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Bike Snob: Systematically & Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling
Cycling is exploding in a good way. Urbanites everywhere, from ironic hipsters to earth-conscious commuters, are taking to the bike like aquatic mammals to water. BikeSnobNYC cycling's most prolific, well-known, hilarious, and anonymous blogger brings a fresh and humorous perspective to the most important vehicle to hit personal transportation since the horse. Bike Snob tr...more
Hardcover, 219 pages
Published
May 5th 2010
by Chronicle Books
(first published 2010)
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I grew up in Berkeley, CA, where riding a bike meant you loved Critical Mass and describing your moral superiority to people who drove cars, often while in the backseat of my Camry as I drove you home from a show in the city. Since at that time I was already vegan and didn't watch TV, I worried about turning into a caricature of myself, and I always steered clear of the bicycle thing.
Later on I lived in Portland, OR, where riding a bike meant you loved racing drunkenly down hills in the pouring...more
Later on I lived in Portland, OR, where riding a bike meant you loved racing drunkenly down hills in the pouring...more
Look... As a person that wants to spend much more time on her bike, I found this book a fun read. It was an easy read too, finished in a matter of hours. But my goodness... Analogies, similes, and metaphors, oh my. This book was filled with so many pop culture refrences and comparisons, it made me uncomfortable at times. An attempt at humor gone to far? It just got to be too much, and I found myself skimming the last few sections to avoid it all. But I appreciate a good rant, which is what this...more
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My expectation was that this book would be anecdotal with the author essentially making fun of cyclists at a very shallow level. And yes, there is quite a bit of that (and why not, it's fun); but the book had much more depth both in content and execution. This book is witty, insightful and relevant; though I would speculate that with all the popular culture references, it may not age well. I found myself acknowledging and laughing at alot of his observations. This is a book about cycling by a ma...more
Perhaps because I didn't go into this book already a fan of the Bike Snob blog, I wasn't able to fully appreciate it. I'm somewhat new to the adult cycling world, and thought this book would be a fun way to learn about different areas of cycling I was never aware of, and be a fun commentary. This book generally had no useful information, the area near the end of the book that referenced maintenance and repair was only there to say "I'm not going to go into details because you can find this infor...more
".... being a cyclist is like being a vampire. First of all, both cyclists and vampires are cultural outcasts with cult followings who clumsily walk the line between cool and dorky. Secondly, both cyclists and vampires resemble normal humans, but they also lead secret double lives, have supernatural powers, and aren’t governed by the same rules as the rest of humanity — though cycling doesn't come with the drawbacks of vampirism. Cyclists can ride day or night, we can consume all the garlic we w...more
Brilliant blog, watered-down into hardcover form.
The BSNYC might be the best blog on the internet. While it has biting humor and a sense of poignant self-awareness, it also follows current events tangential to the cycling world and has a set of insider references that blow Arrested Development out of the water. So how does that translate into book form?
The book slows it all down, and seems to be aimed at more of the nouveau cyclists out of fear of exclusivity. Bike Snob's writing sometimes gets...more
The BSNYC might be the best blog on the internet. While it has biting humor and a sense of poignant self-awareness, it also follows current events tangential to the cycling world and has a set of insider references that blow Arrested Development out of the water. So how does that translate into book form?
The book slows it all down, and seems to be aimed at more of the nouveau cyclists out of fear of exclusivity. Bike Snob's writing sometimes gets...more
It is difficult to find fault with bikeSnob observations and I understand his blog is more biting and locally relevant than this more popularly-minded book. Any cyclist reading this will remember their own experiences to supplement bS' pages.
In addition to describing Europe's cycling scene I would have described the practicality of Asian cyclists - young and old, in cold and hot weather, on sidewalks and dirt paths. Their lack of marketing, pure functionality, intrigues me.
As a rural cyclist I...more
In addition to describing Europe's cycling scene I would have described the practicality of Asian cyclists - young and old, in cold and hot weather, on sidewalks and dirt paths. Their lack of marketing, pure functionality, intrigues me.
As a rural cyclist I...more
Bike Snob is a book mainly about bikes, bike riding, bike maintenance, and overall all things bikes. However, it is even more about being entertained by a snarky hipster blogger's relatable experiences through being a cyclist in a generally cycling-unfriendly world. A lot of people who have reviewed this book on Goodreads seem to be completely missing the point of this book, because it's not at all a book to be taken seriously. If you are looking for how to lube your chain, how to share the road...more
Alright, in all fairness, if one happened to be an extremely avid (and long time) cyclist, this would probably be a fun read, as it casually name drops various brands, parts, and what the author deems types of cyclists. For someone who has average bicycle knowledge hoping to glean something extra (be it either about certain styles of bikes/parts or various items of bicycle culture- which the author denies exists), it was almost completely useless.
There was a lot of humor, and I will be the firs...more
There was a lot of humor, and I will be the firs...more
This may have been more of a 3.5. But, my love and sodade for biking allowed for me to round up. It put a lot of things I think into words for biking that I didn't quite know how to say. It made my laugh a few times and it had some interesting bits of info.
I don't see it as being something to stand the test of time as far as cycling goes. The author uses a ton of pop culture references that pretty much act as carbon dating for his age/era he grew up in. And he talks about hipsters a lot. But, th...more
I don't see it as being something to stand the test of time as far as cycling goes. The author uses a ton of pop culture references that pretty much act as carbon dating for his age/era he grew up in. And he talks about hipsters a lot. But, th...more
not too bad of a book and generally a pretty quick read. while i didn't particularly agree with all of his points, the author does a pretty good job of giving the reader a crash course in the history of cycling, where it stands today and some solid starting points for being a more responsible cyclist.
parts were pretentious. parts decimated hipsters and what they've done by commandeering so many parts of cycling subcultures into their own little quasi-culture.
as i said, i don't agree w/ many of h...more
parts were pretentious. parts decimated hipsters and what they've done by commandeering so many parts of cycling subcultures into their own little quasi-culture.
as i said, i don't agree w/ many of h...more
A happy-go-lucky little "blog to book" primer on the wonderful world of bicycles. Includes a brief history of the sport, hilarious composites of the different types of characters that populate the bicycle universe, the different bicycle subcultures (Messengers, Roadies, Urbanites, etc), and the bikes we all ride. Despite allusions to snobbery in the title, the author doesn't take himself or any of the other "bike snobs" too seriously and sets out to demystify biking. He re-iterates often that wh...more
This book had entertaining parts and alienating parts, which is why I think it's more for existing riders than for conversion (despite its claim to the contrary). Also, this guy seems to think the only women that ride bikes do it the wrong way down a one-way street while talking on the phone, which is a very unhelpful attitude.
A tall task to be sure, this systematic and merciless realignment of the world of cycling. I was impressed right off with his overview of the history of the bicycle - I do hope he sent a copy of this to Herlihy... Great organization throughout, and while the laugh out loud moments do not come as fast or as often as on his website, there is gold in this book. Triathaletes are roadies who actually want to pay full price for stuff! Modern bike fit technology is out of control! Ride your bike! You c...more
here's the thing, this was not a good "book." this would be a good blog, probably...and at the end it was revealed that this is a book based on a blog. that is just kind of weird.
i enjoyed the first part about bike history in new york, the newspaper articles were pretty good (i am just assuming that they are true and real) and it kind of devolved from there.
to be fair, there is probably a spot somewhere that explains what a book is supposed to be about so readers arent allowed to go in with fals...more
i enjoyed the first part about bike history in new york, the newspaper articles were pretty good (i am just assuming that they are true and real) and it kind of devolved from there.
to be fair, there is probably a spot somewhere that explains what a book is supposed to be about so readers arent allowed to go in with fals...more
I doubt many non-bike-riders will read or enjoy this, but I thought it was hilarously funny, full of snark, much like BSNYC’s blog is. (I’ll admit I don’t really read his blog all that often because he sometimes gets too tedious on there.) I actually laughed out loud numerous times reading this, and I almost never do that. Really, I cannot remember the last book that caused me to do that.
I had my mom, who I was visiting at the time, read the section on how cars are trying to kill cyclists (bad p...more
I had my mom, who I was visiting at the time, read the section on how cars are trying to kill cyclists (bad p...more
Yeah, I'm a cyclist and even though I know a lot about bikes and Bike Culture, I did get a kick out of this book. I started reading it by randomly opening the book to a new section and reading from there and 4 / 5 times I did that I found something witty or interesting. The most interesting in my opinion was in the introduction about how the Amish ride bicycles, that they don't ignore the Truly Great Inventions. That is the central theme of this book--the bicycle is a Truly Great Invention-- som...more
This book has a lot of good advice and information. When the author recommends two goals for commuting - 1. get there alive and 2. don't get angry - you can appreciate his point of view and learn something from it. However, I took off 1 stat because this book needs serious editing. The authors trademark tangents, while entertaining in small doses on his blog, are incredibly distracting and annoying if you try to read an entire chapter in one sitting.
I would recommend this to anyone who rides a...more
I would recommend this to anyone who rides a...more
Somewhat surprisingly, this is a predominantly serious and heartfelt book from the "anonymous" blogger known mostly for snarkiness, sarcasm and grade school humor. The message of the book is that people should get out and ride bikes and do it in a safe, comfortable and non-pretentious way, and other people who may not choose to ride bikes themselves should respect those who do, because cycling is fun and healthy and a good way to get around. This message is present in the weekdayly blog posts of...more
Omy goodness people!!! This book is perfect. Spot-on! I read some reviews, for cyclist, not for cyclist, blahblahblah. It's an entertaining and informative history of a, the development of the bicycle and b, of the cyclist. And though every possible type of person that rides a bike could not possibly be describe he hits the nail on quite a few heads. And perhaps at times it might feel a little judgemental, snooty even, but he makes no lies about his disdain when he classifies himself in his own...more
If you love bicycling and sarcasm, this is your book. Eben Weiss (AKA "BikeSnobNYC") identifies all of the joy and humor from something he loves: bicycling. Bike history is covered as well as every bicycling subculture and division, and how these groups find a way to focus on their differences rather than what binds them. Infinitely funnier than I could describe here, I read this book after seeing David Byrne speak at the Uptown Theater in Minneapolis in 2010 when he was here promoting his book...more
Early bikes were awful. Now we're getting into why people are commuters or bicycle racers (like weekend cycle racers not Lance Armstrong). The author has a voice I can relate to. He talks about the gear that is actually needed for riding and the gear that has been made "cool" by the sport. He also puts a few pages aside for the non-commuter/non-cyclist about attempting to "interview" people who are riding. We don't like it. Ask the brand, tell us you like the bike and let us be on our way. I've...more
I thought that this would be whimsical and amusing. I was surprised by just how hilarious and insightful it was in some places. This guy lays it on thick, but usually to good effect. A lot of the music and pop-culture jokes resonated with me, in addition to the expected cycling humor. One technique the author excelled at (and made use of several times) was the itemized list with a final item that is just goofy. For example, a list of things "not to lock your bike to" with many of the expected it...more
While the book is more geared towards encouraging novices who may be afraid to ride in traffic, it does have enough cycling related jokes to make the seasoned daily bike rider chuckle often.
Just because it's written for novices, don't assume that it's going to tell you how to fix a flat, or do routine (or any) maintenance - it does tell you you need to know how to do such things, then directs you to use the ever so handy Internet to look it up. If you want a how-to book or tips and tricks, look...more
Just because it's written for novices, don't assume that it's going to tell you how to fix a flat, or do routine (or any) maintenance - it does tell you you need to know how to do such things, then directs you to use the ever so handy Internet to look it up. If you want a how-to book or tips and tricks, look...more
The Tour de France started yesterday and I've decided to use it as inspiration to get back in the saddle (yes, I went there) with blogging. I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but within the last year my husband became a serious cyclist. He rides to work, rides for fun, and rides to raise money for charity. I'd never thought much about cycling, but now it is a common topic of conversation in our home. I've also been bringing books about cycling home from the library for Jason to read. Most of...more
Great analysis of cycling culture. Two quips I related to are: Essentially, the only thing separating a sexual sadomasochist and a road racer is slightly different fetish gear." & "Your physical rhythms are now becoming more a part of your life. At the end of the day, you are tired - the good kind of tired, which is physically tired. This is the kind of tired that makes it easy to go to sleep, and that overwhelms the sorts of anxious thoughts that can sometimes keep you awake." Basically, I...more
I first saw this book while visiting with my daughter in NYC. She took me to a weird "bicycle bar". I mean weird as in unusual but really cool. I didn't know there was such a thing. Anyway, at the bicycle bar, which was in Manhattan, they serve strong coffee (alcohol and bikes don't mix) and displayed fascinating vintage, road, and hipster bikes. They have a little "bike library" where this one was featured. So I added it to my to-read list.
The Bike Snob was an entertaining read. Eben Weiss kep...more
The Bike Snob was an entertaining read. Eben Weiss kep...more
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I wouldn't have bought this book. I got it for xmas from a friend who recieved TWO copies for the holidays. This is obviously the book purchased by non-cyclists for cyclists. I liked it more than I thought I would, but it's unlikely I'd buy/read the sequel. If somebody got my friend another two copies of the sequel I might read it. It's fairly good reminisces and decent writing but as a reading material for a bike person it's pretty well traveled ground. It's probably a better read for the non-c...more
Bike Snob is an entertaining look at bike culture in NYC that translates well to other countries. Its great that we all have the same kinds of people riding bikes around the world from the lycra clad roadies to the lone wolves to the mountain bikers who drive 4 hours for a 1 hour ride. I particularly enjoyed the history of cycling and am glad, having come to cycling a little later in life that bikes have progressed beyond the wooden wheeled variety to the comfy bike of today with gears, shock ab...more
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“Drinking and cycling is like drinking and flirting—it’s pretty likely you’re going to wind up hitting something, and the results are probably going to be ugly.”
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“Everything about riding a bicycle compels you towards beauty.”
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