Customer Reviews

Cyclo-Cross: Training and Technique

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3 star:		(2)
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More of a primer for the sport. If you've been to a cyclocross event and paid only relative attention, you already know more than this book is offering. It's getting quite dated with technology, techniques and pictures from too long ago. Another edition is badly due.

Let me begin with the positive: this book does contain very basic information on basic cyclocross skills, such as dismounting and bunny hopping. However, this information is contained in about ten pages of the book. The rest is pretty useless, including info on who won the World Cyclocross Championships in the early 90s and info on outdated equipment (Spinergy Wheels, for example). Since the book is so outdated, the section on equipment is pretty useless. Equipment has changed drastically since this book was published. I recommend that you save your money and simply do an internet search to find pages demonstrating basic 'cross skills.

Yes it's outdated but it's possibly the only book on Cyclocross out there you can easily find. Definitely written for someone new to the sport. Very basic but still a good resource. The training and technique part of the book are pretty biased so don't use this a a bible for the sport. As a previous review stated it's really a primer.

In short I found this book to be very helpful. It discusses the sport in good detail, provides information on how to train for the specialties of the sport and provides good suggestions on how to train for the season. If you have questions this will provide the answers you need.

This book is a must buy for anyone new to the sport or looking to learn more. It's the next best thing to your local Cyclocross training events.

The only cons to the book have been mentioned in other reviews. It probably could use a 3rd edition that would contain some newer pictures and some historical updating. However, the base information hasn't changed and is very usefull.

When I started racing Cyclocross last year I looked in many areas for information on how to train, what to buy, and just general information. I found this book about half way through the season. After reading it I began to use some of the training tips and schedules. I believe it was one of a few reason why my season continued to get better.

This is a good book on the ins and outs of cyclocross. If you really read the tips in this book, it will help a lot. But I found it's hard to just read a tip and realize when to use it in a race situation. Going back over the book, I see now things I read there, but didn't _learn_ until I'd been riding cross for a couple years.

And yes, the equipment section is horribly outdated now, but so what. Part of cyclocross is old school principles that will never change. You have to work your tail off, keep your forward momentum up, and choose lines such that you won't loose traction and crash. That will never change.

If you want a modern comprehensive equipment summary, buy Velonews in October. It's not realistic to keep this book up to date - it'd have to change every year.

Don't get carried away with the equipment. If you're reading this book, it's because you are new to cross, or just getting serious about it anyway. So focus on the core elements (mentioned above) and use this book in part as a guide.

This book is great help to the beginner C-X'er. Unfortunately, it's already starting to get behind the technology, and could probably use a 3rd edition. More and more recent photos would have been nice.

Everything you ever wanted to know about cyclocross and then more. But as a reviewer said, it is more for someone getting in the sport and lots of stuff involving equipment is outdated. But the fundamentals never change. I highly recommend the mounting and dismounting techniques because these skills will help you no matter what type of cycling you do and noone mounts and dismounts better than cyclocross racers.

Although revised into a second edition, the book is still very outdated. A lot of time is spent talking about equipment, which becomes outdated quickly, and you can tell the updates were edited in rather than rewriting the whole section. The space would be better spent talking about specifics of tactics and training. The pages devoted to embrocation really dates the book. Fortunately the section on training seem fairly current, given the recent advances in training science. Still, the updates put the book in the late 90s, so it's still a decade out of date. A good overview, but it leaves probably the biggest audience - road and mountain racers who've done a few 'cross races and become hooked - disappointed.

Easy to read and then go out and test some of the new techniques. A great book for beginning cyclo-crossers!