Customer Reviews

Bicycling Magazine's Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Maybe I should have known that a book of this limited volume could not possibly have presented a complete treatment of bicycle maintenance and repair, especially for road bikes "AND" mountain bikes. But, what "is" in the book should at least be well presented. It is not. Instead, it appears that this book is written as a reminder for people who already know what the author(s) are talking about and who have done it before, not for Joe Blow / Never done it Before consumer. If you are a rank beginner then the section on changing tires will be of help, but anything else out of this book will leave you frustrated with the sketchy, incomplete, and poorly communicated explanations. Save your money on this book and a work stand and just take the bike to a bike mechanic; or, perhaps look into "Barnett's Manual" or "Sutherland's Handbook for Bicycle Mechanics".

Well written, comprehensive guide with B&W photos and line drawings but the absence of labelling on photographs is a serious oversight. Unfortunately it is overdue for a new edition. A lot has changed since 1994 when this book was published. I hope the editors break information down into smaller, 'easier to bite' sections with future editions.

This is a good book to get started with, but don't expect to see an explanation about your components if you purchased your bike after 1995.

I have to object to the negative reviews posted here--this book is not meant to be a guide to state of the art equipment. And while it might have been useful to include diagnostics, the truth is if you familiarize yourself with the principles of bicycle mechanics and repair elucidated here you should have a good headstart on figuring out any problems which might arise. Copiously illustrated and easy-to-follow, this book is aimed at people (like me) who never thought to take bicycle repair into their own hands. My grease-stained copy will guide me for years to come--if it helps me keep my '91 Trek 830 running as smoothly as it does now I won't need to worry about the latest innovations.

I believe that a repair book should should include a systematic troubleshooting guide. This book, while informative on the sub-systems of a bike (ie: the chain, the gears etc..), lacks the "top-level" diagnostics that would make it useful.

For instance, what does a clicking noise near where the chain departs the front cog mean? What are the likely causes? What sort of steps can you take to isolate the cause?

I bought this book a while ago and am now trying to use it as a reference as I build my own bike starting with just a frameset. The authors obviously know their stuff but I find the presentation of the information in this book somewhat inadequate. They could use more pictures, diagrams, labeling of pictures, etc. Also, obviously the book is very much outdated. I was in the bookstore the other day and glanced thru what I believe is the updated version and it appears to be pretty much the same. I even found the exact same paragraphs and pictures in the updated version. I think this book is okay but I seriously doubt it could serve as your only reference.