Last week we covered cycling books for a cyclist at Christmas. The post made it to our most popular list of posts (see on the right) but there were outcry’s of what about us mountain bikers! This post is here for you guys.
Quick note as before: Amazon.co.uk’s favourite thing to do is tweak prices so what I’ve mentioned here is likely to change by this time tomorrow by a few pennies.
Ramped Riding eBook – MTB Skills and Techniques
Ramped riding is an eBook for the experienced mountain biker and beginner alike. It’s aim is to step up your mountain biking to the next level by walking you through different skills. Even picking up a few tricks from this guide will have you enjoying your next trail more as you see yourself improving. The guide is very comprehensive and covers from the basic keeping your grip loose to how to attack a rock garden. Tips such as how to clean up your pedal stroke should give you an instant boost to your mountain biking.
Mountain Biking Tricks and Techniques
This beautifully illustrated guide by Martyn Ashton, a mountain bike rider with nearly 20 years of professional experience, will turn you into a better mountain biker. The guide has plenty of detail and is written for all the different types of riding. It would make a great Christmas gift.
The Good Mountain Biking Guide: England and Wales
Showing you the best places to ride in England and Wales. This is a really comprehensive guide that any mountain biker would love to discover under the Christmas tree. The guide makes it easy to follow the route with a good set of maps that include contours, parking and pub stops. The photos inside are by taken and contributed by real riders – which is a nice touch.
Mountain Biking: The Manual
For those who are new to mountain biking this is an excellent starting guide. It covers the basics from setting up your bike to the skills you only pickup after many hours of riding.
Bike Snob: Systematically and Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling
Not strictly mountain bike related but I couldn’t believe I left this off the previous list! The writing by Bike Snob makes for hilarious reading. After stuffing yourself with turkey dinner and slouching out on the coach, read a few pages of this and you’ll be sniggering away in the background. The books tears into all the different sides of cycling and pokes fun at it in a sarcastic and brilliant way.
South West Mountain Biking Guidebook
Covering Exmoor, Dartmoor and Quantocks this is an excellent guide to the mountain biking available in the South West of England. In total there are 26 rides included which go from 10km to 30km in length. This should make it accessible to all the different skill levels. The maps are Ordnance Survey which many mountain bikers will be accustomed to.
Total Bike Maintenance & Repair
I’ve just picked up a copy of this myself and I love how comprehensive it is. Covering many different types of disk brake as well as every other part of your bike with very detailed step-by-step, picture-by-picture instructions. Good for mountain bikes as well as road bikes.
The Complete Do-It-Yourself Mountain Bike Maintenance Book
Mel Allwood who is based out of Brixton Cycles has a great way of writing about mountain bike maintenance. It makes it so easy to follow and you are not left confused, staring at your bike and thinking “what on earth does the author mean?”. For complete beginners to mountain bicycle maintenance I recommend her updated guide.
UK Breaks with Bikes
With over 100 mountain bike rides included the UK Breaks with Bikes is an excellent guidebook. From cross country to family rides – there’s a little something here for every skill level. It is printed on water resistant pages with a ring bind holder which makes it easy to pick out just the ride you need.
Peak District Mountain Biking
This revised edition improves greatly on the original Peak District mountain biking guidebook. New routes have been added, others have been updated and better maps are used which makes navigation a doddle. There is also turn-by-turn directions. If you want to discover the best in Peak District riding look no further.
Nice selection. I’ve just picked up the Martyn Ashton book myself and its a very good book, refreshingly simple in its approach and proof that anyone with a bike and a car park nearby can learn the fundamental skills of mountain biking. I also have ‘Total Bike Maintenance’ but wasn’t so impressed. Once you’ve serviced a bike, any bike is similar (bar disc brakes maybe). The real difference with mountain bike DIY, which would otherwise cost a lot of dosh, is suspension servicing – and nearly all the books I’ve read on mountain bike maintenance are light in this area. That’s partly because the designs change monthly, but there’s a real gap in the market for a book that covers the fundamentals for the big brands.
BTW – another great Xmas present for the mountain biker is a skills course. Doesn’t matter how experienced you are – you probably have bad habits and courses correct those, and are a lot of fun with friends.
I also agree that this is nice. I am a biker but not a professional. I call myself a biker because I really love biking when I am in my hometown. That is my way of exercise and also to roam around and can view the surroundings clearly. The adventure, the fun, and the excitement is great.
Juvy
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