Full Product Details
Author: Robert Penn ,
Rob Penn
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Dimensions:
Width: 14.80cm
, Height: 2.20cm
, Length: 21.50cm
Weight: 0.304kg
ISBN: 9781608195381
ISBN 10: 1608195384
Pages: 199
Publication Date: 26 April 2011
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Out of Stock Indefinitely
Availability: In Print
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.
Reviews
<p>“Gem of a book”— Economist <p>“The pages overflow with pioneers, mavericks and geniuses – certainly, it is hard to imagine anyone who reads this book being able to buy a bike ‘off the peg’ again.—Tim, Lewis, Observer (UK)<p>“No matter how shiny and costly the item of bike bling, there is a back story, usually a good one. Artfully, Penn turns his quest for hardware ... into a worldwide spin around cycling and its culture.”—William Fotheringham, Observer (UK) <p>“[Penn] writes with authority, humour and refreshing candour ... A celebration of craftsmanship over technology and of a bygone era when things were built to last ... If Penn is to be believed, we are entering a golden age of cycling, when it really will be all about the bike once more.”— Sunday Telegraph (UK)<p>“[Penn] writes with a Bill-Brysonesque facility for concentrating a lot of information and research into an easy-to-read
<p> Robert Penn has assembled a splendid patchwork quilt of bicycle history, arcane workshops, and fascinating people into a passionate journey in search of his dream machine. After reading him, you'll never look at a bicycle the same way again and will enjoy riding yours even more. And you'll probably start your own velocopedal quest for perfection into the bargain. A simply lovely excursion not into bicyclists, but into BICYCLES. You must read this before you watch the Tour de France! --Brian Fagan, Author of Elixir and The Great Warming, a nd an avid recreational cyclist with a Penn-like steel framed bike. Robert Penn relates his quixotic quest to procure the perfect bicycle with authority and humor, infusing his fluent narrative with thoughtful and provocative digressions that invoke technology, ergonomics, history, and social ideals. He richly deserves his $5,000 'dream machine.' --David V. Herlihy, author of Bicycle: A History and The Lost Cyclist: The Epic Tale of an Ameri
Author Information
Robert Penn has worked as a lawyer, waiter, contractor, DJ, photographer, and journalist-and biked to every single job. He writes for the Financial Times, the Observer, and Conde Nast Traveler, as well as a host of cycling publications. Penn lives in Wales with his wife and three children.
