Scan barcode
spiralbody's review against another edition
2.0
cute read... but I have to give it a low rating due to some of the more ignorant commentary around people who don't wear helmets being considered less than smart. wish there was more nuance in some of the conversation. this book could have had the potential to lend a voice to the growing advocacy world but instead it feels alienating and isolating to me due to oversimplifications of who people are based on their choice of bicycle style and use.
dasasquatch's review against another edition
4.0
As someone that's rather new to the cycling community, I really liked it, 4 1/2 stars!
dylan_james's review against another edition
3.0
Not awful, not awesome, decent if you are just looking for something to read in one sitting to chill your brain out before bed.
sedey's review against another edition
4.0
This is a fun book if you're into bikes. The different tribes Magnuson describes are easy to see if you're looking from the inside out, harder if you're on the outside. Most of it is common sense and you're really not going to learn a whole lot, but you will learn some.
Worth reading for fun.
Worth reading for fun.
leighryks's review against another edition
I’m reviewing the ARC that I received. I’m not quite sure how much this will reflect the finished book and am therefore unsure how to rate it. I’ve read/reviewed ARCs before, but this is definitely the most unfinished one that I’ve had the chance to look at. There are place holders for additional pieces of artwork. The writing seems to indicate that there are parts with sub-chapters, but the actual layout of the ARC doesn’t distinguish between the major and minor sectioning. I’m sure all this will be fixed for the final version.
The writing also feels unfinished, perhaps because I’m having a hard time figuring out who the target audience is. It has a very soft humor to it, careful only to gently tease the type of rider being described and also careful to encourage empathy for them. The writer very much wants all the tribes to be friends. Another reviewer suggested that this would be a great read for people working on policies involving multi-use areas and bike lane usage. I agree though I don’t image that’s a large enough audience to justify publishing a book.
I don’t actually imagine to many decided cyclists buying this to read, but I can see it being something interesting for to flip through. Hubby thinks thinks it should be kept in the bathroom library for casual reading. I, myself, am a recreational rider and admit that I was curious about this book largely because I wish there was a larger bike culture out here in the inner suburbs.
The writing also feels unfinished, perhaps because I’m having a hard time figuring out who the target audience is. It has a very soft humor to it, careful only to gently tease the type of rider being described and also careful to encourage empathy for them. The writer very much wants all the tribes to be friends. Another reviewer suggested that this would be a great read for people working on policies involving multi-use areas and bike lane usage. I agree though I don’t image that’s a large enough audience to justify publishing a book.
I don’t actually imagine to many decided cyclists buying this to read, but I can see it being something interesting for to flip through. Hubby thinks thinks it should be kept in the bathroom library for casual reading. I, myself, am a recreational rider and admit that I was curious about this book largely because I wish there was a larger bike culture out here in the inner suburbs.
velokyrie's review
5.0
For my review, please refer to http://one-more-hill.blogspot.com/2014/04/book-review-bike-tribes-by-mike-magnuson.html.
michaelnlibrarian's review
3.0
Magnuson is a writer for Bicycling Magazine, a (fairly serious, I guess) recreational cyclist, and has written several books, including his autobiographical "getting control of my life" Heft on Wheels: A Field Guide to Doing a 180 that I read a few years ago. Heft on Wheels was a mighty peculiar book that was somewhat entertaining but often in a "too much information/I should avert my eyes from this train wreck" sort of way. Some of his writing for Bicycling Magazine has too much Mike Magnuson injected into it too, so if nothing else this is a change for him in that he is writing about cycling but leaving himself almost entirely out of the narrative.
Apparently Magnuson likes the phrase "field guide" since this is his second book with that phrase in the title, but this book (unlike his last "field guide") bears some resemblance to a field guide. As he says in the beginning, "this is a book about people who ride bicycles" - and according to him, most of these people fall into "tribes" that Magnuson proceeds to describe alternating descriptions of different "tribes" as such with vignettes that include composite characters (as he describes them) that are meant to represent the different tribes.
There are 22 chapters and since their are full-page drawings as illustrations and a certain amount of white space when chapters end in mid-page and the book is only 200 pages long, it reads quickly and really, there isn't much too here. But then what are we talking about - the main types of cyclists. So should this be War and Peace? Hopefully not.
The last few books I have read about cycling has led me to wonder, "who did the author think this books was for?" Presumably nobody imagined that this book would have much appeal beyond the cycling community. For someone who knows much of what the author describes, his presentation is amusing - I would not agree with the blurb on the back cover that it is "hilarious." For newer cyclists there is probably enough context provided that one can learn a few things about those different cyclists one would be seeing out and about. For people who aren't familiar with any of this I would guess this is all a bit too obscure.
I was personally saddened not to see myself in any of the archetypes Magnuson created. His three "commuters" include a serious steel bike person with fenders who rides in his work clothes, a young guy who is becoming enamored of cycling even though it was forced on him by DUI convictions, and a young woman who is a student for whom it is a green thing to do and fun. I suppose I am closest to the first one . . .
Because Magnuson himself used cycling as the centerpiece of a weight loss program, he talks about cycling as a way to lose weight a fair bit. Apparently he would disagree with Grant Petersen, who claims in his recent book that cycling is not a weight loss system. It's an interesting question. I don't regard cycling as a weight loss system but as a way to keep extra weight off. Mostly.
I gave this three stars in large part because of the slightly failed expectations - it was only slightly amusing. Usually short books like this I zip through but this didn't grab me much I guess because I had to remind myself to finish it.
Apparently Magnuson likes the phrase "field guide" since this is his second book with that phrase in the title, but this book (unlike his last "field guide") bears some resemblance to a field guide. As he says in the beginning, "this is a book about people who ride bicycles" - and according to him, most of these people fall into "tribes" that Magnuson proceeds to describe alternating descriptions of different "tribes" as such with vignettes that include composite characters (as he describes them) that are meant to represent the different tribes.
There are 22 chapters and since their are full-page drawings as illustrations and a certain amount of white space when chapters end in mid-page and the book is only 200 pages long, it reads quickly and really, there isn't much too here. But then what are we talking about - the main types of cyclists. So should this be War and Peace? Hopefully not.
The last few books I have read about cycling has led me to wonder, "who did the author think this books was for?" Presumably nobody imagined that this book would have much appeal beyond the cycling community. For someone who knows much of what the author describes, his presentation is amusing - I would not agree with the blurb on the back cover that it is "hilarious." For newer cyclists there is probably enough context provided that one can learn a few things about those different cyclists one would be seeing out and about. For people who aren't familiar with any of this I would guess this is all a bit too obscure.
I was personally saddened not to see myself in any of the archetypes Magnuson created. His three "commuters" include a serious steel bike person with fenders who rides in his work clothes, a young guy who is becoming enamored of cycling even though it was forced on him by DUI convictions, and a young woman who is a student for whom it is a green thing to do and fun. I suppose I am closest to the first one . . .
Because Magnuson himself used cycling as the centerpiece of a weight loss program, he talks about cycling as a way to lose weight a fair bit. Apparently he would disagree with Grant Petersen, who claims in his recent book that cycling is not a weight loss system. It's an interesting question. I don't regard cycling as a weight loss system but as a way to keep extra weight off. Mostly.
I gave this three stars in large part because of the slightly failed expectations - it was only slightly amusing. Usually short books like this I zip through but this didn't grab me much I guess because I had to remind myself to finish it.
More...