This is not an exhaustive list. There are lots of good books about bicycles out there. This list started with me scanning my shelves and saying "Oh that was a good book... and that one... and that one... and then I started quizzing friends in real life and on Twitter and Google+. And then Amazon has this "people who liked X also liked Y" feature that can lead to all kinds of cool things. I finally drew an arbitrary line at 50. If your book or your favorite book isn't on the list, it sure doesn't mean it's not great.
I gave up at categorizing the list. Some books are how-to and some are history. There are books about touring and racing. There are kids books on the list and some biographies. There's at least one novel. A lot of books could fit in more than one category. So I just present the books in alphabetical order by title.
I don't describe the books, but each title links to an Amazon page with description, reviews, etc. If you hate Amazon and want to support your local bookshop, go find these books at your local store. I am an Amazon Affiliate so if you do wind up buying one of these books on Amazon after clicking a link from here it will not cost you anything extra but about 6% of the purchase price goes to me. That's the main way I keep the bits flowing through this blog, so if you choose to do that, thank you very much.
Finally, if you have some great bike books that I've missed, post them in a comment here or email those titles to me at kentsbike(at)gmail.com. If I get enough good stuff, I'll compile a second list.
Here's my list of 50 Good Bike Books:
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100 Years of Bicycle Component and Accessory Design: Authentic Reprint Edition of The Data Book
by Noguchi-sanA Dog in a Hat: An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium
by Joe ParkinAdventure Cycle-Touring Handbook: Worldwide Cycling Route & Planning Guide
by Stephen LordAnybody's Bike Book: A Comprehensive Manual of Bike Repairs
by Tom CuthbertsonAround the World on Two Wheels: Annie Londonderry's Extraordinary Ride
by Peter ZheutlinAscent: The Mountains of the Tour De France
by Richard YatesBicycle Diaries
by David ByrneBicycles & Tricycles: A Classic Treatise on Their Design and Construction
by Archbald SharpBicycle: The History
by David HerlihyBicycling Science
by David Gordon WilsonBicycling The Pacific Coast
by Vicky Spring and Tom KirkendallBike Cult: The Ultimate Guide to Human-Powered Vehicles
by David B. PerryBike Snob: Systematically & Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling
by BikeSnobNYCBike Touring: The Sierra Club Guide to Travel on Two Wheels
by Raymond BridgeBoy Racer: My Journey to Tour de France Record-Breaker
by Mark CavendishCycling's Golden Age: Heroes of the Postwar Era, 1946-1967, The Horton Collection
text by Owen Mulholland, foreword by Eddy MerkcxFallen Angel: The Passion of Fausto Coppi
by William FotheringhamFranklin Rides a Bike
by Paulette BourgeoisGracie Goat's Big Bike Race
by Erin MirabellaHis Finest Hour
by David NeuhausInto Thick Air: Biking to the Bellybutton of Six Continents
by Jim MalusaIt's All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels
by Robert PennJoyride: Pedaling Toward A Healthier Planet
by Mia BirkLance Armstrong's War: One Man's Battle Against Fate, Fame, Love, Death, Scandal, and a Few Other Rivals on the Road to the Tour de France
by Daniel CoyleMajor Taylor: The Extraordinary Career of a Champion Bicycle Racer
by Andrew RitchieMiles from Nowhere: A Round the World Bicycle Adventure
by Barbara SavageMomentum Is Your Friend: The Metal Cowboy and His Pint-Sized Posse Take on America
by Joe KurmaskiParis-Roubaix: A Journey Through Hell
by the sportswriters of L'EquipePark Tool BBB-2 The Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair - 2nd Edition
by C. Calvin JonesPedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities
by Jeff MapesRacing Through the Dark
by David MillarSally Jean, the Bicycle Queen
by Cari BestSlaying the Badger: LeMond, Hinault and the Greatest Ever Tour de France
by Richard MooreTake a Seat: One Man, One Tandem and Twenty Thousand Miles of Possibilities
by Dominic GillTeam 7-Eleven: How an Unsung Band of American Cyclists Took on the World - and Won
by Geoff DrakeThe Art of Cycling: A Guide to Bicycling in 21st-Century America
by Robert HurstThe Art of Wheelbuilding: A Bench Reference for Neophytes, Pros & Wheelaholics
by Gerd SchranerThe Bicycle Rider in Beverly Hills
by William SaroyanThe Complete Do-It-Yourself Bike Book: Everything You Need to Know to Fix, Maintain and Get the Most Out of Your Bike
by Mel AllwoodThe Dancing Chain: History and Development of the Derailleur Bicycle
by Frank BertoThe Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles: Craftsmanship, Elegance, and Function
by Jan HeineThe Lost Cyclist: The Epic Tale of an American Adventurer and His Mysterious Disappearance
by David HerlihyThe Man Who Loved Bicycles: The Memoirs of an Autophobe
by Daniel BehrmanThe Rider
by Tim KrabbeThe Spring Classics: Cycling's Greatest One-Day Races
by Philippe Bouvet and othersThe Third Policeman
by Flann O'BrienTillie the Terrible Swede: How One Woman, a Sewing Needle, and a Bicycle Changed History
by Sue StauffacherTomorrow, We Ride
by Jean BobetTravels with Willie: Adventure Cyclist
by Willie WeirWheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way)
by Sue Macy======
Keep 'em rolling,
Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah, WA USA
A few to consider for your next list:
ReplyDelete"Ghost Trails: Journeys Through a Lifetime" by Jill Homer
"Be Brave, Be Strong: A Journey Across the Great Divide" by Jill Homer
"Eat, Sleep, Ride" by Paul Howard
"Cycling the Great Divide: From Canada to Mexico on America's Premier Long Distance Mountain Bike Route" by Michael McCoy
"The Cordillera Volume 1" edited by Eric Bruntjen
"The Cordillera Volume 2" edited by Eric Bruntjen
"Twenty-Nine Hills" by Marty Basch
Egad, a pattern. I guess I like to read about the GDMBR.
Hi Keith,
ReplyDeleteI mentioned Jill's books and some of the other Divide books in some previous posts and I probably erred to much on the "nobody but me is that obsessed with the Divide" direction! All good books on your list.
Kent
Hi Kent,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! Here's another one for the list...
"Hell On Two Wheels" by Amy Snyder (Her account of the 2009 RAAM Race)
One book I particularly enjoyed is:
ReplyDelete"The Lead Goat Veered Off: A Bicycling Adventure in Sardinia" by Neil Anderson.
I know it's been mentioned on various bike lists in the past, but I don't see it here. An enjoyable read about traversing Sardinia. Available at Amazon or here:
http://www.cyclelogicpress.com/book.html
Another good one that seems to be available used via Amazon is:
"Round Ireland in Low Gear" - a travelogue of an elderly couple who set off cycle touring around Ireland in the dead of winter in the mid-1980's.
Not flawless and it drags occasionally, but often very entertaining and an interesting snapshot of a very different Ireland than exists now.
Dear Kent,
ReplyDelete"Need for the bike" Paul Fournel, translated from French and published by U. Nebraska press.
It is a memoir of sorts, and is one of the most observant reviews of a life spent awheel I've read. It is a fantastic book.
M. Fournel is an experimental writer, publisher, and an avid rider. His passion for both his work and his play shows, and is conveyed with wry wit, restraint, and insight.
The French language edition (Besoin de Velo; Ed. de Seuil) is a truly outstanding and luminous read.
The translation omits some material he wrote as a journalist (of sorts) for a French newspaper, but retains the heart of the work.
Reading either is a pleasure. Strongly recommended.
Best Regards,
Will
William M. deRosset
Fort Collins, CO
"Spokesongs: Bicycle Adventures on Three Continents" by Willie Weir
ReplyDelete"The Bicycle Wheel" by Jobst Brandt
I checked this one out from the local library. It's held my interest. http://www.amazon.com/Art-Urban-Cycling-Lessons-Street/dp/0762727837/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320177244&sr=1-1
ReplyDeleteHi Kent,
ReplyDeleteThe Quotable Cyclist by Bill Strickland is an often refered to staple on my bookshelf.
Regards,
Mike
I know that your real reason for the list is that you have run out of bicycle reading material and you know that if you make a list, people respond.
ReplyDeleteMy entry is less about the title than about reminiscing being a 13 year old with a new bike in 1970 - "The Complete Book of Bicycling", Eugene A. Sloane. I devoured that book, even the boring bits.
Gene in Tacoma
The books about bicycling that I have read most recently and enjoyed were:
ReplyDeleteThe Masked Rider:Cycling in West Africa by Neil Peart. Neil is the drummer and lyric writer for the rock band Rush. He spent much of his off time from the band touring by bicycle. This is about one of his tours in Africa.
The Happiness of Pursuit by Davis Phinney. A book about the career of the U.S. pro with the most career wins and his battle with early on-set Parkinson's.
I'll also give a shout out for Jill's books.
Thanks for this list, Kent!
ReplyDeleteAnother vote for Jill Homer's Ghost Trails! Oh, and I also think Stan and Jan's Berenstain's children's book, The Bike Lesson, is an entertaining read.
Hi Kent
ReplyDeleteAny of the several bicycle touring books by Josie Dew, a Brit. 'Travels in a Strange State' was her account of riding across the USA.
And a new one, "On Bicycles", edited by Amy Walker, ex of MOMENTUM magazine. Contributions by 30 plus writers, including me (a bit of shameless self-promotion).
Amazon link is:
http://tinyurl.com/3f766jv
Ron Richings
Vancouver, BC
Canada
I would like to suggest Around the United States by Bicycle. It's the story of 2 young adventurers who touched on every state and territory in the continental United States in 1904. It's available for download at:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.archive.org/details/aroundunitedstat00murp
Kent, I just stumbled on this one at the local lib.
ReplyDeleteCycling - Philosophy for Everyone: A Philosophical Tour de Force by Jesús Ilundáin-Agurruza, Michael W. Austin, Fritz Allhoff and Lennard Zinn (Aug 17, 2010)
Kind of a mismash of essays, most of them on the academic side but interesting.
How you could leave Dervla Murphy entirely off your list boggles the mind. Full Tilt tells the story of how she rode from Ireland to India by herself in 1963. Unbelievable stuff. She wrote a much more recent account of riding through Africa (at quite a senior age) in Ukimwi Road and South From the Limpopo.
ReplyDeleteA great kids book is Mike and the Bike. My son looooooves it.
Three Men on a Bummel: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2183
ReplyDeleteAcross Asia on a bicycle: the journey of two American students from Constantinople to Peking / by Thomas Gaskell Allen, Jr., William Lewis Sachtleben ; with additional notes by Michael W. Perry, editor.
ReplyDelete1890, the Tale of the Safety Bicycle takes on the unknown, introducing cycling to China.
"We were actuated by no desire to make a “record” in bicycle travel, although we covered 15,044 miles on
the wheel, the longest continuous land journey ever made around the world."
Nice list! Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteConsider also:
"The custom road bike" by Guy Andrews
"The bicycle: myth and passion" by Francesco Baroni
"So you want to build an HPV?" by The British Human Power Club
"High tech cycling" by Ed Burke
"The complete book of distance cycling" by Ed Burke & Ed Pavelka
"Bicycle design" by Mike Burrows
"Journey to the centre of the earth" by Richard & Nicholas Crane
"Cystom bicycles" by Christine Eliot & David Jablonka
"Bicycle builders Bonanza" by Brad Graham
"The competition bicycle" by Jan Heine
"Rough ride" by Paul Kimmage
"The French revolution: cycling the Tour de France" by Tim Moore
"The touring bicycle" by Tony Oliver
"Bicycle commuting for fun and profit" by Ed Pavelka
"Hell on two wheels" by Amy Snyder (as mentioned in another comment)
"Around the world on a bicycle" by Thomas Stevens
Really nice to see Tom Cuthbertson on your list, but it would have been extra nice to also see his delightful work "Bike Tripping" included as well. It delves more into the philosophy of enjoying the bicycle lifestyle than "Anybody's Bike Book," which is more centered on wrenching.
ReplyDeleteAdd this to the list, "Heft on Wheels" by Mike Magnuson....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Heft-Wheels-Field-Guide-Doing/dp/1400052408
"The Wonderful Ride" about George Loher, an Oakland butcher, who rode from San Francisco to New York on the rail lines and riding a Stearns Yellow Fellow.
ReplyDeleteCheck it out if you can find the time.
Richard
Good list. I also have a copy of Pedaling Revolution.
ReplyDeleteAbout 15 years-ago, I stumbled on a remaindered hard-cover copy of Travels with Rosinante, a round-the-world odyssey, by Bernard Magnouloux.
It's a great read and I was surprised to receive a humorous comment on my bicycle touring page from Bernard, earlier this year.
A book I also recommend on that page is Into The Remote Places by the late Ian Hibbel--a classic if you can find a copy.
Also on my bookshelf:
The Wind in My Wheels and Travels in a Strange State, by Josie Dew
Stealing from a Deep Place, by Brian Hall
On the Trail of Marco Polo, by Brady Fotheringham
And as someone mentioned, anything by Dervla Murphy is a safe bet.
The Wheels of Chance, by H.G. Wells. Not at all like his science fiction; a young draper's assistant goes off on a cycling vacation and helps a damsel in distress. It and the next two I mention are available as a free download at manybooks.net
ReplyDeleteFun for its old-timey melodrama: The Affair of the Avalanche Bicycle and Tyre Co., Ltd., by Arthur Morrison (1897). The shenanigans of the stock market and speculators have been with us for over a century.
I second the motion for Across Asia on a Bicycle, by Thomas Gaskell Allen. What an amazing journey! They spoke none of the languages of the countries they rode through, didn't use interpreters, and at one point mention casually that they had covered around 200 miles that day through mountain terrain. They carried everything, which in China meant carrying pounds and pounds of metal cash to pay for things along with other supplies.
Fan girl moment: I got to meet Mia Birk, author of Joyride, just yesterday. She was at the Pullman campus of Washington State University (I work at WSU Spokane). She's awesome.
Wow! this was a great list... I've read a lot of books from your list which are quite nice. I found a good read bicycle book too which I couldn't see from your list. Its being authored by Dave Stamboulis http://www.amazon.com/Odysseus-Last-Stand-ebook/dp/B00D4LMIU2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1370163239&sr=1-1&keywords=odysseus+last+stand
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteHave you seen my book "Every Inch of the Way; My Bike Ride around the World". It's about a 9.5 month, 23,000 km bike tour I did in 2011. You might be interested to read it.
More info here www.tombrucecycling.com
Book available on Amazon here:
http://www.amazon.com/Every-Inch-Way-Around-World/dp/148208306X