Urban Bikers' Tricks and Tips: Low-Tech and No-Tech Ways to Find, Ride, and Keep a Bicycle [Paperback]

Dave Glowacz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1997

City dwellers who own a bike or are shopping for one can make cycling the same liberating experience they enjoyed as a child. Urban Bikers' Tricks and Tips tells how to choose the right bike, make basic roadside repairs, and ride confidently and efficiently on any city street or path. As they bike more often, cyclists need to know how to protect their bodies in extreme weather and their bikes with locking methods that prevent theft. Gathered from cyclists around the country, many of these secrets will surprise readers with their ingenuity. More than 700 illustrations and photos make these concepts instantly practical.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Finally, there is help for bike riders who live in cities. Clowacz covers all the basics for keeping an urban biking life safely on two wheels, from choosing a bike to keeping it from getting stolen. He provides valuable advice on making a bike fit one's individual needs--for example, seat height adjustments to avoid backaches as well as perhaps the most basic concern, locking the bike, for which he offers several options. His safety tips on such things as what to do if someone attempts to steal the bike right out from under you and how to negotiate urban auto traffic (hint: there are many choices other than anger and violence) are wonderfully down-to-earth. Illustrated in step-by-step fashion on every page, this is a book to be read, studied, and put to practical use by all bike riders, but especially those living in the urban jungle. Raul Nino

Review

"Wonderfully down to earth. This is a book to be read, studied, and put to practical use by all bike riders."  —Booklist

"Wacky and ingenious . . . essential and sage advice."  —San Francisco

Bicycle Coalition

"Riders will be better off after reading this book . . . its cycling secrets could take a lifetime to learn."  —Gary Fisher, inventor of the mountain bike

"For both the experienced and the novice, this is the best biker’s manual."  —New York Public Library

"Funny, well written, and incredibly readable. Even non-cyclists are impressed." —Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia

"Every bike shop should carry this book." —Dr. Roger Minkow, designer of ergonomic accessories for Specialized Bicycle

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wordspace Press; illustrated edition edition (November 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965172805
• ISBN-13: 978-0965172806
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,288,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Of limited value to the conscientous cyclist, January 31, 2000

By 

Stewart C. Russell (Glasgow, Scotland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Urban Bikers' Tricks and Tips: Low-Tech and No-Tech Ways to Find, Ride, and Keep a Bicycle (Paperback)

I can't really recommend this book. While it's filled with very good equipment and car-free lifestyle choices, the riding techniques advocated are highly dubious. In some cases, they're illegal and stupid -- like showing you how to run red traffic lights, or riding on the sidewalk -- and will do nothing for the image of cyclists. The book even shows (by a backhanded warning) the best place to crack a car windshield.

It is a shame that such moments of crassness spoil a book that is aimed at beginners. These would be bad habits to get into, and terrible things to learn from the outset.

Better books on assertive cycling are John Franklin's "Cyclecraft", and John Forester's "Effective Cycling". They show you how to gain your place in the traffic, and how to keep it without resorting to crazy stunts.

53 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Outrageous suicidal advice, January 26, 2004

By 

Serge Issakov (La Jolla, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Urban Bikers' Tricks and Tips: Low-Tech and No-Tech Ways to Find, Ride, and Keep a Bicycle (Paperback)

I just got this book a week ago, and will probably send it back. That will be a first, for I have never returned a book before. But this one is that bad.

I agree with the other 1-star reviewers who noted the dangerous advice given in this book. I've been riding bikes with traffic for over 30 years, and I admit I've done most if not all of the dangerous "sly cyclist" "tips & tricks" recommended by this book - but I did them when I didn't know better. You'd think a book on biking would help one know better...

Riding safely and effectively with traffic means riding visibly and predictably according to standard vehicular laws and principles. Much of the advice in this book is contrary to this important notion, which has already been detailed in other reviews. I will add that the author does not appear to base his recommendations on any principles whatsoever. He just recommends doing certain things, many of which are contrary to riding visibly and predictably, that have apparently worked for him, so far. Just because he hasn't been killed by his own advice yet does not mean it's good advice, or that all of his readers will have the same dumb luck.

Almost all accidents require more than just one thing to go wrong, usually about three. By following the advice in this book, and not riding visibly and predictably ("vehicularly"), only two more things have to go wrong for an accident to occur. I stongly recommend NOT stacking the deck against your life and well-being like this.

Ignore this book. Instead, buy and read "Effective Cycling" by John Forester.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent guide to urban biking, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Urban Bikers' Tricks and Tips: Low-Tech and No-Tech Ways to Find, Ride, and Keep a Bicycle (Paperback)

It is about time that there is a book available to city bikers. The book really looks at those "interesting" traffic situations that one encounters in the city. All the tricks and tips that Dave shows us are invaluable. From fitting your helmet and dressing for a ride to lubing your gears and chain. One thing, I really liked was the non-violent ways he shows us when dealing with the no so nice people out there. He always encourages us to get back on and ride.It is truly a useful and informative guide to biking in an urban setting.