It's All About the Bike by Robert Penn, Paperback, 9780141043791 | Buy online at The Nile
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It's All About the Bike

The Pursuit of Happiness On Two Wheels

Author: Robert Penn  

Paperback

Proving why cyclists have the biggest hearts, the bestselling book that captured the cycling zeitgeist comes to paperback to pick up many more riders

The author has ridden a bike most days of his life. He rides to get to work, to bathe in air and sunshine, to stay sane and to feel free. This title tells the story of his love affair with cycling and the journey to build his dream bike.

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Summary

Proving why cyclists have the biggest hearts, the bestselling book that captured the cycling zeitgeist comes to paperback to pick up many more riders

The author has ridden a bike most days of his life. He rides to get to work, to bathe in air and sunshine, to stay sane and to feel free. This title tells the story of his love affair with cycling and the journey to build his dream bike.

Read more

Description

Proving why cyclists have the biggest hearts, the bestselling book that captured the cycling zeitgeist comes to paperback to pick up many more ridersThe bicycle is one of mankind's greatest inventions - and the most popular form of transport in history. Robert Penn has ridden one most days of his adult life. In his late 20s, he pedalled 40,000 kilometres around the world. Yet, like cyclists everywhere, the utilitarian bikes he currently owns don't even hint at this devotion. Robert needs a new bike, a bespoke machine that reflects how he feels when he's riding it - like an ordinary man touching the gods.It's All About the Bike is the story of a journey to design and build a dream bike. En route, Robert explores the culture, science and history of the bicycle. From Stoke-on-Trent, where an artisan hand builds his frame, to California, home of the mountain bike, where Robert tracks down the perfect wheels, via Portland, Milan and Coventry, birthplace of the modern bicycle, this is the narrative of our love affair with cycling. It's a tale of perfect components - parts that set the standard in reliability, craftsmanship and beauty. It tells how the bicycle has changed the course of human history, from the invention of the 'people's nag' to its role in the emancipation of women, and from the engineering marvel of the tangent-spoked wheel to the enduring allure of the Tour de France. It's the story of why we ride, and why this simple machine remains central to life today.

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Critic Reviews

“Gem of a book”

Economist
Penn writes with a Bill-Brysonesque facility for concentrating a lot of information and research into an easy-to-read ... Best of all ... his account enriches your enjoyment of a ride -- Tim Dawson, Cycle Guy Sunday Times
Fantastic ... Well worth a read if, like me, you love cycling! -- Paul Smith
Artfully, Penn turns his quest for hardware ... into a worldwide spin around cycling and its culture -- William Fotheringham Guardian
The pages overflow with pioneers, mavericks and geniuses - certainly, it is hard to imagine anyone who reads this book being able to buy a bike "off the peg" again -- Tim Lewis Observer
I've just spent a week pedalling slowly from Windermere to Aviemore with a copy of Penn's zealous eulogy in my pannier. His infectious admiration for the exhilarating sociability of cycling, coupled with reverence for quality craftsmanship, made highly engaging company ... appreciate the wit and enthusiasm of this unusual odyssey -- James Urquhart Independent
Penn tells us that the bicycle, as we know it, was invented in 1885 and is the most efficient form of transport ever devised... A joyful book -- William Leith The Scotsman
Bike-lit is booming, and while 'cross-country hardtail' might not have the same ring to it as 'penny-farthing', there's evidently little to do with cycling about which Robert Penn can't wax lyrical. Whether his subject is spokes or saddle sores, he is relentlessly enthusiastic... Penn's amiability is puncture-proof -- Stephanie Cross Daily Mail
[H]is adrenalin-charged enthusiasm... delivers a good ride... The social history is snappy and his almost religious quest for ultimate craftsmanship full of wit. -- James Urquhart Financial Times

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About the Author

Robert Penn is a journalist, woodsman, lifelong cyclist and the author of several books including the Sunday Times bestseller It's All About the Bike and The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees. He lives in the Black Mountains, South Wales with his wife, three children, two spaniels, twelve bicycles and a collection of axes. He bakes his own bread in a wood-fired oven.

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Product Details

Publisher
Penguin Books Ltd
Published
5th May 2011
Pages
208
ISBN
9780141043791

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RRP $22.99
$22.47
Or pay later with
Check delivery options