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Do you need carbon fiber. Also a good reference to refer to for evaluating performance and design claims by bike retailers. Way more information than a casual reader needs, but chock full of engineering and design information for a bike builder. Before you plonk down $2000 for that special road bike, check the stats against this book. Hmm. Oddly, steel frame bikes are pretty darn good when designed and built right.
If you have an appetite for charts, graphs, and research studies, then this book will delight you with its explanations of why bikes work so well with the human body.It's not casual reading by any means. Bicycling Science is nerd heaven, full of physics, engineering, molecular biology, aerodynamics and all kinds of other scientific manna. Bicycling Science may well be more technical info than a casual fan can absorb. For me, it's not a cover-to-cover read, but it's been on my bedside table for months because I pick it up regularly. As Miss Jean Brodie said, "For those who like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like." She meant it as an insult, but I don't. I'd prefer the same information presented in slightly less academic tones, but that doesn't mean it isn't accurate or interesting. However, it's a great reference that will demystify your bike -- if that's the sort of thing you like. So I dip into my copy for short bursts.
The history of the bicycle and the HPV chapters are very interesting. It also has way too much anecdotal evidence which is (thankfully) usually presented as such. While I recommend it, I don't recommend you expect a real engineering reference or good reading cover-to-cover. And worst of all there are many opinions that are generally made to sound like facts through casual use of expressions such as "future testing should." "it is recommended" "conventional design practices" "according to some" and so on.To sum up if you are an engineer looking for an engineering reference you'll be disappointed. The charts and plots are good so if you only want it for that it's a great compilation of other sources and references. Many are simply some ideas the author has about a particular design or test (there's no data in this area but one way to get some would be this.). A better description would be "musings on bicycle design and science" by someone who is genuinely very knowledgeable on the topic.My biggest problem is with the narrative.
It is somewhere in between and as such is not very good as either. The book is one of a very few like it so "one of the best" is not that great of a compliment.It is layed out and presented as an engineering reference type book on a specific topic (something like a Mark's for bikes) but it's nowhere near as consistent, rigorous, or detailed. If you are a lay bike geek you'll probably find it too technical. It has way too many opinions.
I used the book mainly to write a report on the history of recumbent bicycles. David Gordon Wilson goes into great detail, both conceptually and technically, with regard to bike issues, such as aerodynamics. But it is an excellent source for bike history and science in general.
I couldn't even finish it. I like science. I like bicycles. If you build bikes and/or are a physicist or engineer and like biking then you will probably enjoy it. This book goes into much greater depth than most people will want.
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