Somewhere in this blog I reckon I reviewed the first Velo book. Now they have the 2nd edition, Velo: Bicycle Culture and Style. To be honest, if you read that first review you probably don’t need to read this one. It’s more of the same but in a good way.
What you get with Velo is a bunch of photos and some text in a big coffee table book. Coffee table can be any size. It’s the book that’s big. Front cover:
Good start. I should also point out that I borrowed that picture from somewhere else so it’s unlikely to be representational of what’s to follow. From here on the photography gets a bit dodgy.
Velo: Bicycle Culture and Style covers a fair bit of ground in the velo culture/bike scene. From porteur bikes to cargo bikes to those stupid fat tyred mountain bikes. If you’re the sort of person who has an eclectic appreciation of bikes then you’ll love having this big glossy book on your coffee table. If you’re the sort of person who is blind to anything other than fixies you’ll have to flick through to find the good bits but there’s still plenty on offer.Bike designers featured in Velo: Bicycle Culture and Style tend to design fixies. It’s either because it allows them the purest expression of their design or because they’re too lazy to hang some gears off it.
Some wood:
The book is loosely bound together into themes. What they are I don’t really know or care. I just flipped and drooled. Bike fantasy is a favorite pass-time of mine. I’d really like to own a porteur style bike and a cargo bike but realistically I probably can’t find space for them in the shed. I’d also like to have a funky bike shop slash cafe to hang out at on the Gold Coast. But that’s unlikely to happen any time soon:
And I want to look at cool as this guy:
Only kidding. I don’t want to look anything like that guy. Maybe the beard. I’m growing a beard right now, much to my wife’s horror. And maybe I’ll blow a couple grand on “body art”. But I’m not wearing pink lycra. Ever.
Velo: Bicycle Culture and Style is the sort of coffee table book you’ll buy for your favorite cyclist when you can’t figure out what else to get them for their birthday. If you do, let me tell you it’ll be a big hit.
I don’t have a good cycling coffee table book, so thanks I may get this one to look like I have a flair for it. Another great gift for a cyclist is Brian Bruns’ Rumble Yell, a story of 2 men during RAGBRAI and it’s true so that makes it better. It’s a hilarious taste of some real experiences on that long ride! http://www.briandavidbruns.com/BDB/Rumble.html, any bike lover should have it!