Submitted by
Khuan
a
from Perth, WA, Australia Date Reviewed: November 26, 2007
Favorite Trail:
None - I'm a commuter.
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
a library
Strengths:
Covers a broad range of maintenance topics, lots of pictures and descriptions.
Weaknesses:
Probably doesn't have enough detail for aspiring mechanics. Some of the jargon can be hard to decipher for beginners.
Similar Products Used:
The Complete Bike Book by Chris Sidwells (2005) and The Complete Bike Book by Mel Alwood (2006)
Bike Setup:
2007 Giant Boulder, 2008 Giant TCR Alliance
Bottom Line:
This book is suitable for beginners wanting to learn basic maintainance, not for established mechanics. I read the 2005 edition of this book and it has more detail and is more up to date with technology than the other two books I've read.
However, have said that, as a beginner I occasionally found the book difficult to understand. One advantage this book has over the other two is that it contains some exploded views of bicycle parts but these are not always fully labelled and there aren't enough of them. For instance, in the section detailing bottom bracket maintenance, the book covers splined and outboard BB's as well as several other BB's. However, there is only one exploded diagram, which is of the splined BB.
All in all though, it is a pretty good book, but I'm not sure if I'd pay money for it. I borrowed it from a library and I'm sure I'll be borrowing it again in the future.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Alex
a Weekend Warrior
from Des Moines, Iowa, USA Date Reviewed: March 21, 2007
Favorite Trail:
anything I can find
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Purchased At:
Xmas present
Strengths:
I'm 15 years old and it really helps the beginner like me learn how to work on bikes and do stuff other than pump up the tires and adjust the seat.
Weaknesses:
It could be a little more specific about how to do some things
Similar Products Used:
none
Bike Setup:
Raleigh M50 DX, with stock everything except tires.
Bottom Line:
I really thought it was a great book for the beginner like me and has taught me how to do some cool things like building a wheel and making adjustments that I either would have just left it way it was or let a shop do. Also most of the time the pictures help. The book really helped me get into doing my own repairs and tells what tools you might need for doing the repairs. Overall very good.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Ryan Roach
a Cross Country Rider
from Long Island NY Date Reviewed: May 15, 2003
Favorite Trail:
Pandora
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$16.00
Purchased At:
Barnes and Nobel
Strengths:
Cover a very broad range of basic bicycle repair and mantaince
Weaknesses:
Too broad, not enough information, not very up to date nothing about modern suspension of disc brakes or even sealed bearings. Nothing on the new nine speed drive train.
Similar Products Used:
Mostley the internet and other books from my local library
Bike Setup:
02 Stumpjumper FSR XC
Bottom Line:
This is a half way decent book about BASIC bicyle matinence. If your looking for a more modern book look elsewere. This book is too broad and the photos are out of date I bought it thinking a cycling publication would be at the cutting edge. Someone at bicycling magazine needs to update this thing and soon!
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Kevin
a Cross Country Rider
from Moscow, ID Date Reviewed: August 16, 2002
Favorite Trail:
Moscow Mountain
Duration Product Used:
More than 3 years
Purchased At:
a christmas present
Strengths:
Does a good job on the basics
Weaknesses:
Slightly out of date. Doesn't tell you how to rebuild internal gear hubs. Dosn't include a spoke calculator chart.
Similar Products Used:
Sutherlands, various vendor tech manuals
Bike Setup:
Half a dozen bikes, some quite strange
Bottom Line:
Ok, I see everyone's point about this book being a little out of date. It does a good job of covering the basics though, and if you know the basics you can work on anything. Anyway, most people already know how to work on new bikes...its the bikes of the previous 150 years that show up and give problems (trust me, I'm a professional wrench).
Anyway, this book got me started years before I actually started doing this for a living. I would still recommend it to a beginner. This is howto. If you're experienced you don't need howto, you need reference. In that case, get Sutherlands instead.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Jack
a Cross Country Rider
from walnut creek,ca Date Reviewed: March 20, 2002
Favorite Trail:
Mt. Diablo/Briones
Duration Product Used:
2 Years
Price Paid:
$18.00
Purchased At:
Barnes & Noble
Strengths:
Covers a broad area of bike repair.
Weaknesses:
Covers a broad area of bike repair. Not enough photos or detailed instructions on repair.
Bottom Line:
Not worth 18 bucks.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
fred
a
from buffalo Date Reviewed: September 27, 2001
Duration Product Used:
2 Years
Price Paid:
$15.00
Purchased At:
nashbar
Strengths:
Good if you are trying to resurrect a Peugot road bike from 1972
Weaknesses:
Not a lot of modern information
Bottom Line:
Detail on modern 9 speed, v-brakes, click shifters would only fill a small 3x5 pamphlet. If you have a modern bike, it's easier to figure it out yourself for most repairs other than headset or wheel hub/lacing jobs.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Markus
a Weekend Warrior
from Boulder, CO Date Reviewed: April 20, 2001
Favorite Trail:
Enchanted Forest
Duration Product Used:
More than 3 years
Purchased At:
20
Strengths:
Includes mountain and road bike info
Weaknesses:
Old, poor quality photos Poor organization Outdated information
Similar Products Used:
Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance
Bike Setup:
2 Mountain and 2 Road bikes
Bottom Line:
This may have been a good manual about 15 years ago, but when they "updated" it over the years, they did an poor and incomplete job. It looks like they just added some new info here and there and didn't necessarily remove the old info, which made the book confusing and hard to read. Bicycling needs to completely start from scratch on a new book. Buy "Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance" (unless you spend most of your time working on road bikes). The diagrams are much better, it's up to date, and it's organized much more clearly.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Mountain Man
a Cross Country Rider
from Ontario, Canada Date Reviewed: December 2, 2000
Favorite Trail:
Bird Sanctuary
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$20.00
Purchased At:
Bike Show in Toronto
Strengths:
Great diagrams and instructions on maintenance of almost all aspects of a bike, even old-school drum brakes, ancient BB designs, outdated threaded headsets and annoying friction shifters
Weaknesses:
It doesn't contain ALL the knowledge you'll ever need to maintain your bike if you're a fanatic or aspiring mechanic. Great instructions on wheel building, but should detail lacing patterns/spoke guages/rider weight consideations a little more.
Bike Setup:
Well, I have a slightly upgraded '00 Schwinn Moab 1, which I love to work on (I tuned it much finer than when it came out of the shop...)
Bottom Line:
Great book. As essential as any of my Park Tool tools. Well, except maybe my spoke wrenches (since the wheels on my bike keep coming out of true... I think I'll build my next wheels myself.) This thing can't possibly detail rebuilding forks... there are just too many different forks out there. And besides, that's what user manuals are for. Although RockShox manuals really suck the big one (just like the company!) As the reviewer below said, it really should be wound with cord. What the point of having detailed diagrams to look at when you're working on your bike if the thing keeps closing? Anyway, great product, the author seems to know a lot about bikes. If you have mechanical aptitude and buy this thing, your bike will work better, you'll go faster, and things won't break as often. Five red hot chilis.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Paisley Rioux
a Weekend Warrior
from Near the Delaware, NJ Date Reviewed: November 20, 2000
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$19.00
Strengths:
Good place for the beginner to start.
Weaknesses:
Should be spiralbound.
Similar Products Used:
Zinn and the Art...
Bottom Line:
For those who haven't done a chain adjustment since clonking around on a three-speed Huffy in middle school, this is a terrific resource. The book includes a good mix of diagrams and photos. If you pick up just one maintenance book, this should do the trick.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Brian
a Cross Country Rider
from Massachusetts Date Reviewed: September 17, 2000
Duration Product Used:
More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$20.00
Strengths:
easy to use reference guide to all types of bicycle repair and maintence targeted primarily toward beginners
Weaknesses:
lack of advanced information such as rebuilding suspension forks or shocks
Bottom Line:
This is a great buy for somebody new to cycling who wants to learn to do their own work, it describes in detail how do some diffacult things such as building/truing wheels, and adjusting hubs, rebuilding headsets as well as all the basic stuff Somebody a little more advanced should probably go with a different manual
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
What's New
»
BEST OF MTBR - Check out the highest rated bikes, parts, & gear!
»
LED BIKE LIGHT SHOOTOUT 3 - We test all the newest products and latest light and battery technology in this comprehensive guide»
$ 18.95
Overall Rating:
Overall Rating:
Overall Rating:
Overall Rating:
Overall Rating:
