Mike Burrows is something of a legend in cycling circles: amongst other things he has designed the iconic Windcheetah trike (still in production after nearly 25 years) and the carbon monocoque pursuit bike Chris Boardman rode in the Barcelona Olympics. This book, published in 2000, is a collection of his thoughts on a wide range of bicycle design issues, from the most efficient way of getting power out of the rider to the best way of stopping. With a mixture of common sense, practical experience and hard science, he demolishes a lot of the sillier ideas that have been tried over the years (belt drive, bent cranks, etc.), and picks out the ones that actually are useful. The approach is fairly non-technical - it's more of a rider's guide to intelligent bicycle choice than a textbook for budding designers.

The book is really a selection of short essays, at least some of which were originally magazine articles, rather than a single coherent story that you can read from cover to cover, and it's not a masterpiece of literature. But it's been well edited, and illustrated with attractive and relevant photos and diagrams, so it's an attractive thing to dip into if you're the sort of cyclist whose interest goes beyond looking at glossy photos of road bikes with the latest Japanese components. ( )