It’s All About the Bike by Robert Penn
I probably wouldn’t have read this book if some friends hadn’t given me a copy as a present (thank you, M and B!), and I’m really glad they did.
How can a book which is basically about bike components be interesting? Well, maybe not to anyone who couldn’t care less about bikes, but if you are even slightly into cycling you’d probably like this too. It tells the story of the author’s quest for ‘the perfect bike’ (for him). From bespoke frame building, he goes through every component choosing just the right one. Which is how he comes to visit the Continental tyre factory in Germany to see his tyres being made. He takes his British-made hubs to the USA to have his wheels built by someone called Gravy. He even makes the humble spoke interesting.
In and among he tells the story of the evolution of the modern bicycle from its origins in the ‘Draisine’ created in what was then Saxony in 1817 by Baron Karl von Drais to the ubiquitous present day machine.
So despite its possibly unpromising synopsis, I found this book eminently readable and thoroughly enjoyable. Well done, Mr Penn!
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