One of the best out there....... | The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance and Repair: For Road...

Complete, well-written, easy-to-understand. | The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance and Repair: For Road and Mountain Bikes(Expanded and ... | Todd Downs

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	• The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance and Repair: For Road and Mountain Bikes(Expanded and ... Todd Downs Rodale Books, 2005 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 60 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Meets and exceeds all my needs

I got this book in anticipation of receiving a bicycle purchased off the internet, as I knew the bike would need assembly and a good amount of adjusting. A careful reading of this book provided all the info I needed to get the bike up and running, and it included many vital tips I would not have known otherwise. Basic stuff like how to adjust seat and handlebar position and angle were well explained. The more involved instructions on lubrication and derailleur adjustment were much more helpful than the manufacturer's bare bones instructions. But what was truly a saving grace for me was the chapter on disc brake assembly, adjustment, and care. I would never have known how properly mount a disc to a hub (use a star pattern, gradually increase screw tightness, and never touch the disc with your hands) or that you should never pull a brake lever without something (the disc or a spacer) in the hydraulic brake caliper. My own curious excitement with my new high-end bike would surely have caused me to do that. That chapter alone was worth the book purchase. The book is also full of pictures (although it's impossible to have a photo of every possible manufacturer's component) which help greatly.

Since the book fully covers modern bike innovations as well (fancy suspension, disc brakes, external bearing bottom brackets and two piece cranksets), it may seem to owners of department store bikes to cater to people with high end bikes. This is NOT the case at all -- the book covers low-end components as well. In actuality the book is quite comprehensive, and covers of the full range of bike components available today.

To the reviewers who complain that the book contains so much "useless" info, it is not the author's fault that you ride a cheap bike, making much of the book's valuable info not apply to you.

I have two mid-range bikes (Ironhorse Warrior Race and Raleigh C700) and the book covers all areas of maintenance that I've needed and can foresee needing. In addition, the author is quite willing to tell you what NOT to do at home and when to see a professional instead.

In short, this book will make bike ownership safer, more fun, and more satisfying.

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One of the best out there.......

This is a large book, almost identical in size to
the another one called from Lennard Zinn. However,
that's where the similarity ends.

The one from Todd Downs is the only book having
real photos, of real gear and real parts, with
helpful advice, whereas the other one shows a lot
of rought sketches and drawings that don't really
demonstrate clearly what the author is explaining.

Another book that's really great, is the HAYNES bicycle
book, which has color photos, and is superbly laid out
visually.

One of the worst, is the student manual, that one gets
when one is doing the PARK TOOL SCHOOL bike shop that
often local bike shops offer, to show people the basics
on doing minimal maintenance on their 2 wheeler. It had
good diagrams, but is probably a "checklist" for mechanics
who know everything already, but prefer to follow a
pre-ordained list of steps time and time again than relying
on memory, so it's not that bad.

All in all, of the 4 books, this is perhaps the best with
the one from Haynes.

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Complete, well-written, easy-to-understand.

I like doing repairs and maintenance myself to save money. Now that I have a good bicycle, I want to service it myself. This repair manual is nice. It is full of good illustrations and pictures, tips, and advice. Most things are explained in an easy-to-understand manner. It's obvious that the author likes servicing bicycles, and that he wants the reader to enjoy it too. This makes the book pleasant reading material as well.

The book is also comprehensive--it explains all parts of the bike and how to repair them. After going through it all my questions were answered, and I learned a lot. If there is anything left out, I can't imagine what it would be.

My only complaint with the book is sometimes explanatory text doesn't completely match the accompanying photograph. This isn't a major concern for me, but can be mildly irritating.

For most people, this book should serve well.

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Great book... could be better...

This book does a great job covering everything basic to intermediate. I'd highly recommend it and I think that it's the best I've seen in this price range. It's not Barnett's manual but it is better than the Park tools and Zinn books in my opinion. I'd like to see more (and better quality) pictures. I've seen high res color pictures in books half this price.

Good basics, a handy manual for most jobs

While I still take my bike to an expert to have it reconditioned and buffed up, this book is handy for small jobs like adjusting brakes and tuning up the derailleur.

While I still think it'd be best to have a course or a DVD on bike repair, this is a sort of must-have in your tool box for understanding basic tasks. It replaces my ancient manual on 10-speeds (which I had to decommission when I gave away my old Motobecane.) I'd recommend this for anyone buying a combo or mountain bike with the proviso if you are going to do all your own repairs, you'd probably need more than this. A good start, and a good shelf reference to have.

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