The Complete Bike Book: Chris Sidwells. Dorling
Kindersley 2003. 240 pages hardback, illustrated, £16.99. ISBN
0-7513-6445-2
AGAINST THE ODDS, young and old are attracted to cycling
in ever-increasing numbers, whether for recreation competition, or convenient
and inexpensive transport, and, in contrast to the situation a few years
ago, countless books now offer to answer our most frequently asked questions.
Because of this, the experienced cyclist's needs are nowadays determined
rather by price or shelf space than scarcity of informative material
on any topic.
For those who would welcome a single volume to do it all The Complete
Bike Book can make a reasonable claim. That is not to say that it's
exhaustive, as a real book might be. It's a large, handsome book, coffee-table
in style built around pictures of the very highest quality - primarily,
indeed, a large collection of illustrations with a limited amount of
information conveyed in plain text which is in effect extended caption.
In its sketchy manner it touches upon pretty well everything (five different
types of mountain bike) from Getting Started to Competitive Cycling,
with sections on training, both on and off the bike, clothing, some
good stuff on riding techniques, and even two pages on nutrition. The
book could therefore replace several others which no longer contain
current information.
Because this is a problem: cycling is as fashion-driven as any other
human enterprise which depends on creating envy in order to keep the
money flowing in. Books of this kind therefore date quickly. Few time-triallists
nowadays would buy a steel frame, and carbon fibre is rapidly ousting
aluminium as the material of choice for serious cyclists. There is nothing
on Audax-style cycling, and the fondos and randonnées which have
become the staple of tens of thousands of serious cyclo-sportifs - though
they do get in the glossary.
For many readers, especially the inexperienced and newcomers for whom
the book must be intended, the best bit will be the very good section
(35 pages, including six on MTB suspensions) on cleaning, repair and
maintenance. Here the excellent illustrations are really useful, rather
than mouth-watering pictures of expensive equipment. After all, some
quite experienced riders are still a bit hazy about how to change an
inner tube.
The six pages given to cycling's two-hundred-year history means that
the author's selection of 'key moments' is arbitrary to the point of
being ludicrous, and gives the impression that this stuff doesn't matter
very much. We might quibble about the bald statement that Coppi was
the sport's first superstar, citing Lapize, Pelissier, Binda, Guerra,
Leducq, Magne, Bartali and others as predecessors; and Campagnolo certainly
did not 'invent' the derailleur gear in 1933, or any other year.
There's a useful list of organizations and addresses, still largely
current, a glossary, and an index.
But for its intended market (teenagers, novices, the inexperienced,
etc) it's good value, and could be better if it can be updated every
three years or so.
RM/LH