Beautiful illustrations, nice narrative. It is sufficiently technical that you can understand how the early bicycles worked. And it has a cool picture of Beryl Burton.

Good for a flip-through. Some nice info on the big racers, like Merckx and Coppi, but just a passing mention of Beryl Burton. What, she doesn't get her own section? He also made the important distinction between the "militant feminists" and the reasonable women that just wanted to ride a bicycle. Sure, Ambrose devotes a lot to how cycling changed women's clothing and the importance of it, but for how actually culturally significant it was, maybe it should get like, more than eight pages? I don't know. He also ends with some Cervélo carbon fiber and Pinarello race bikes, and while that's great for like, CYCLING, what about BICYCLING? Like, to work and shit? Love 'em or hate 'em, fixies have encased a whole different demographic of young people into cycling more; and bicycle commuting is growing each year in major cities across the U.S., leading manufacturers to produce commute-specific cycles. Maybe one of the early examples of a commuter or fixie would be awesome? How about State Bicycle? Lastly, what about the handbuilt, steel-is-real renaissance? Where's Kinfolk? Vanilla? Firefly? There are a lot more interesting things happening in my opinion than a bike that folds up to resemble a garden hose. (Literally, that is the last one, along with a "square-wheeler." Funny? Sure. ACTUALLY the wave of the future? No.) He also doesn't mention Keirin racing, either; he seems very Euro-focused, and bicycles are mostly for transport in Asia for those who can't afford cars (and as China's growing middle class wants cars, the antidote to that segment of the population are the hip kids who can afford them but turn to fixies instead). All in all, something the Weekend Warriors (middle aged white dudes in spandex who ride carbon bikes for half centuries on the Sundays) would nut over. Me, not so much. Vive la velocipedestrienne!