New Book: The All-Road Bike Revolution
Bicycles – and how we ride them – have changed tremendously over the last decade. Many accepted facts have been turned on their heads. We’ve learned that narrow tires aren’t faster. Higher pressures don’t reduce resistance. More trail doesn’t always make a bike more stable. Stiffer frames don’t always perform better. The list is long, but until now, all this information has not been available in a single place, in an easy-to-digest format.
You could read through thousands of pages of Bicycle Quarterly past editions and get lost in ride stories before you’d find the information you were looking for. Or your could search the net, only to find conflicting information without much data to back it up. Clearly, there’s a need for a book that summarizes the current state of knowledge about how bikes work.
Our new book, The All-Road Bike Revolution, has been years in the making, because new research kept changing our understanding of how bikes work. Now we feel that things have settled down enough that this book won’t be outdated soon. Rather than trying to compile of all of BQ’s research in one place, we’ve started with a clean sheet of paper to make the new book more approachable. All the information is there, but you won’t get bogged down trying to understand testing methodologies and statistical analyses. If you’re looking for those, the relevant articles are in the references at the back of the book…
To illustrate the new book, we’ve worked with Miyoshi, whom many readers recall from his iconic Bicycle Quarterly covers. His drawings are not just whimsical and fun, they also focus the reader’s eye on what is essential in a way that no technical drawing can. It’s a welcome departure from the usual technical cycling books. BQ editor Natsuko Hirose wanted to make sure that reading about bikes will be as much fun as riding them. (It helps that she edited more than 160 books before joining our team.) Rather than tell you more about the book, here’s the feedback from a few people whom we showed the book.
Gerard Vroomen, co-founder of OPEN and Cervélo wrote: “Our first all-road bike that combined road-bike speed and go-anywhere capabilities was a selfish project — it enabled us to ride how we wanted. We quickly learned many others want the same. Jan Heine’s book tells you how to get the most fun out of your bike.”
Gravel racer Ted King said: “The proven science of cycling, backed by fascinating, anecdotal applicability, will be appreciated by everyone. From first-time bicycle owner to life-long cyclist looking to purchase their 20th bike, this book covers it all.”
And Lael Wilcox: “It’s hard to describe the joy of riding in words and maybe even harder to give advice on gear selection when riders have such different goals. This book does both in simple terms. It’s easy to understand and answers so many questions. The main idea is to have a comfortable, fast machine that takes you everywhere you want to go. The more fun you have on a bike, the more you’ll want to ride it.”
The All-Road Bike Revolution, $ 28, 256 pages; 148 mm x 210 mm (5.8″ x 8.3″); Printed in USA. ISBN 978-0-9765460-5-4.
The All-Road Bike Revolution will be available in mid-November.
We’re offering a 10% pre-order discount until October 31. Be among the first to get your copy! (The pre-order price of $ 29.80 U.S./$ 38 International includes shipping.)
For international readers, we’ll send one bulk shipment in November. The shipping rate ($12.80) is less than half of what it will be for later individual shipments. Please order now to get this rate.
