Customer Reviews

Anybody's Bike Book: A Comprehensive Manual of Bike Repairs

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I think that this is the one book that anybody with a bike needs. It covers all aspects of bike mechanics from the simplest, like choice of tools, to more complex, like working on the power train. There is a lot of practical advice about dealing with problems on the road such as straightening the front end after a collision, to replacing broken spokes.

The writing style, and clear illustrations, make it easy to read.

I bought my first copy of this book back in 1974 at the age of 14, and proceeded to tear every part of my bike apart, and more importantly, successfully put it back together! I recently began riding again, and the first thing I did was to buy the newest edition, and proceeded to tear apart my bike again! This book makes it fun to work on bikes! In fact, once I had finished completely overhauling it, I was a little bummed because all that is left to do now is to ride it...

The bood is well written, funny, informative, and covers almost everything. I highly recommend it to anyone who owns a bike and is interested in learning to maintain it!

This is the best bicycle repair manual on the market. I have used an older version of this book many times and it has never let me down. Highly recommended for all bicycle enthusiasts.

I've left Cuthbertson handy in my bathroom for the past 6 months. In that time, during spare moments, I've learned how almost everything on my bicycle works. It helped me immensely to break down the component groups into easily understood functions such as "drivetrain" -- and after all, why should understanding how a bicycle goes together be any more difficult than understanding how an internal combustion automobile goes together? When things get too ginchey, that seems to be the right spot for one of Morall's pen-and-ink sketches to show up. (My favorite is illustration 11-10, depicting the parts of a down-tube control lever, painstakingly sketched, and labeled as per the text as "thingamabob," "doodad," and "mounting bolt." ... Of course, the point was how fiendishly complicated such an arrangement can be.) The information is clearly presented, and differentiated among mountain, road, and "cruiser" bikes. I'll be moving the book down to my shop this week! :->

This book has all of the information that I will probably ever need to keep my bike working in perfect condition. However, it has only a handful of "drawing"-type illustrations. I need lots of pictures in a how-to book...especially one that is so technical.

First of all, if you happen to have the author's "All-in-One Bike Repair Manual"(1996), you won't need this. They are about 95% identical, with the introduction of the V-brake (to the exclusion of the U-brake) being the only significant diffence.

Secondly, if you happen to have an old three-speed that you might want to refurbish, forget either of these books. In the earlier tome he was "sad to say" that he had to drop the three or four pages which would have to been added to address their unique needs, and in the current book, he does not mention them at all. However, if you can get a hold of an earlier version of the Everybody's Bike Book, you will learn all you need to know...

For all others who are not addressed above, I highly recommend this book. I have a first edition which is still my bible to the care and feeding of two-wheelers.

This is a great book; it was the book that got me interested in working on my bicycle way back in the 70's. I love the drawings and the verbage. This in not the super-techincal book you buy for becoming the master mechanic on your highly-tuned road racing machine; ratherly, it's the book you have around to answer simple questions or to loan to some kid on the block to help them fix their bike. For that it's the best, somewhat like Mad Magazine meets the Zen of motorcycle maintenance.

Buy it, you'll like it.

This book has a few primitive drawings but doesn't get into much detail. Some of the fixes I would not recommend unless you own an old beat up bike. They're really emergency fixes to help you get back home from a long ride. I recommend this book instead and Amazon has it:
The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance and Repair: For Road and Mountain Bikes

Anybody's Bike Book was a classic in it's time, but there are much better books out there today.

I work on a lot of bikes and recently reviewed a bunch of bike repair books for a class I taught. I would recommend the Park Tool "Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair" or "Zinn and the Art of Road/Mountain Bike Maintenance" over this book, even for a beginner.

A great basic overview written in easily understood terms. A helpful guide if you want to undertake the maintance of your bike.