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Top 5 cycling related books. The Results, Ladies and Gentlemen!

..well a hardly conclusive or scientific poll, but here goes..
The Rider by Tiim Krabbe storms ahead with 5 points, joint 2nd first losers were 'Put Me Back on the Bike' and 'Flying Scotsman' with 4 points apiece, coming in at 4th (strangely appropriate in a way) was 'In Search of Robert Millar', 3 points and lantern rouge 'Dog in a Hat' 2 points.

honorary mention goes to Zaskars fave, the 'Haynes Manual'.. although he failed to mention which one but i take it to be the Bike Maintenance version, but it could be the Vauxhall Nova 1.1, who knows eh!

cheers, ta ,lovely. 321 dusty bin etc etc

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how about a straw poll on cycling books? (kinda thing i think about whilst at work)
anyhow post your selection below and when i get around to it i'll try and compile the 'definitive' (well as definitive as these things can be) list.

heres my 5

1. Rough Ride - Paul Kimmage
2. The Escape Artist - Matt Seaton
3. Bicycle! A Repair & Maintenance Manifesto - Sam Tracy
4. Put Me Back on My Bike: In Search of Tom Simpson - William Fotheringham
5. Bicycle Design - Mike Burrows

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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31 comments

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jurekavas | 8 years ago
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Hello,
My father wrote a book about cycling training. He was a trainer for over 30 years and now he would like to share his knowledge and observations with you. I am kindly asking you if you can read a book (or just a sample) and give me your feedback.

http://www.amazon.com/Cycling-Today-Miran-Kava-x161-ebook/dp/B013P0R4DW/...

Thank you for your time

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Tom Eeles- Swis... | 12 years ago
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Thanks for adding a dozen books to my Amazon wish list!

If you enjoyed "In Search of Robert Millar" by Richard Moore then check out "Sky's The Limit" also by Moore, I've just finished reading it.

It's a really excellent insight into the thinking behind setting up Team Sky and if you are at Team Sky and British Cycling fan add it to your "must read" wish list on Amazon!

Cheers,

Tom
SwissRetreat Cycling Tours

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demoff | 13 years ago
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Fignon's book is a fantastic read, he gives a real insight into what it was like racing in the eighties but much more fascinating is when he describes what he was thinking at the time. Coupled with some absolutely amazing war stories they certainly don't make them like him anymore.

Strongly recommended.

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pabryan | 13 years ago
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1.Put me back on my bike - Jean Bobet (this is my favourite book in any category)
2.The Rider-Tim Krabbe
3.In Search of Robert Millar-Richard Moore
4.Fallen Angel: The Passion of Fausto Coppi - Will Fotherington
5.Rough Ride - Paul Kimmage (up till the end of the original book, the add ons just make him seem like a bitter, hypocritical idiot who hates cycling and anyone who has ever watched a bike race)

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simonmb | 13 years ago
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Bike Snob's still going strong and as forthright and humorous as ever. I'll stick to the blog in future. It is a perfect example of something that works in one medium, yet not in another. 'It's All About The Bike' is another example - sadly lacking on TV, yet really rather engaging in print. I'm waiting for 'Road.cc - The Movie'.

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Mnk | 13 years ago
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Has anybody else read " It's ALL about the BIKE" by Robert Penn. Loved it!  26

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Tony Farrelly replied to Mnk | 13 years ago
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Mnk wrote:

Has anybody else read " It's ALL about the BIKE" by Robert Penn. Loved it!  26

I think we've got a review copy in of that along with th the late Lauren Fignon's auto biography, We Were Young and Carefree, translated by William Fotheringham, we've also got Foth's own latest tome Cyclopedia: It's all about the bike, and a few more coming up very soon too.

On the cycling books front, anybody else read Roule Brittania: A history of Britons at the Tour de France, also by William Fotheringham? Interesting book but what I really like about it is the way that the chapter on Sean Yates feels like it has burst in from an entirely different book.

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KirinChris | 13 years ago
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The Peloton book is definitely going on my Christmas list.

Interested to hear that BSNY wasn't great. I read his blog religiously for a long time and loved it - the comments were sometimes as good as the blog.
But once he was unmasked (in fact slightly before that, about when he started writing columns and stuff for other media, and I guess writing the book) he really lost his sharpness and I gave up. Is it still going ?

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simonmb | 13 years ago
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Finished reading 'The Escape Artist' by Matt Seaton. As Felix mentioned above, it's a great book to help non-riders understand why we do what we do. Just got 'Bike Snob'. terribly disappointed. Enjoyed the blog - and that's where Bike Snob should have stayed. Irritating and not-so-easy-on-the-eye design detracts from otherwise good content. Just can't be bothered to read it. Any recommended new reads for the upcoming holiday season?

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Zaskar | 13 years ago
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LOL  19

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Fringe | 13 years ago
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crap ending that Haynes Manual, and no plot didn't you think?  4

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Zaskar | 13 years ago
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I haven't had time to read some of the great reads as you guys and gals.

But bike related:

1) Haynes Manual,
2) Park Tools,
3) Barnetts repairs
4) Sport science journals
5) Lance Armstrong not about the bike (10 pages...)

IGMC...  3

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miffed | 13 years ago
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My favourite cycling book; The rider by Tim Krabbe and also my favourite book of all time

Other books I like:
- A significant other- Matt Rendell
- The Death of Marco Pantani also by Matt Rendell
(though I only just realised that while writting this post).

J

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Corporate Ascents | 13 years ago
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Here's my pick

The Death of Marco Pantani
Put me back on my Bike
In Search of Robert Millar
Rough Ride
Flying Scotsman

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ctznsmith | 13 years ago
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The Hour - Michael Hutchinson
A Dog in a hat - Joe Parkin (H.N.H)
Zinn and the art of mountain/road bike maintenance
Discovery Road - Andy Brown and Tim Barratt
Flying Scotsman - Graham Obree

Has anyone read the new Joe Parking book or the Bike Snob NYC book yet?

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cat1commuter replied to ctznsmith | 13 years ago
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ctznsmith wrote:

Has anyone read the new Joe Parking book or the Bike Snob NYC book yet?

My copy of Bike Snob is in the post from Amazon.

Which Joe Parkin are you talking about? "A Dog in a Hat" is mentioned earlier in this thread.

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fiftyacorn | 13 years ago
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I really liked Cav's book too - it made a change to read a cycling biog where the author truly loves cycling

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demoff | 13 years ago
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The Rider-Tim Krabbe
You can read it time and time again

In Search of Robert Millar-Richard Moore
A great book about one of the greats

Push Yourself Just a Little Bit More-Johnny Green
Fantastic writing from the Ex Clash Road Manager

Inside the Peloton-Graeme Fife
Good cross section of riders

Boy Racer-Mark Cavendish
Love him or hate him there is only one Cav

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Felix | 13 years ago
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Oh yes and I do love the Third Policeman it's so much more than a cycling book! Even with the molycule theory!

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OldRidgeback replied to Felix | 13 years ago
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Felix wrote:

Oh yes and I do love the Third Policeman it's so much more than a cycling book! Even with the molycule theory!

It's a power for the hills.

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kittyfondue | 13 years ago
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I'm surprised no one has mentioned Fallen Angel: the Passion of Fausto Coppi by William Fotheringham. I thought that was an excellent book, not just about the rider, but about his impact on both the sport and on post-war Italy.

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Felix | 13 years ago
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1 'Tim Krabbe - The Rider' What it's all about!
2 'Graeme Obree - Flying Scotsman' Poingant
3 'Richard Moore - In Search of Robert Millar' Excellent
4 'Matt Seaton - The Escape Artist' Moving and a good one to explain why we do it to non-cycling partners!
5 'Jeremy Whittle - Yellow Fever' We (were?) so far from clean...
That would be my top 5(in order)and if you have your own anorak then 'Tim Hilton's One More Kilometre and We're in the Showers' is the book for you. Interesting v informative but a tad turgid.
I found Tim Moore a bit unlikeable and it would have taken me a long time to get tired slapping him when I read French Revolutions but hey ho... Glad no one has mentioned the Lance ghost writes which were very poor IMO.
 4
Gad! have just realised how many cycling books have read ('cos there's others)! I need to get out on the bike more!

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KirinChris | 13 years ago
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Yes The Hour is good...

If we did a Top 5 fiction and Top 5 non-fiction The Hour would have made it to my list. The Rider would be top of my fiction.

I really recommend A Dog In a Hat too. Bit of an antidote to the Paul Kimmage version of cycling in that period. It's a first-hand glimpse of the traditional grass-roots cycling in Belgium and the world outside the grand tours and classics.

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Fringe replied to KirinChris | 13 years ago
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abudhabiChris wrote:

I really recommend A Dog In a Hat too. Bit of an antidote to the Paul Kimmage version of cycling in that period. It's a first-hand glimpse of the traditional grass-roots cycling in Belgium and the world outside the grand tours and classics.

not read that one.. will search it out as soon as.  4

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Fringe | 13 years ago
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see what happens now, im gonna have to change my first 5, as i forgot The Rider and that Robert Millar book is also genius..

not read the 'Third Policeman'.. but sounds good..ebay it is then.

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OldRidgeback | 13 years ago
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Riding High: Shadow Cycling the Tour De France - Paul Howard

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TheHatter | 13 years ago
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The Rider
Put me back on my bike

and a some not mentioned so far:

The Hour by Michael Hutchinson
Sex Lies & Handlebar tape : Jacques Anquetil
Bad Blood: The Secret Life of the Tour de France by Jeremy Whittle

and breaking the rules a bit by going over 5:
The Crooked Path to Victory by Les Woodland
Fallen Angel : Fausto Coppi by William Fotheringham

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nick_rearden | 13 years ago
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"The Third Policeman" is a genius suggestion

However:

One More Kilometre and We're in the Showers - Tim Hilton
Flying Scotsman: The Graeme Obree Story - Graeme Obree
Put Me Back on My Bike: In Search of Tom Simpson - William Fotheringham
Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance - Lennard Zinn (my nerdy submission)
Visions of Cycling - Graham Watson

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cat1commuter replied to nick_rearden | 13 years ago
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Nick Rearden wrote:

"The Third Policeman" is a genius suggestion.

It is. I was about to suggest it myself, and was a bit miffed that someone else already had. You can't beat surrealist Irish humour which mixes theft, murder, rural policemen (with bicycle theft fixations), purgatory, semi-sentient bicycles and porridge.

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KirinChris | 13 years ago
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A Dog In a Hat - Joe Parkin
The Rider - Tim Krabbe
French Revolutions - Tim Moore
In Search of Robert Millar - Richard Moore
The Third Policeman - Flann O'Brien

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