Complete Bike Maintenance This third generation of The Bike Book has been designed to help you get the very best from your bike. Produced by Motorbooks International, it gives step-by-step guidance on all aspects of bike care. It has been revised and updated extensively to include 300 new photos covering the latest develpments in cycling technology. These include vee and disc brakes, nine speed, Rapid Rise and SRAM gears, and front and rear suspension. Packed with practical information and handy tips covering almost every bike built over the last thirty years, The Bike Book gives riders the confidence and knowledge required to tackle regular maintenance, repairs, or even a major overhaul.
Customer Review: Incomplete, unclear and outdated
First a quote from page 50 on adjusting the rear derailleur:
“…check that the chain runs silently in top-gear. If it doesn’t turn the cable adjuster … counter-clockwise if the chain is trying to jump off the top sprocket, and one turn clockwise if it’s trying to climb onto the second sprocket.
” Next, change down to second gear…”
Let’s see, he equates “top-gear” to “top sprocket” and the top gear, of course, is the smallest sprocket on the rear cassette. Okay, we’re fine so far but it would be more complete to also instruct to put the front derailleur on the largest chain ring, which is required.
And then he says to change to “second gear”? Doesn’t he mean the second sprocket? To most people “second gear” means the second easiest, which is the second largest sprocket on the rear cassette. What he means is the second smallest sprocket.
For a book written to people trying to learn, this is unclear at best. Unfortunately, the many color photos do not help here. None of this is labeled on the figures.
He also spends more attention on toe straps (who uses toe straps?) than clipless pedals (cleats). There are many types of cleats and he just does a broad brush treatment of them. The text is outdated.
I also got a Zinn book at the same time. (Got them both but was expecting the Zinn book to be over my head.) My what a difference. The text is complete and clear. I agree with the bike champion that was quoted, “Leonard Zinn has a knack for describing mechanical tasks that a person with little or no mechanical background will find easy to understand.”
Customer Review: todd downs book is so much better
like some reviews have stated, this book may (or may not) explain some things better than zinn or other books. but come on, it is such a waste of space. it spends a lot of time covering really dumb stuff. it’s really dated and out of touch as well. its description of a single-speed freewheel: “mainly used on kids’ bikes”
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