This is an irritating book written by an aggravating person. I see other reviewers here have noted the non-stop, packed-in analogies, metaphors, 'cute' asides, and failed snark that absolutely infect this book. Layered on top of that is the kind of intense narcissism and self-focus masquerading as self-deprecation which is what one expects from somebody writing in their late teens or early 20s. Think of the sort of writing one finds in the op-ed columns of a college newspaper. The absolute obsessionobsessionOBSESSION(!)(!!) with the precise granulations of supposed 'subcultures' is also bad and omnipresent. The author, without any self-awareness at all, roundly mocks 'hipsters' and gentrification. This from a 20-something blogger and author who rides bicycles, has worked as a bike messenger, and lives in Brooklyn. Yeah: the failures of self-awareness is THAT intense.The tedious hairsplitting of 'who is a REAL biker' also saturates the book. This reaches it's nadir with a few lines about delivery workers in NYC and how, despite their use of bikes, they aren't 'real' bikers. I came thisclose to just slapping the book closed right there: How *dare* this guy snark on people who use bike to do their WORK as somehow Less than him?It's all of a piece, all overdone, all bad. The first part of the book was a little slow for me. It is about New York City and how biking shaped the roads and boroughs. I reckon this would have been more interesting for me if I were from NYC or had visited and working knowledge of the roads. It picked up for me after that. The Cyclist taxonomy was a hoot! Though I'm not sure which category I fit into exactly. Lone Wolf might be closest. A good section on bike repair and the last few chapters were inspirational on cycling, not being afraid of it, and how to get out there and ride. Even convinced me to go out and bike on a brisk December day.Great advice for the non-cyclist, the just getting started cyclist, and up.
What do You think about Bike Snob. Eben Weiss (2010)?
I'm one of those people who judge a book by its cover. I saw this book at the bookstore and picked it up because I liked the cover. I browsed through the first few pages and started laughing out loud, and I just couldn't put it down. It is hilarious. It's also very very interesting, it talks about the history of the bicycle, the types of bicycle, the rules of cycling, annoying things that car drivers do to us... I'm definitely going to read it again; I'm not up to it at the moment because my bicycle was stolen and I still feel too frustrated to read anything bike-related. :( But I will read it again soon; it's worth it.
—teampeeta
While Bike Snob was sometimes able to capture (for me) a little bit of the joy and freedom that riding a bike brings (e.g. "You'll feel airborne among flightless birds." p.56), ultimately I felt that the book was not much more than a series of broad, sometimes inaccurate, often offensive generalizations and stereotypes about "types" of cyclists, as ordained by the author. I didn't much relate to the author or his perspective of cycling, and I'm disappointed at how his view and interest in cycling seems to be limited to white, male, upper middle class-dominated bike culture and interests.
—beavey
