Review of The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance and Repair: For Road and Mountain Bikes(Expanded and Revised 5th Edition)

The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance and Repair: For Road and Mountain Bikes(Expanded and Revised 5th Edition)
Average Rating: 4.5 Total Reviews: 53
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Decent, but best for rank novices

On: 2008-06-26

I bought this book and the Zinn book at the same time. Both books have good illustrations, but this book is much less detailed and helpful. It is VERY basic and leaves out detail needed to really tune anything to any extent.

Having said that, this book does a fair job of showing how to do routine maintanence/repairs. It spends time describing things that should be obvious at a gance, while leaving out detail you need to fix something, however. So, it would seem to be aimed at the rank novice, with 2 left thumbs--above a "Dummies" book, but not by a whole lot, IMHO.

Zinns book is more detailed, and offers a more comprehensive tour of subjects than this book. It can be used by the novice, but aims at those who have some basic understanding of what is right before their eyes--bike or tool.

However, if you are a gear-head, you probably wont be happy with less than Barnetts painfully exhaustive 4 volume set--which is likely overly detailed for anyone short of a professional shop-set.

Anyway, if I had to do again I would have bought the Zinn book and skipped this one.

Easy to understand & well written.

On: 2008-06-18

This is a good book for the beginner; it has a lot of drawings, pictures to help you understand different styles of bikes and the parts that make them a bike.

I found that it had a little too much on the older bikes but perhaps this is good as I have taken a real liking to bicycles and hope to build my own this winter; Todd does not waste words, the book is well written and precise; it is nice to have when learning as it does provide a good understanding of how bikes parts work together to make a bicycle.

It does have all but the latest shifters and such; in reality bikes are made of many brands and models of parts making it impossible for any single book to have all you need to know about all bikes; for the latest specifications most bike component manufactures have web sites where you can download your model of derailleur, fork for the manufactures specifications.

I gave this 4 stars because of the dated information the negative and 4 for the positive comprehensive coverage of so many possible items he coverers so well.

This is a good book for the beginner, gives a comprehensive illustrated example of how bikes work.

Hooty

Almost all you need.

On: 2008-06-04

I have this title and one other and after starting out for the first time last year, I have overhauled my bikes, three neighbors 20 year old bikes, two from people I work with and both of my brothers bikes. A little common sense and a set of Park tools and one other very popular book will cover most of what you need. This book has more illustrations and describes most procedures twice, is brief and in detail. No wonder it is the number one seller.

Excellent bike service book

On: 2008-03-31

I got this book about two years ago when I bought my first serious road bike. Whether you are serious biker or just have a few kids bikes in the garage, this is a truly excellent piece of work. Starting with the basics of bicycle maintenance, it proceeds to review every major (and minor) component of the bike (road and mountain), and then discuss them from a trouble shooting point of view, followed by step-by-step photos of whatever it is you want to do. Wrench in one hand, book in the other (a bike stand helps) I have replaced/adjusted/cleaned dÃ©railleurs, brakes, gear cassettes, etc. with nothing but this book. Just did a major spring overhaul last weekend. A clean well-lubricated drive train and shifting mechanism is such a nice thing. You kind of forget between cleanings. You still need to get some special tools at your local bike store, but this tells you which ones and why.

you never knew how easy it was

On: 2008-03-21

this book rocks. I never knew how easy it is to do most repairs on my bike. I have successfully straighted both my wheels (with the purchase of a 8$ tool) and finally got my rear derailer to go into low gear and centered my back break so it would not kick out more to one side. Super easy (well the wheel straighting takes some fine adjustments, but its by no means complicated) and a super satisfying feeling to fix it yourself. Book is ez to read w/ clear descriptions and well organized. if your thinking about it at all get this book.

Easy to follow, with great pictures.

On: 2008-02-02

I was surprised that this book supports the modern Shimano components and new composite frames. Its really detailed, and easy to follow. I feel confident with any bike project using this book as a guide.

Good beginners' starter guide, not so hot beyond that.

On: 2008-01-30

If youre a beginner, this is a good book to get to start to understand the basic parts of your bike and how they work - do some adjustments of bearings, brakes etc.. Recommended - 4 stars

If you have messed around for years and have a decent idea of how things work (e.g. have perused Sheldon Browns site extensively), like me, youll learn some good information, but read a lot you already know. For the price, its probably still worth it, but youll be left wanting and needing more. I wouldnt tackle a big job, like building a wheel, installing disk brakes, without reading something else. - 3 stars

If youre pretty experienced, want to actually build bikes etc., or depart from the mainstream at all (e.g. SS/FG, or hub gears), theres little for you, and nowhere near enough detail. - 1 star

Inexplicably, There are step-by-step guides to jobs, which completely duplicate the preceding information. Seems like filler to me.

Meh, its ok, especially for the price and really pretty good for beginners.

Very Helpful

On: 2008-01-12

I bought this book after reading all of the customer reviews and the book was very interesting and will be a big help. This book will help me to start saving money and doing increasingly more of my own repairs. I highly recommend this book.

On: 2008-01-06

Im no expert, in fact Im a MTB noobie, but all I did was replace my quick releases on my wheels with Onguard locks... so once I put the wheels back on, I had screwed up my disk breaks slightly. Knowing nothing, I went to the book I assumed could show me at least the adjustment points on the breaks... and theres one page listed for mechanical disk breaks, with almost no information other than "dont wipe down the disk". Thanks. I figured it out on my own and 10 minutes of googling. General information, not really a "complete guide".

Worth buying...

On: 2007-11-12

This book is a very good book on bikes if you need to know the basics. I highly recommend it...

excellent guide for first time builders

On: 2007-10-21

This book is great. It tells you how to overhaul a bike, what maintenance to perform and how often, the tools youll need, even which oils and greases to use for different purposes. It has advice how to recognize and correct most It also includes a lot of hard earned tips and caveats about breaking parts or injuring yourself during repairs that the author(s) discovered over the years, so you dont have to. It covers mountain bikes and road bikes (10 speeds) really well, and comfort bikes, BMX, tandem, and recumbent bikes to a lesser extent.

The book deals with a different family of components in each chapter, from handlebars to brakes to chains to shifters, etc. It mainly deals with bikes and parts from the last ten years, but it does include the occasional aside for overhauling very old bikes or bikes from foreign countries made before standard part sizes, threading, etc.

I had never done more than fix a flat or straighten a wheel with a spoke wrench before, but I read it cover to cover and then set about building my own bike because I couldnt find one for sale with the combination of parts and materials I wanted. Combined with some Internet research on product review websites, this book enabled me to build the bike Ive always wanted, including doing the gear and brake cabling. The only thing I didnt do myself was have the front fork pressed into place, which the book recommended I have a shop do. Building from scratch is probably easier than overhauling old components that are rusty, stuck, and dirty, so I cant vouch for the books advice on that yet, but so far the troubleshooting sections at the end of each chapter have helped me tune my new ride to an easy, silent running machine.

excellent guide for first time builders

On: 2007-10-20

This book is great. It tells you how to overhaul a bike, what maintenance to perform and how often, the tools youll need, even which oils and greases to use for different purposes. It has advice how to recognize and correct most It also includes a lot of hard earned tips and caveats about breaking parts or injuring yourself during repairs that the author(s) discovered over the years, so you dont have to. It covers mountain bikes and road bikes (10 speeds) really well, and comfort bikes, BMX, tandem, and recumbent bikes to a lesser extent.

The book deals with a different family of components in each chapter, from handlebars to brakes to chains to shifters, etc. It mainly deals with bikes and parts from the last ten years, but it does include the occasional aside for overhauling very old bikes or bikes from foreign countries made before standard part sizes, threading, etc.

I had never done more than fix a flat or straighten a wheel with a spoke wrench before, but I read it cover to cover and then set about building my own bike because I couldnt find one for sale with the combination of parts and materials I wanted. Combined with some Internet research on product review websites, this book enabled me to build the bike Ive always wanted, including doing the gear and brake cabling. The only thing I didnt do myself was have the front fork pressed into place, which the book recommended I have a shop do. Building from scratch is probably easier than overhauling old components that are rusty, stuck, and dirty, so I cant vouch for the books advice on that yet, but so far the troubleshooting sections at the end of each chapter have helped me tune my new ride to an easy, silent running machine.

Just getting started

On: 2007-09-30

Since Ive just been getting started riding my bike again, I needed a quick review on keeping my bike in working order. The stuff in this book was laid out nicely and easily accessible even for an old fart like me... It came in really handy this summer as I kept getting flats.

Not that great

On: 2007-09-18

Pretty lame if you are planning to actually work on your bike opposed to reading about or thinking about doing it. Covers a lot of things in poor detail, so little detail that you could not do it with this book alone. Example: want to install some disk brakes? No way with this book. It also includes info on how to work on really old bikes and outdated equipment. I bet you are dying to know how to work on centerpull road bike brakes which were last made in like 1981! Yourre in luck b/c that is covered pretty well. Save your $$ and buy another book.

Not that great

On: 2007-09-17

Pretty lame if you are planning to actually work on your bike opposed to reading about or thinking about doing it. Covers a lot of things in poor detail, so little detail that you could not do it with this book alone. Example: want to install some disk brakes? No way with this book. It also includes info on how to work on really old bikes and outdated equipment. I bet you are dying to know how to work on centerpull road bike brakes which were last made in like 1981! Yourre in luck b/c that is covered pretty well. Save your $$ and buy another book.

Excellent book

On: 2007-09-12

Very useful, complete, lots of pics and understandable for anyone. If you need some help for your bike maintenance thats the book you need.

Excellent book!

by: drumdudeguy On: 2007-08-14

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to service their own bike. There are many great pictures and it covers a wide variety of bikes.

Too early to tell, but it looks good.

On: 2007-08-09

I just received this book recently in the mail from the US, and have not had any need to use it. Without actually testing it out, I can only say that it looks good and has a lot of useful pictures. The price was reasonable, so I cant see why anyone would not want to add it to their repairbook collection.

Good Book

On: 2007-08-04

This book is an excellent resource of typical bikes. It has very clear diagrams and great explanations on maintaining, building and repairing bikes.

A tiny bit dissapointed that it did not cover more types of bikes such as recumbent trikes, electric bicycles and other upcoming tech changes to the industry.

As good as it gets.

On: 2007-07-23

Though it still suffers from the same old problem of the photography adding little to nothing to the explanations (typically too close up on the close ups), the explanations themselves are nicely written in plain and practical language. He also gives tips and tricks which Ive never seen included in any other book on bike maintainence and repair.

There are a lot of classic or top bike maintainence and repair books out there, but generally theyre highly rated because the people who review them already know whats in there and agree with it entirely--those books preach to the chior.

This book is for the masses who just want to save $8 on a derailer adjustment--or at least to give it a good try before surrendering to the shop mechanic--or do such truly simple stuff as cut and install new cables and housings, or seemingly scary tasks such as installing a new cassette (the gears in the back) which are so stupid easy to do yourself that once youre done youll be congradulating yourself for not having paid the shop to do it and can spend that money instead on more cool bike stuff.

Some of the explainations do get a bit off track, but not by much. He doesnt get into the history of bicycles or choose one of either the latest technology or the old standard that you probably dont have on your new bike--he shows them both and gets right to the point. So if you want to learn how to care for, maintain, repair, and upgrade your bike better than you could before and thereby save a lot of money, or simply have the odd question answered about why your bike makes a certain noise or doesnt work like you think it should, this is certainly your book.

Just when I thought all these books were useless, Im glad this one pretty much fell in my lap.

As good as it gets.

On: 2007-07-22

Though it still suffers from the same old problem of the photography adding little to nothing to the explanations (typically too close up on the close ups), the explanations themselves are nicely written in plain and practical language. He also gives tips and tricks which Ive never seen included in any other book on bike maintainence and repair.

There are a lot of classic or top bike maintainence and repair books out there, but generally theyre highly rated because the people who review them already know whats in there and agree with it entirely--those books preach to the chior.

This book is for the masses who just want to save $8 on a derailer adjustment--or at least to give it a good try before surrendering to the shop mechanic--or do such truly simple stuff as cut and install new cables and housings, or seemingly scary tasks such as installing a new cassette (the gears in the back) which are so stupid easy to do yourself that once youre done youll be congradulating yourself for not having paid the shop to do it and can spend that money instead on more cool bike stuff.

Some of the explainations do get a bit off track, but not by much. He doesnt get into the history of bicycles or choose one of either the latest technology or the old standard that you probably dont have on your new bike--he shows them both and gets right to the point. So if you want to learn how to care for, maintain, repair, and upgrade your bike better than you could before and thereby save a lot of money, or simply have the odd question answered about why your bike makes a certain noise or doesnt work like you think it should, this is certainly your book.

Just when I thought all these books were useless, Im glad this one pretty much fell in my lap.

Good for basics, no so much for even somewhat advanced

On: 2007-07-05

Im former bike shop manager and longtime mechanic. Somebody bought this for me as a gift. I thought even an old dog can always learn a few new tricks, but this book really has none for someone who already knows something about bike repair. I kept running into sections where the procedure called for bringing the bike to a shop. What good is that? If you need to learn the basics, this is a decent book. If you need to know advanced techniques, youll be far better off finding the info on the web, either at the manufacturers site or someplace like Sheldon Browns site.

Last weekend I saw my neighbor with his bike backwards on his new repair stand. I gave him the book...

Good stuff, but I think the Zinn books are much better

On: 2007-06-14

Save your money and buy Zinns books.

this book

On: 2007-05-18

is awesome, knew nothing at first of bikes, learned lots by just flipping through some pages. Very intuitive.

Great Fixes Excellent Read

On: 2007-05-17

This book is worth its weight in gold. Easy to read, plenty of illustrations. No one who gets on a bike over 21 should be allowed on the road without reading this manual for repair and maintenance.

Very complete

On: 2007-05-13

This is the best book i ever laid my eyes on about bike maintenance and repair. You will get a good understanding about all types of bikes and its parts and how they work separately and as a whole. If you dont know how that little thing is called, no problem, this book has it all. Youll probably save a lot a money on bike maintenance because youll get all the knowledge you need to take care of your bike with confidence if you follow all Todds tips. I became a better rider after purchased this book!!

Lots of Good Info

On: 2007-05-07

I bought this book with the idea of learning how to maintain my bike. What I found was that it was full of information that helped me become a better rider, as well. It gives a lot help for beginners to understand how their bikes work, and how they can get more out of their biking experience.

From Cyclist... to Mechanic

by: Anonymous On: 2007-04-10

If you own a bike, you need this manual to help you make repairs. There are detailed breakdowns of any sort of mechanical problem you might encounter.

Step Bt Step

On: 2007-04-09

This book is great. It realy breaks it down for the new guy with the do it yourself attitude.

all about handling bicycle

On: 2007-03-14

we the riders, tend to learn everything from experience.well, thats good but not good enough!and here comes this book and covers just about every aspect off the handling your bikes. what we miss in theory we can learn from this very easy to read book.the "diamond in the crown" is ofcourse "troubleshooting" which i am now translating to Hebrew for myself.

Useful for daily maintenance

On: 2007-02-12

Great book, I have more experienced after reading this book, but it is not colorful

A good Bike Well maintained will last forever

On: 2007-02-02

The 5th Edition has more pictures and part breakdowns.
From simple routine maintance to the serious biker who would like to know if there chain is worn and stretched and needs replaced.
This book gives a very detailed breakdown of what seems like every possible repair you can make on a bike.
Every one who owns a bike should own this manual.

A grand bike manual!

On: 2007-01-25

Best bike maintenance book Ive ever seen. Clear & apparently up to date.

solid and comprehensive

On: 2007-01-20

solid... comprehensive. Im sure it will be out of date soon, but perfect for its time.

Pleased

On: 2007-01-09

The best used(looks new to me) book I ever bought. FFaasstt shipping. Great price. Full of useful info.

Left me wanting a little more....

On: 2007-01-05

This manual had good focus on the basics of bike maintenance. When I wanted to go into more depth on the assembly of the forks and frame head there was no information available at all. Basic items such as tightening torques, minor adjustments, troubleshooting was lacking. I would have thought these would be included a little more. The book did have outstanding value for the money spent and I still learned a few things... so its a keeper.

Left me wanting a little more....

On: 2007-01-04

This manual had good focus on the basics of bike maintenance. When I wanted to go into more depth on the assembly of the forks and frame head there was no information available at all. Basic items such as tightening torques, minor adjustments, troubleshooting was lacking. I would have thought these would be included a little more. The book did have outstanding value for the money spent and I still learned a few things... so its a keeper.

A verry Good Book!

On: 2007-01-04

Nice and easy to read. It shows you how to do step by step.

Very good

by: pbohlken On: 2006-12-07

I looked at Zinns book on road bicycle maintenance, but opted for this book based on comments by other reviewers and on examining this book in a bookstore. Zinn uses line drawings, but Downs uses excellent black and white photographs I find more helpful than drawings. The photographs help me envision what is foreground and what is background better than a line drawing does.

When I bought my first road bike in 1970 I read Eugene Sloans "Complete Book of Bicycling" and it was very helpful for special procedures. But, bicycles have changed a lot in the last twenty years. This is a good guidebook for anyone with a new bicycle, no matter their previous level of experience.

This book discusses each system on a bike in text. Then comes a near repitition with step-by-step photographs. Finally, there is a troubleshooting section listing problems and their solutions.

I was surprised by two things. Fine new bicycles use metric hex key cap screws and some plastic collars. It is important that these are not tightened too much. Yet, a torque wrench reading in inch pounds was not mentioned in the list of essential tools. (I made my own for five dollars from a steel bar ten inches long and a fishermans scale.) And, 700C tires are the new norm for road bikes, but the inch gear chart for road bikes is based on 27 inch wheels.

I wondered if it would be a problem to treat both road and mountain bikes in the same book, but it works just fine. Both get adequate treatment.

There are a lot of little hints about things that are not directly necessary for fixing a problem, but which will add continued good performance to your bicycle.

The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintainance

On: 2006-11-10

Easy to understand and comphrehensiveley written book about regular maintainance and repair of just about any bike. A fantastic reference for the different components available on most bikes too. A must for anyone seeking to keep the cost of maintaining a bicycle down and the trips to the shop few. I highly recommend this book.

Great

On: 2006-11-10

Im not particulary mechanically inclined, have recently acquired a love of bicycling Ive wanted to work more on my own bikes; and finding a reputable repair shop has proven difficult.
This book is clearly written, good diagrams and pictures and I would recommend it to anyone just getting started with bicycle maintenance.

Bicycle repair and maintenance

On: 2006-07-19

Excellant manual! Great info and well illistrated. I use mine a lot!

Great book... could be better...

by: electrowhite On: 2006-07-02

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

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

On: 2006-06-20

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. Its 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 cant imagine what it would be.

My only complaint with the book is sometimes explanatory text doesnt completely match the accompanying photograph. This isnt a major concern for me, but can be mildly irritating.

For most people, this book should serve well.

Good basics, a handy manual for most jobs

by: page-o-rama On: 2006-06-16

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 itd 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.) Id recommend this for anyone buying a combo or mountain bike with the proviso if you are going to do all your own repairs, youd probably need more than this. A good start, and a good shelf reference to have.

Meets and exceeds all my needs

On: 2006-05-24

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 manufacturers 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 its impossible to have a photo of every possible manufacturers 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 authors fault that you ride a cheap bike, making much of the books 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 Ive 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.

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

by: porkch0p On: 2006-05-04

This is a large book, almost identical in size to
the another one called from Lennard Zinn. However,
thats 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 dont really
demonstrate clearly what the author is explaining.

Another book thats 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 its not that bad.

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

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

On: 2006-05-03

This is a large book, almost identical in size to
the another one called from Lennard Zinn. However,
thats 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 dont really
demonstrate clearly what the author is explaining.

Another book thats 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 its not that bad.

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

not for general use (no matter how thick the guide is)

On: 2006-04-08

Sorry folks, but unless you have a new, expensive, super-duper bike or you need to know minute details, skip on this one. The author goes into too much detail on useless points or obscure parts, but then skips more essential info (like on sizing brakes or finding the right headset. His response is "talk to your local bike shop." Gezz, thanks!).

I would think the target for general purpose manuals, like this, are owners of "frankenbikes," or cheapies. Yet, most of the detail in this book goes to higher-end setups and parts.

very useful and up-to-date for modern bicycles

On: 2006-03-15

Todd Downs "Bicycle Maintenance & Repair, 5th Edition" is a 378 page bargain of a bike repair book. Downs is both broad in scope and thorough in depth.

There are 17 chapters encompassing Home Bicycle Repair, Suspension, Wheels and Tires, Hubs, Chains, Brakes, Headsets, Gears, etc. Each chapter starts out with a general discussion and then proceeds to the specifics of individual types of components and common problems. I appreciated the precise drawings, good labels, and copious photos.

One feature of this book that gives it an advantage over many other bike repair books is the inclusion of modern components along with the old. For example, in the chapter on rear derailleurs there are photos of both an old cheap "Charger" derailleur as well as a more modern "Shimano Deore LX." In the section on wheel removal and remounting, five different examples of brakes are shown so that the user will be able to identify how to take off their particular wheel. I was impressed with the variety the author was able to compress into the book.

In summary, this would be a useful book for a bicycle owner to use to maintain their bike, especially if the biker wants to delve a little deeper and understand some of the wide variety of bike configurations.

It's ok, but perhaps a bit esoteric for beginners

On: 2006-02-21

Decent technical book, but he delves into detail that, while useful once you are experienced, is somewhat arcane for beginners. But a good reference, nonetheless, once you advance.

It's ok, but perhaps a bit esoteric for beginners

On: 2006-02-20

Decent technical book, but he delves into detail that, while useful once you are experienced, is somewhat arcane for beginners. But a good reference, nonetheless, once you advance.

Complete, well written, good drawings/phots

On: 2006-02-12

This book has it all. Its well written and packed with a lot of extra information. The use of drawings and photos is good. Overall I liked the book.

I also have the Park book and while it is a good repair book too, for me the Bicycling book is the better value.

completely useless repair book

On: 2006-01-22

This book sucks! Dont buy it. I wasted my time and money trying to figure out the shifters and deraileurs section from this book. Unless you have a brand new bike with top of the line components and like all text and black and white illustrations this isnt the book you should get.
repair books should be easy to read and have plenty of color illustrations.

Excellent repair book and inexpensive

On: 2005-10-02

I ordered this aswell as the big blue book of bicycle repair from park and this book won hands down in every area. The price is half, the information is better and more detailed and it covers areas the park book doesnt. If you want to learn how to overhaul your bike as I did, this is the book to get.

Excellent repair book and inexpensive

On: 2005-10-01

I ordered this aswell as the big blue book of bicycle repair from park and this book won hands down in every area. The price is half, the information is better and more detailed and it covers areas the park book doesnt. If you want to learn how to overhaul your bike as I did, this is the book to get.

Can't be beat for price and quality

by: pitydafoo On: 2005-09-16

After looking at several other bicycle repair manuals, it was a joy to come across this book that is just right on the money.

Todd Downss book about bicycling repair is something that belongs on the bookshelf (or in the garage) of every bicyclist out there. The book easily pays for itself many times over by giving the novice bicycle mechanic the guidance and instruction in doing his own repairs.

The book is also interesting to read. Downs explains the pros and cons of the various types of components out there, and gives the reader advice for how to best use and care for his bicycle.

The photgraphs are clear and plentiful, never leaving you wondering what youre supposed to do, and give you the confidence to tackle just about any job.

Where other books seem to err by giving the reader too little information - or overwhelming the reader with too much - this book strikes a great balance. Every part of the bicycle is covered in its entirety, and this book should work for just about every cyclist out there, whether youre a road warrior, hard-core mountain biker, or just enjoy a casual ride to the coffee shop on Sunday mornings.

In addition to just straight repair and maintenance, the book is filled with good advice. I particularly liked when Downs would tell the reader if a troublesome part was better off being repaired or replaced entirely.

If you ride a bike, you really should own a repair manual, and this is the best one Ive seen so far.

Even WalMart and Target bikes!

On: 2005-08-21

I used this baby to take apart that Target bike I had hanging in the garage for 5 years. It was so great, it had everything, even the cheap cruddy gear on my bike was covered, and I managed to put the bike back together again too! I discovered there was more to chain lube than that old can that you pushed on the bottom and dripped oil on the chain with. Plus I found out that I had the wrong size bike, completely, that my shifting system was the one they put on 3 speeds back in the 60s, and that it never pays to pry off stuff with the sharp part of the tool pointed at yourself. HOWEVER, the point is, this book ROCKS! I, a complete neophyte (mechanically speaking) took this bike to pieces and it went back together with not one screw left over. I actually did the Hans and Franz PUMP YOU UP pose after finishing.

Dirt is its destiny.

On: 2005-08-21

My copy of Todd Downs book is destined to get dirty-- dirty with the grit and grime of a bicycle in need of maintenance and repair. Modern bikes are more complex and more expensive than ever. Nowadays its hard to just "wing it" if you want to do your own repairs. This book has really helped me to catch up on modern bike technology and gain a better understanding of my two-month-old Gary Fisher. The book is quite comprehensive. There are exploded view illustrations when needed, and the many photographs are comparable to what youd find in a high quality automotive manual. Todd has answered my questions about headsets, forks, hubs...I could go on but you get the idea. Easily worth the measly $14.

Dirt is it's destiny.

Easy Bike Repair for N00bs

On: 2005-06-22

I cant believe this book was overlooked by the bike nazi digerati. Ive looked at other bike repair manuals -shiny & glossy and vastly overpriced- and all things considered, Todd Downs $14.00, 378 pg repair advice gets the job done. Go ahead and pay thirty bucks and upwards for glitz but Ill stick with what Ive got. Cant go wrong with this book in terms of tools, illustrations and coherence. No complaints.