The Rules: The Way of the Cycling Disciple

I bought this for my husband last Christmas. He loves cycling and is part of a cycling group. I randomly stumbled upon this book and thought it sounded interesting and maybe my husband would relate. Turns out it's actually a big hit with cyclists. As he read through it he would say "oh now I know what the guys mean when they call out a certain rule on our bike rides!" Haha well glad to have helped him out with that. I've read through some of it my self and it's actually an entertaining read, there's a lot of sarcasm and I found it amusing.

The writing is wry, funny, and sometimes hilarious. It hits a spot between taking cycling very seriously while at the same time recognizing how silly taking riding a bike so very seriously actually is.The hard cover is very nicely designed.However the paper quality and print quality are crap, like blurry news print. Publisher Norton & Co should be ashamed to use such cheap paper, especially in a hard cover.

I didn't quite know what to expect of this book, but it strikes a great balance of seriousness and tongue-in-cheek humor that frequently had me laughing out loud. The authors truly have a way with words and turning a phrase. Cyclists will be informed and inspired by this tome, which is a fast and entertaining read, and our significant others might also get a chuckle from seeing us reflected in the pages. We may not have known, practice or agree with all of the "rules," but readers will undoubtedly have a greater appreciation of what it means to be a cyclist and adopt a few more of the rules as a result of this book.

I avoided getting the Kindle version after reading the reviews here, and so ordered the hard copy. The print on that version is also difficult to read due to the thin grey font used. This is funny due to the overly fastidious (fatuous?) nature of some of the advice given within. There's a whole section devoted to the color coordination of bicycle frames, seats, and handlebar wrap with the injunction to just go black, black, black... how about a black font guys? Preferably Times New Roman, Arial, or - drunk and on a dare - Verdana.The numerous typos and glitches are the result of poor editing. Because between cutting and pasting text off the website, centering the labels to their tires over the valve stem (Rule #40), and scowling at anyone with a seatbag (Rule #29), who has time to spot "Campagnola" (page 121), or that Rules 77 and 81 have the same intro?Also, they need to ditch the crappy attitude taken toward fixie riders. When I got back into cycling several years ago after a long hiatus, I found that cycling and cyclists had changed, and not for the better. The attitudes were terrible. The first thing you notice is no one waves to each other anymore, unless they are all kitted out like Lance Armstrong on steroids... um, er... well, you take my meaning.In my day, we didn't care if you were out on Geiger grade riding a Huffy cast-iron tubed mountain bike, wearing gym shorts and a wife-beater... you got a wave and a friendly tip of the head. The fixie crowd is mostly young, urban, and riding strictly for fun. They value spontaneity and individualism and what is wrong with that? They can be immature and make bad equipment choices, but that's exactly where age and experience can be brought to bear. It seems an odd position to take for the self-proclaimed "Keepers of the Cog" to hold hostility toward the sect that literally embraces the concept of a single-cog.Maybe this is more a polytheist vs. monotheist kerfuffle.I will say this for The Rules... they evoked passion in me, and that is all you can expect from a work of this caliber (caliper?). I was either nodding in agreement or furrowing my brow in anger.Rules that provoked the former: 3 (especially as it *should* relate to fixie hipsters), 5 (also known succinctly as "The V"), 7, 9, 11 (even my wife chuckled), 12 (chuckled again), 14, 24, 25, 32, 51 (to quote a line from Jerry McGuire, "Finally, somebody said it!") 60 (obviously), 62, 64, 67, 80, 87, 90.Rules that provoked the latter: 8, 26 (someone has way too much time on their hands...), 28 (white or flesh colored only), 29, 30 and 31 (repetitio est mater studiorum + nothing beats a Zefal HPX + CO2 contributes to global warming; not ozone depletion), 37, 57 (my fixie daily-driver is covered with these), 64 (if you have time to do this, pick it up Roger Merckx... you're going too slow), and 68 (there's just no substitute for long [SEE: Coppi quotes]).The rest range from mildly entertaining/funny to interesting/informative, though some of the history seems a bit dodgy to me (didn't 7-Eleven use aero bars in the Tour de Trump and Giro?)All in all, worth the time to read and savor (savior?). May the V be with you.

Funny, yet hardcore book about why we ride and the code that goes with the "Vie Velominatus." Good historical references , and a glossary which is almost a chapter unto itself. If you are a serious cyclist, or just want to impress your friends while downing pints, read this book. You won't regret it!!

Great info on the history and traditions of the sport. As long as it’s taken tongue in cheek as intended. But the Velominati are absolutely real.

I know there are a lot of people who take this book very seriously, but I guess I'm not one of them. It was a good read, but I found it a bit humorous. A bit of cycling satire.

Ha! So if you wanna be a real roadie ya gotta know the rules! This book will give you a really good understanding of all the dopey rules we roadies hold dear.And if it doesn’t do that you’ll get a kick out of reading it!