Bike Touring: The Sierra Club Guide to Travel on Two Wheels

Back into bicycling after a 20+ years hiatus. The book provides a very good refresher. Useful because much of what I could find on the web seemed to be of the "sponsored" variety. This book provides sensible advice and identifies leading brands that one may want to consider, without hype nor one-sided assessment (see the section on bike locks for instance).Read "from cover to cover".

When backpacking through Israel I ended up in an area frequented by very outdoorsy people, and although I hadn't so much as touched a bike saddle for probably 15 years I couldn't help but rent a mountain bike with the intention of taking it down some of the local trails to see some waterfalls. The old adage that one can't forget how to ride a bike is clearly a very over-simplified declaration, because while I think there's probably some truth to it, one DOES tend to forget things like saddle height and the looseness of the over-the-shoulder bag slung from one's back after fifteen years, and I was very soon inspecting a lovely shrubbery a few yards from my place of rental.The bizarre feeling of having something moving beneath me brought me far back into my childhood, and despite being much more hesitant about taking that mountain bike down cliff-side trails to a waterfall that day, my fall had been like an apple to Newton, and I had made a discovery--I wanted to ride a bike more!I say all of this to insist that there are not very many people less prepared to travel long distances on bicycles than me. In fact, I am also scared of driving cars because I don't like traffic. But I knew from that day of riding my bike around town (and giving up on anything more) that I wanted to stop the kind of travel that I've been doing for so long, with one public train or bus after another from major city to major city to something freer.This book DOES assume some cycling knowledge that I was unfamiliar with (like switching gears, mounting and dismounting a bike, cadences, and pretty much any assumption at all, really), but it was relatively easy to Google my way to familiarity. Also, this book progresses in ways that I do not always understand until I am closer to the end of a particular chapter because of that (or even more, sometimes) and I would REALLY enjoy some more visual depictions that give me a heads-up as to what the book is going to be talking about. This books layout is probably just mediocre, and could be improved.This book practically teaches the entire construction of a modern bicycle as it goes through the requirements for performance on each part of a touring bike. Some of this may be tiring for more knowledgeable people. It is thorough on what to look for in a touring bike, however, and I understood much more what parts on the bicycle I had been looking at may be shortcomings or strengths, and I was able to prioritize my list of upgrades (lack of funds for everything).I noticed that the camping section of this book is much vaguer than the rest of the book, and while it provides an idea of the realm of possibilities, I would recommend a good book on camping/walking to supplement this travel guide (especially "The Backpacker's Handbook" and "The Complete Walker IV"). With supplemental reading, I've finally come to a balance between outright hiking gear and bike touring gear.The final portion of this book is dedicated to touring itself, everything from route planning to staying safe. It is only fifty pages and after reading such a thorough description of bike touring beforehand I was kind of disappointed with the brevity of this section as well, but maybe that is because by the time I had gotten to this part of the book I had already begun researching the kinds of questions that are addressed here. I think that it is natural that anyone trying to bike tour would try to check the realistically of their goal early on in their planning process, leading many to discover the information presented here on their own, and I imagine that many people will find this part underwhelming.I would recommend this book mostly for people who want to make a very informed purchasing decision on a touring bicycle and of parts and accessories for it. This book really can save someone either a whole lot of money or just as much of hassle and aggravations, and despite that I do not view it as a "all-in-one" source of knowledge, it is a fantastic place to start and likely all one needs to read about that central part of touring--the bike itself.

The connection between self supported backpacking trips and bicycle touring is evident in this how to book from The Sierra Club.

It's a good book to have as reference. Yes you can probably google for all of this information and post on forums for help, but it's all in one place and saves a lot of wasted searching effort.

In the 70's and 80's I did a lot of bicycle touring including a trip halfway around the world. I'm now wanting to get back into touring and wanted a book that would bring me up to date on the current state of equipment and touring styles. This definitely filled the bill.

The Sierra clubs guide to bicycle touring is the most comprehensive current guide out there that I've found on the subject. Lovett's "The Essential Touring Cyclist" was the best guide out there until Mr. Bridge wrote this volume. Lovett's guide(2nd edition) is still a good book but it doesn't come close to the detail of the Sierra Clubs guide. If your going to read only one book on bicycle touring this is a good one in my opinion.

To someone on the far side of the Pacific Sierra Club rates with another great name - National Geographic.Bicycle travel is somnething many people dream about. It's the freedom along with the discovery of fantastic places and cultures through one's own efforts. It can be a solo juorney or with agreable company.This convient book is an all-you-need-to know bicycle-travelling guide. It has been updated after three decades to include new innovations including mountain bikes (which with minor modifications can also be ideal for touring). I was interested to see smaller wheel folders included.Author Raymond Bridge has provided an excellent resource manual that will provide many pleasant hours of bedside reading and sweet dreams for the novice as well as those who have many kilometres of pedalling, and maybe countries, stored in their legs. [[ASIN:B001731O36 Schwinn Midmoor Men's Hybrid Bike (700c Wheels)]

I'm preparing for a bicycle journey around Asia and needed an up to date book on touring. This book is completely recommended and has excellent references. I'm still building my bike up and the knowledge I obtained from this book is priceless. Not only on preparing your ride for the long road ahead, but also additional camping gear.