since6

Blazing Saddles: The Cruel and Unusual History of the Tour de France.
You have to laugh not to cry they're not making any of this stuff up.

dmarkun

Nice coffee table book. But very Francophile, not one Italian maker. The title should read: "The Golden Age of French Handbuilt Bicycles." Sample pix are from the end, book starts in 1900s.

ltokuno

Really good info here if a bit of a dry read.

Bicycling Science

homelessjoe

If they havent already done it ...I wish they would take all the old Bridgestone catalogs from the 80s and 90s and bind them together into book form......I use to read them over and over......great stories and information...........and generally speaking its amazing how much you can learn about bike repair.by reading a Park tool catalog.......and old miyata catalogs can educate you about technology and frame design and geometry and how it changed through the years..........I think there should be a catalog database somewhere or at least a sticky............just think if you posted..every catalog from shimano ...campy....tange ...ishiwata..columbus......schwinn ...pinnarello.....trek.....etc etc etc....no more questions no more arguments no more explaining nothing no guess work........BFers could spend all their time riding and wrenching as god intended

scarlson 

I read The Dancing Chain cover to cover in 2000, when it came out. I was 12. Didn't know good writing from bad at that age. Didn't care either! For me, there can be no other favorite cycling book. Two years later, I was lucky enough to see the bicycle museum in Nijmegen - and I recognized all the derailleurs there by sight, like old friends!

It's provided a foundational knowledge that I am forever stuck with grateful for. Caused me to get fired from my first job at a bike shop (I corrected my boss one too many times - think it made him insecure that he couldn't compete with the 16 year old lackey in recalling derailleur esoterica ). Same thing when I went to college. I found myself creepily perusing the racks of campus clunkers looking at old Simplex and bull moose bars, and slowly coming to the realization that The Dancing Chain had left an indelible mark on me, that years would not erase.

If only I'd had the good sense to buy up Nivex derailleurs back then, when you could get them for $200...

dkatz1

I don't have a favorite bike book. But: I do have a favorite bike song.
My own. It, I will modestly say, is superbyly written and performed by an 18 piece jazz orchestra. My singer tells the following story, about a zen monk and his five bicycle riding students, which I found searching the internet for something that Albert Einstein allegedly said, but apparnently didn't, which was "the three greatest inventions of the modern world are the three masted sailing ship, the refrigerator, and the bicycle."
I modified the story, author unknown, slightly to better fit the music, though if you google, you can find multiple version of it. ON the same album, I also included two things Einstein DID say: "Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance, you must keep moving" and "I thought of that while riding my bicycle".Why Do You Ride?




Why Do You Ride?
Darrell Katz (from a Zen story, author unknown)



A Zen teacher saw five of his students, returning from market on their bicycles.

When they arrived at the monastery

the teacher asked his students, “why do you ride?

Why do you ride?”



The first student said

“The bicycle is carrying the sack of potatoes

I'm glad to get them off my back”

The teacher praised him:

“You are a smart boy

when you grow old

you will not walk hunched over like I do.”



The second student replied:

“I love to watch the trees and fields pass by as I roll down

the path!”
The teacher commended him:

"your eyes are open and you see the world".



The third student replied “when I ride my bicycle, I am content to chant

nam myoho renge kyo.”

The teacher gave praise to his student: "your mind

will roll with the ease of a newly trued wheel.”



The fourth student replied to the question, "When I

ride my bicycle I live in harmony with all

sentient beings. That's why I ride.”

The teacher was pleased, and said to him, "You are

riding on the golden path of non harming."



The fifth student replied "I ride my bicycle to ride my

bicycle. I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle "

The Zen teacher sat at the feet of his fifth student and

said, "Master! Master, I am your student.

I am your student!”

Why do you ride?

Why do you ride?

sjanzeir

The first and only one I ever read - Everybody's Book of Bicycle Riding by Thom Lieb. There was a copy at my college library that I went through multiple times in the mid-1990s. It's very informative with many moments of hilarity.

ctak

+1 for Japanese Steel

Great history and photography

As a pixel peeper, I'm rarely impressed by image print quality (not limited to cycling and art books), but this one is first rate.

zorg

Not a bicycle book per se, but a great story about refugee immigrant from Vietnam to California's bike tour return to the homeland in search of who he is.

merziac

A resounding second on the big blue Rene Herse book, fascinating, great read.

keithdunlop

Currently reading this:

NJgreyhead

Currently re-reading The Rider by Tim Krabbe, and enjoying it even more the second time. Great first paragraph.

Also liked The Secret Race by Tyler Hamilton. The Armstrong saga told by a victim without acrimony. A friend of mine tells a personal story about Hamilton that backs up the humility revealed in the writing.

And Anybody's Bike Book by Cuthbertson, sure.

ferengii

Miles From Nowhere is the book that inspired me to become a cycle tourist - I highly recommend it as well.

Rudy59

Ralph Hurne’s The Yellow Jersey.

Claire Huchet Bishop’s The Big Loop.

caribou22

+1 for Slaying the Badger.

"Fallen Angel"--the story of Fausto Coppi. Provides a good contrast to Bartali.

BDCole

Major Taylor was the USA's first black champion athlete. He was the world champion when the sport of cycling was extremely popular with the general public. His story is both amazing and sad

UncleRoss

I reviewed it on the CL Bicycling forum; this link might work: https://forums.craigslist.org/?act=Q&ID=273570708
I see lots of other good suggestions on here, including Zinn. You should have enough to read for a long time.
One I wouldn't recommend is "It's Not About the Bike" by Lance Armstrong. No, Lance, it's about the drugs.

athix

Magic Spanner by Carlton Kirby... hilarious!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...XfwTiil&rank=4

Murray Missile 

This will seem an odd choice but it has it's basis in nostalgia. I was given a copy of the 1971 edition (green cover) when I bought my new 1971 Raleigh Grand Prix from them, I was 16. I wore it out, I've been looking for a reasonably priced copy for a long time and I finally had to settle for this 1973 edition for now. It's also a great reference book for my early 70's bikes.

P!N20

Just finished this one following your recommendation. What an amazing human being. The world needs more Gino Bartalis.

kraftwerk 

Agreed the world does, especially right now! Glad you read it. He should be Sainted.

rustystrings61 

How did I EVER forget this one? This is a lovely, lovely book on so many levels! His depictions of riding around in Paris seeking out the hidden and the secret places was lovely beyond words.

Germany_chris

He did buy the rights to Rene Herse, what were you expecting?

Korina

My first thought was Anybody's Bike Book; I love his humor and unpretentious writing.

Has anyone read Being Gary Fisher? Diane Jenks interviewed him on The Outspoken Cyclist podcast, and he sounds like a hoot. I should just suck it up and buy a copy, only available from Trek.

Elev12k

Mentioned before, but Japanese Steel is an absolutely great book. Good read, very nice pictures ...and of course an interesting subject: Japanese Steel. Can also recommend it to people who like classic road bikes in general.