|
|
The Racing Bike Book (3rd edition 2007)
Haynes Publishing, 978 1 84425 341 8 168pp £17.99
A general introduction to all things connected with racing bikes, aimed
at novices and lavishly illustrated with colour photographs
 
It is hard not to view Haynes publishing as an anachronism. For sure,
in the ‘60s and ‘70s every man who bought an older car soon
sought out the appropriate Haynes manual. The exploded diagrams and black-and-white,
step-by-step photos showing you how to change the carburettor or check
the shock absorbers were part of the wallpaper of the age. It was Photo
Love for the boys with oil under their nails.
In the era of motors that require specialist computers to complete a
simple service and most marques comfortably clocking up 100,000 miles
and more with little difficulty, the iconic Haynes manual must surely
be going the way of Jackie and Smash Hits?
The company is still largely managed by people whose surname is Haynes,
despite it being a plc. No doubt recognising the changes in the motor
market, the company decided to diversify. They have applied soubriquet
‘Haynes Manual’ to all manner improbable topics: Sex, Parenting,
Teenagers and even Cancer. How disturbing would it be to see that on your
oncologist’s shelf?
Opening the Racing Bike variant, it is immediately clear that it is
not a Haynes manual in the conventional sense of the term. There is not
a line diagram nor a grainy workshop photo to be found.
It is a perfectly serviceable book that introduces road racing, to potential
participants and spectators. Authored by writers, most of whom will be
familiar to readers of Cycling Plus, it is sound in content and fairly
comprehensive in its scope.
It does, however, look a bit dated (perhaps a new publication is imminent)
and it makes nothing of the scope for mirth and wit that the Haynes tag
might present. Indeed, there is little to make this the first choice for
such a general book, save for its exclusive focus on road racing. Possibly
anyone who is already certain that this, in particular, is their interest,
will already know that ‘The Tour de France is the greatest bike race
on earth’, or that ‘groupset is the collective name for the
gearing, braking and bearing components on a bike’.
PS December 2008
|
Bookmark this on Delicious
Follow the site!
Join our list we will let you known when new reviews
are added to the site. We will never share your email address with
third parties.
tim@timdawsn.demon.co.uk
You can also follow us on Facebook
|
Visit our sister site
for dispassionate, expert advice on general cycling
issues
|
How this site is organised
As reviews are added, they are featured on the
front page. All titles are listed in the master index and cross-referenced
in the other indicies.
The subject line contains the title, author and
date of each book's publication. As a general rule, we list the
date of the actual edition that we read, unless there is an obvious
reason to use the original date (say where we read a reprint).
The first line of the main text contains the name
of the publisher, the ISBN
number, where it exists, an indication of the book's
size and the number of printed pages that it contains. Finally,
where it is clear, I list the published price of the work in the
currency that is most prominently displayed.
We summarise the book in a single sentence or two
in the next line. The rest of the review is then intended as a self-contained
piece.
|
|
