Complete Bike Book

Rating:
Summary: Not so complete
Review: The Complete Bike Book falls short of the book's title. The book is lavishly illustrated with color photos on virtually every page. As an informal treatment on the subject of bicycling, it does an average job. While the book tries to cover everything from road biking to mountain biking, the information is scarce and only provides thumbnail glimpses of each topic that is covered. Most of the photographs seem rather dark and underexposed. This may be a result of the publisher not keeping an eye out on quality control. This book is rather expensive and thin. For the price of this book, you would probably do better to purchase "Richard's 21st Century Bike Book" which does a much better job of covering bicycling.

Rating:
Summary: An expensive "Coffee Table" book
Review: This book has lots and lots of pictures but is more of a coffee table book than a serious bicycle book. It tries to cover all sorts of topics about biking but in doing so, it dilutes each subject that it covers. The Complete Bike Book is well illustrated but low on indepth information. If you like nice picture books, this may be a good purchase, but considering the price and the rather skimpy content, I would seriously consider another book about bicycles.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly good!
Review: This is one of those flashy books full of bright color photos on every page. The subject matter is divided into about 100 topics. Each is covered in a two-page spread, no more, no less. (All the news that fits, we print.) Surprisingly, the rigid structure works. The author has brief, quality content on each topic. He addresses selection among the different types of bicycles, basic techniques for off-road and on, health and fitness issues, racing skills, maintainance, et al. If you are looking for breadth, not depth, this is a good introductory/intermediate level book.