What do you think?
Rate this book
Bike Boom: The Unexpected Resurgence of Cycling
Bicycling advocates envision a future in which bikes are a widespread daily form of transportation. While many global cities are seeing the number of bike commuters increase, this future is still far away; at times, urban cycling seems to be fighting for its very survival. Will we ever witness a true “bike boom” in cities? What can we learn from past successes and failures to make cycling safer, easier, and more accessible? Use of bicycles in America and Britain fell off a cliff in the 1950s and 1960s thanks to the rapid rise in car ownership. Urban planners and politicians predicted that cycling would wither to nothing, and they did their level best to bring about this extinction by catering to only motorists. But in the 1970s, something strange happened—bicycling bounced back, first in America and then in Britain. In Bike Boom, journalist Carlton Reid uses history to shine a spotlight on the present and demonstrates how bicycling has the potential to grow even further, if the right measures are put in place by the politicians and planners of today and tomorrow. He explores the benefits and challenges of cycling, the roles of infrastructure and advocacy, and what we can learn from cities that have successfully supported and encouraged bike booms, including London; Davis, California; Montreal; Stevenage; Amsterdam; New York; and Copenhagen.Given that today’s global bicycling “boom” has its roots in the early 1970s, Reid draws lessons from that period. At that time, the Dutch were investing in bike infrastructure and advocacy— the US and the UK had the choice to follow the Dutch example, but didn’t. Reid sets out to discover what we can learn from the history of bike “booms” in this entertaining and thought-provoking book.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 15, 2017
3 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 6, 2017
The first book in the trilogy, Roads Were Not Built For Cars, covers legality (officially it "covered the period 1870-1905" [p.xviii]). This second book explores popular use of bicycles across eight chapters and an epilogue to make nine example cases (officially "picks up where [the first] book left off, and examines in some depth two seismic but underreported periods in cycling's history: the putative creation of English cycleways in the 1930s, and the hugely significant Great American Bike Boom of 1970-1974." [p.xviii]).
I think in the history I spot an enormous sociological difference between the example cities in Netherlands and the other example cities (Stevenage and Oxford UK; Columbia, Davis, Los Angeles, Portland, USA). If the masses had a successful, human-scale transportation experience imposed upon them--then there would be some traction. Impositions might be filtered permeability making motorcars less convenient or the OPEC-inspired no-drive Sunday policy that commenced November 4, 1973. And, yet, Manhattan, New York manages to stand out as a counterexample. Maybe that's due to the duration or nature of the forced experience. Or, maybe it's due to urban density. Read the epilogue and share your guess with me.
Find all the citations at bikeboom.info/notes.
I think in the history I spot an enormous sociological difference between the example cities in Netherlands and the other example cities (Stevenage and Oxford UK; Columbia, Davis, Los Angeles, Portland, USA). If the masses had a successful, human-scale transportation experience imposed upon them--then there would be some traction. Impositions might be filtered permeability making motorcars less convenient or the OPEC-inspired no-drive Sunday policy that commenced November 4, 1973. And, yet, Manhattan, New York manages to stand out as a counterexample. Maybe that's due to the duration or nature of the forced experience. Or, maybe it's due to urban density. Read the epilogue and share your guess with me.
Find all the citations at bikeboom.info/notes.
April 9, 2017
Wonderfully nerdy!
Quite a surprise to discover that bike booms have been happening for nearly as long as bikes have, and that the current one isn't nearly as big as some of the past, and the same arguments - both for & against - cycling infrastructure are still being run by both sides.
While it's in no way criticism of the Carlton's work, I finished reading with a concern that the English-speaking world, specifically UK, USA & Australia, is never going to catch up to cycling-friendly nations like The Netherlands.
Quite a surprise to discover that bike booms have been happening for nearly as long as bikes have, and that the current one isn't nearly as big as some of the past, and the same arguments - both for & against - cycling infrastructure are still being run by both sides.
While it's in no way criticism of the Carlton's work, I finished reading with a concern that the English-speaking world, specifically UK, USA & Australia, is never going to catch up to cycling-friendly nations like The Netherlands.
January 5, 2018
Usually I devour anything related to urban cycling but this book is a somewhat dense history of urban cycling in Britain, the US and Holland that I could not get excited about. The title is interesting though because the author maintains we are NOT in the midst of a bike boom, which I don't disagree with.
He also talks about how building proper bike infrastructure is not all it takes to get people riding their bikes around town more.
He also talks about how building proper bike infrastructure is not all it takes to get people riding their bikes around town more.
December 31, 2021
Well researched, and well documented. This was an educational journey for me, although I place myself with the vehicular cycling camp that the author disparages. Worth a read for cycling advocates who would like to know their history.
January 17, 2020
Excellent book. I liked this book better than Reid's book, "The Roads Were Not Built for Cars", though it too was worth the read. This Bike Boom provides excellent context for the cycling and car infrastructure of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. It gives good food for thought during bike commutes...
April 29, 2017
I backed the Kickstarter for this book and was excited to finally read the final version, which I did whilst on holiday. Whilst you could argue that there was a vested interest in me enjoying the book (as I'd "invested" in it), I genuinely believe that I enjoyed it regardless.
In the book, Carlton challenges the idea that there is currently a bike boom because, historically, what we currently see only feels like a boom due to the low levels of road cycling that we are now used to.
Furthermore, if you've had an interest in cycling for any time you may have the notion that cycling groups must have been wrong to protest against separate infrastructure years ago. Or that if you build it "they would come". The extensive research that Carlton has done will provide some food for thought. Have a read and then a think - despite the subject matter it hasn't been written dryly or like an academic research paper!
In the book, Carlton challenges the idea that there is currently a bike boom because, historically, what we currently see only feels like a boom due to the low levels of road cycling that we are now used to.
Furthermore, if you've had an interest in cycling for any time you may have the notion that cycling groups must have been wrong to protest against separate infrastructure years ago. Or that if you build it "they would come". The extensive research that Carlton has done will provide some food for thought. Have a read and then a think - despite the subject matter it hasn't been written dryly or like an academic research paper!
March 3, 2019
Carlton Reid has provided and excellent history of cycling advocacy around the world and why Dutch cycling is coveted as a model. While a bit of a slow read at times for me (it is quite detailed) it is a fascinating one. The photos and images collected are well selected and provide a good visual of the colourful history of cycling. This focuses on cycling by people. Not sport cycling.
March 3, 2019
A fairly interesting history book around the topic of bicycles, cars and road design.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews