You don’t need to be a Bike Snob of any kind to enjoy Bike Snob NYC’s book of snark, advice, personal history and bike wisdom. Eben Weiss retains the famously acerbic style of his blog while venturing into surprisingly earnest discussions on safety, advocacy and why we bike; even offering practical advice on winter cycling (“wear a hat, wear gloves, cover your feet”) and bike repair (“look it up on the Internet”). Bikes are fun and practical. Bikes are Amish-approved and bikes are used as babe or dude magnets for urban hipsters.

You will see yourself and your friends in a new light in Weiss’s chapter on Velo Taxonomy. Are you a Retro Grouch? A Lone Wolf? Beautiful Godzilla? Or Contraption Captain? You may laugh or cry or get angry at his list of “Approved” and “Disapproved” cycling practices. I was fascinated with Weiss’s cycling history retrospective colored by the New Yorker’s dismissal of anything west of the Hudson River.

Mostly, you’ll enjoy answering his question on why we ride and how we’re something like vampires, but without their annoying limitations. momentum readers will love that cycling is not defined by gear, fashion or groupthink. Weiss reminds us that any “bike culture” clique is completely optional. To be a cyclist, just get on your bike and ride.

Bike Snob: Systematically & Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling

By Eben Weiss

$16.95 USD Chronicle Books

224 pages