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The "Mastering
Mountain Bike Skills" Book is priced at £14.99 but you'll
probably get it for less on the web, see the links at the end of
this review.
What can this book teach me?
When
I was asked to review this book the first thing I thought was: 'Book
reviews are dull, it won't look good on screen'. I also thought that
having read just about every other 'How To' ever printed in the
mountain bike press there'd be nothing much there for me to use. To be
honest it was Brian Lopes name on the cover that got me curious enough
to consider reviewing it. I can't imagine a more skilful or impressive
rider, maybe he would know a trick or two the rest of the pundits had
skipped?
Lord
make me crash proof
When
the book arrived I was pleasantly surprised by the size and weight of
it (I'd been expecting a pocket book but this thing is almost 200 pages
with plenty of colour). After scanning a couple of chapters though it
began to dawn that Lopes was a bit part actor in this manual, taking a
back seat to the artful descriptions of Lee McCormack. I soon realised
this wasn't a disappointment though, as some of the stuff I was reading
looked set to change the way I ride and began to actually pan out on
the trail. The trouble with 'Gods of Mountain Biking' is they don't
know how to ride. OK that's twisting words a little, they really don't
know how they ride so well though, certainly they seem to have trouble
putting it in to words. Which is something Lee does better than I've
seen in print before.
Frankly,
you're rubbish
This
man has the answer to why you're such a bad rider. OK you got me again,
you're a great rider like Lopes! If so there's probably not a lot a
book like this can teach you. I've been riding mountain bikes for
almost twenty years (they were called 'All Terrain Bikes' in the UK
when I first pedalled one) and this book has finally helped me on my
long journey towards becoming a great rider (I'd made it to 'better
than average' already ;-)
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Is it any good?
Right now you're probably saying to yourself "This guy has been paid
off" which is a vicious lie! We never accept payment or sweeteners to
do a review. We've been sent books which I haven't bothered to review
because I couldn't recommend them though. So what's all the fuss about
then? Wont I tell you the secret so you can just go out and ride like a
God, without forking out for a paper book, when all the information
should be free online? No chance. This book has taken a lot of
putting together, you can't just list the 'secrets' in pamphlet form
and get the same benefit for free. You really do have to fork out the
cash, then read what the guys have to say, in small sections,
interspersed with regular practice to get the benefit.
So who should read this book?
Actually just about all of you, (except Brian Lopes and he already has
a dozen copies). Even if you just read a chapter from time to time and
visualise it in your mind, you will find it begins to transfer to the
trail. My own improvement has been so great it has me worried, I don't
want the crowd I ride with to read it and start to outclass me on the
trails. So if you sometimes ride with our group, or hope to in the
future, promise me you won't buy this book, OK?
Where can I buy
it?
Amazon
Publishers
Website
www.humankinetics.com
Print Text!
the
whole
review
in text only form.
Get
proper Instruction
Mountainbikeinstruction.co.uk
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