An excellent little book, which was made into a TV series; he uses the selection of components and elements of his dream bike as a framework on which to hang anecdotes, cycle history, technology, and visits to the factories and workshops of specialists. Most are fanatics like Rob who has cycled round the world and used his many bikes on endless expeditions and adventures. His origins on the Isle of Man are touched on, including naming his round the world bike Mannaman after the Manx warrior god of legend. We learn the origins of the mountain bike in Marin County California as a development from the 1930s balloon-tyred cruiser bikes. This all started around 1973 and was a very laid back hippy carry on. A far cry from the Campagnolo works and the Continental tyre factory in Germany.
And what an excellent machine the bicycle is, the most efficient frame still essentially the same as that invented by Coventry genius John Kemp Starley in 1885. I was impressed that Rob has managed to make the switch from being a lawyer to making a living out of his writing on cycling from his Black Mountain fastness above Abergavenny.
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