really want to fix your bike get How To Rock And Roll by Sam Tracy.

"Anybody's Bike Book" is very dated, which would be fine if the information contained within were more helpful. It seriously lacks diagrams. For example, rear deraileur adjustment "section" merits one and a half pages. There are no diagrams, nor is there strong guidance on which adjustment screw you should adjust and in what direction.

There are much better books out there.

I really liked Anybody's Book but I didn't like it that much too. Although this sounds a little double minded, let me explain. Mr.Cuthbertson writes in a very down to earth style and adds stories and personal views about fixing the bicycle. He troubleshoots each part of the bike and offers a solution on how to fix each occurance. Not a bad idea, but the book is very low on illustrations. The drawings are fun to look at and are entertaining, but are of little use in actually reparing your bike. You must rely strongly on his writen descriptions of the problems rather than seeing illustration representing the tasks. Why do so many bike repair books skimp on the most important aspect of teaching someone to repair a bike, which are the photos and illustrations? I don't know either. My guess is that these authors are masters at being mechanics and fail to realize that not everyone is in their league. They may understand what they mean, but does the common person? The title is not accurate as it is not really "anybody's bike book", but rather, a bike book geared (no pun intended) to the mechanically inclined. I would rate this an entertaining read at 4 stars, but as a repair manual, it only rates a two. Overall rating: 3

Strongly recommend another book over this one, even though it is a little harder to find: Mountain Bike Madness in Central Pennsylvania: An Atlas of Central Pennsylvania's Greatest Mountain Bike Rides. Partland is a disappointment.

The authors really do not know much about mountain biking. I was excited about the idea of the book, but sorely disappointed by it.

Mountain Biking is my newest obsession-- The book is great-- It got me pumped and now I feel like I know something about it-- Mount Tam here I come!!

As a tourist, this book was helpful, but as a cyclist it was not. The maps were very difficult to follow and didn't include street information--they were basically a map of Ireland with a line going from city to city, sometimes including road names but not always. Ireland is roughly the size of New England so at a street level, the map was fairly useless.

For example, the tour from Dublin to Wicklow (the first tour in the book) began with from the center of town, "follow the signs to Dun Logherie. Once in Dun Logherie..." Now you would think that Dublin was packed full of signs pointing the way, but it isn't; in fact it is very easy to get lost (which is how I spent most of my time on the first day).

4/5ths of the chapter on this first bike tour was about things to do in Dublin and Wicklow and not how to find your way around. This wouldn't be so bad if finding my way around was easy but it's not (Ireland is notorious for this) and the reason I bought this book was so that I *could* find my way around. Instead, I had to buy street maps, regional maps and spent a fair amount of time packing and unpacking things.

In some places the book was misleading. It mentioned that you cannot take bicycles on the Motorways but it didn't mention that most of the National Roads have pedestrian-free bike lanes. It mentioned that you can't take a bike on the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit), but it didn't mention that you can take a bike on Irish Rail.

Well it may have mentioned these things, but I didn't see them because after spending the first day lost, I abandoned this book and just used the maps.

Again, the book was full of useful information about what to do when you get to these places, but it was light on the things that mattered most to me as a cyclist. And frankly, if you're looking for a book on what to do in Ireland, you'll do better with a Frommer's guide or somthing more substantial.

I bought a number of books before a recent bicycle trip to Ireland to help me plan routes and I found that this book was the most useful. It is very well laid out and enjoyable to read. If I did the trip again, this is the book I would rely on. I recommend it highly.

My friend from Canada wanted to tour Ireland based on a picture he saw on a co-worker's desk. His co-worker had toured Ireland and had nothing but good things to say. He asked me and of course, I said YES! Even though I biked recreationally, I had no idea what I was in for. I bought this book and we used it for all 3 trips (1998, 1999, 2000). In all 3 years, we cycling the last two weeks of September. I feel like writing my own cycling book as we've learned a lot in the three tours to date. Anyway, back to the review. Reason for end of September, The kids are back in school, the tourist trade is widing down, the B&B's are still open & there's less cars on the road! I would do this for any country.

I find a lot of the bike book reviews complain about map detail in the books, not finding their way according to the book or not according. You should buy a bike book as a reference only and a good Michelin-like map. Keep an open mind with the book, use a good map & yeah, if you get lost, it's another adventure awaiting you.

I liked the author's write up on the history of Ireland, always good to know a little about the country you're touring. We looked at the book's routes and then transposed them to the Michelin map for actual riding. I had a handlebar bag with an enclosed topside map bag so you can read your route without stopping. The Ireland by Bike book was always at hand. In 3 years, it's a little weathered but will always stay in my collection of books.

The authors mileage was accurate, the tips along the way, the scenery spots that are off the beaten path. An example would be to stop at the signpost 2 miles out of a town, find the lane, walk up the lane 1/2 mile and your see this round fort. We saw things we would never have if it weren't for this book. Excellent examples of things like this thruout. Music pubs, B&Bs, just an excellent book.

I thought all the .... By Bike books would have a common standard but is not the case. Beware before you buy, they are not all like Ireland By Bike as far as detail.

If you want to ride 30 - 50 miles a day, stop to see the sights and enjoy the country, the people, the Guiness, this is the book for Ireland.

Does not cover Northern Ireland. The author never rode into.

Now we're looking for another country to tour now that we've done all of ireland.

...this shouldn't be it. As a woman, I agree that someone ought to write a book about this subject, but Joans hasn't done it justice. She admits speaking with only one "Biker Chick" (author's caps) and nevertheless produces a whole slew of generalizations--based on what? Observation without interview doesn't make anthropology. Many premises are established (shakily) and then contradicted only pages later. Apparently she "interviewed" a bunch of her friends, threw together some poorly supported conclusions and wound up with this book. The scholarship is too poor to make it an academic work, and there aren't enough good stories to make it a general interest work. Save your money, or read The Perfect Vehicle instead.

This was an informative and enjoyable book, especially for the targeted audience. As an earlier reviewer wrote, it is not a scholarly treatise with data, so if you're an academic looking for such, you'll be disappointed. But for the motorcyclist and passenger, especially the Harley owner, it's a good read. Basically, the female author offers her opinions on Harley owners and passengers, based on her fairly recent involvement in the lifestyle. She categorizes and describes both male and female enthusiasts. Being female, and since females constitute most of the passengers and are such statistical outliers as riders, the author spends most of her time on female related issues. Her anecdotes, and those of the females she interviewed, of their riding experiences are both informative and entertaining. As a fairly recent Harley owner, I really benefitted from her insights, and I recommend the book to all my riding friends, especially the females.

BIKE LUST is a unique, forceful and informative ethnography in which Barbara Joans takes the reader inside the minds and hearts of an emergent, important and incompletely understood American subculture. She tells much of this story in the language and with the forcefulness of a cultural insider.
I know of no account of Harley culture like it. The examples are clear and cleanly and drawn, not only in the manner of a professional anthropologist but also as a storyteller with a sharp ear for language.
Joans comes to the task with particularly apt credentials, and the originality of her technique illuminates the character of the group she represents. An accomplished anthropologist with an established reputation in the field, Joans
has not written simply an anthropologist's monograph, but by adopting the voice of her study population, she brings the reader inside the community; she makes the events and the people come alive. This combining professional precision with subcultural patoise, enhances the portrayal. You find yourself seeing through biker's eyes, hearing and absorbing biker terminology and world view, and feeling the clamminess of water-soaked clothing after a stormy night's ride.
Because of Joans' highly accessible style, often invisible prose, and the intrinsic interest of the material, the work will have broad appeal. "Bike Lust" should find extensive readership among the general public because of its readability,
and because of the adventures it recounts. A significant part of Joans' contribution to this literature is her use of both masculine and feminine perspectives in equally engaging ways. For this reason it might be argued that Joans' work is the first effectively ethnographic study of this subculture.

I had great hopes for this book. They have been repeatedly dashed. About 10% of the time I find what I need to know. Until recently, I thought the problem was me, since I'm a novice cyclist and bike mechanic. But then I discovered 'Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance'. I no longer feel stupid! I respect Bicycling Magazine, so it's a bummer that this book, which they published, is lousy.

I don't and won't own this book.
I reviewed it carefully at my local bookstore and then returned it to the shelf.
I suggest prospective buyers do the same.
Material is dated and lacking in illustrative photos. Unable to find decent photos of modern brake systems.
Bicycling magazine should be able to do better.
Bicycles are covered extensively, but as other reviewers have stated, a great deal of detail required for repairs is missing.
Revising and updating should involve more than changing the cover and/or the publication date.
Currently marketed bikes such as Fischer, Trek or even Huffies have newer components, not illustrated.
A good beginners book, but tough problems will still have to go to a pro shop.

I've just gotten a new bike, and this book was my bible along the rocky road to buying a bike. Technology's come a long way in the 15 years since I last bought a bike, and I was starting from nearly zero - I didn't know my top tube from my seat stay.

This book covers the basics of what bicycle components are, what they do when they're working right, and how they can fail. I'm not someone who does a lot of "wrenching" on his own bike, but I found I needed to read this whole book in order to make an informed bike-buying decision. What do the tradeoffs between strength and lightness in wheelsets really mean with respect to your riding style? Do you need to go for the more expensive bottom bracket? (Probably not.) What's a 'headset', and why does it need to be covered up when you're transporting the bike on the back of a car?

This book will answer all the questions you had about the makeup and operation of a bike, but more importantly, it'll answer the questions you didn't know enough to ask, and help you make the best-informed bike buying decision possible!

It became fairly clear to me after reading this book that the authors were more interested in having a good time riding than they were in doing the research necessary to produce a guide book that would actually be useful to others. Their attitude can be best summed up by the fashion in which they deal with the issue of getting to and from the tours: they don't. Instead they mention that they heard second hand that you can ride the RER from Charles de Gaulle airport (Paris), but they really don't have any information because they always go in through Brussels! In addition, they mention that you should take the trains everywhere to get to the tours, but they don't bother to fill you in on SNCF's fairly unfriendly bike policy. What else is lacking? The only distance information given is the total for complete day, so unless you follow their route exactly this book is useless for planning. Route choice is poor--they don't put you on the best, least trafficked roads. In the case of the Loire Valley, they completely missed the signed bike routes that are the preferred roads for cyclist to be on (or perhaps the book is just too out of date). Elevation profiles? Forget it. They also don't provide a great deal of information about what kinds of food and lodging are available in the towns--particularly if it isn't where they choose to have you stop for the day. Their attitude is generally "check with the local tourist office to find a hotel." This advice is only helpful if the office happens to be open when you roll into town. If you are looking for a real guidebook (and it would be extremely charitable to put this book in that category) I would suggest that you buy the Lonely Planet Book "Cycling France" by Sally Dillon instead. It has similar good tour suggestions, but provides all of the information that this book completely lacks--information which you must have to sucessfuly tour France by bike.

Just biked the trip from Dijon to Orleans in May 1999; the biking and camping was outstanding and the book gave great detailed directions; we flew our bikes over, which was an adventure, but I highly recommend the book and the trip to anyone who feels up to it!!

For a first-time touring cyclist like myself, this book was a life-saver. On a bike tour in 1996, I used seven of the fourteen routes detailed in this book. The advice was absolutely invaluable. Fabulous recommendations for low-traffic, scenic routes and great advice for places to stay and see. Many recommendations are particularly helpful for budget-minded bike tourers who want to take advantage of low-cost camping options.

ONE DRAWBACK: With an original publication date of 1993, some of the advice in this book is bound to be a bit out-of-date. The bike-friendly French road system, for example, undergoes periodic changes (due to construction, route changes, etc.), so you'll want to check recommended cycling routes against a good Michelin map of the region. I also found that one or two of the recommended campgrounds had gone out of business since the book's original publication, but you can find a current listing of campgrounds through the local tourist office.

Despite these minor drawbacks, this book is still perfect for those considering a bicycle tour of France (which, by the way, is a fabulous country for both experienced and inexperienced bicycle tourers). I hope to return in the near future and explore some of the book's routes I didn't complete on my first trip!

This is a good introduction to what is involved in building a modern "bike in a box", or a Harley clone, as marketed by any of a number of companies out there. It gives you some general tips and hints, a review of shop and tool requirements, then walks you through four pretty similar kit bike buildups. All are modern, all are soft tails, and it should give you an idea of what you're getting into. Doesn't mention the wide variety of bikes that can be built out there from catalogs - Old School lovers can look elsewhere. This is all about the new trendy "choppers" you see all over the place, which is okay if you're into that.

Nice overview of building a motorcycle from a kit but not enough depth. I wish the author had spent time on engine installation, primary installation, and electonics. Good book but it is not going to help you when you get dirty with your bike project.

This book is an easy reading one. If you are looking for an introduction to Harley Davidson motorcycle kits overview, it is for you. Details on building RevTech Soft-Tail kit from frame, engine, transmission, suspension, electrical system, and etcetera are covered from the open box to finish.

What I like?
Engine and transmission installation, alignment and what king of engine with what king of transmission.

What do not?
The scope of the material presented. If you are a cycle kit man, this book is probably not for you because everything is presented in good simple manner.