Complete Idiot's Guide to Bike Maintenance and Repair [Paperback]

Terry Meany (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Complete Idiot's Guide | Publication Date: April 23, 2001

The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to Bike Maintenance and Repair provides recreational cyclists with the "do-it-yourself" means to maintain and service their own bikes without having to pay someone else to do the dirty work. Rather than spanning the entire field of bicycling, this book focuses on those things readers need to know in order to keep their bikes safe and trouble-free-- including, bike basics, workings, maintenance before and after riding, tools and accessories and common repairs.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Bike Maintenance and Repair provides recreational cyclists with the "do-it-yourself" means to maintain and service their own bikes. Rather than spanning the entire field of bicycling, this book focuses on those things readers need to know in order to keep bikes safe and trouble-free, including: bike basics and anatomy, bike workings, maintenance before and after riding, tools and accessories, common repairs, emergency repair instructions and troubleshooting tips.

About the Author

In addition to being the author of three Complete Idiot's Guides (CIG to Electrical Repair, Plumbing, and Remodeling Your Home), Terry Meany is a bicycle enthusiast. Although past his bike collecting days, he has rebuilt and assembled an array of interesting bicycles and parts over the years. No estate sale or closeout bin at a local bike shop was safe from his snooping. He has built bikes for commuting, touring, and simply ones that interested him. He still has a soft spot for traditional English bikes and keeps a Holdsworth and an ancient Raleigh SuperCourse on hand for riding.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Alpha; 1 edition (April 23, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028641396
• ISBN-13: 978-0028641393
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,393,338 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good text, knowledgable author, but no useful illustrations!, July 9, 2001

By 

John H. Henderson (Las Cruces, NM, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Complete Idiot's Guide to Bike Maintenance and Repair (Paperback)

I bought a bike 11 days ago (and, as this and other authors [who all run bike shops, it seems] say, is a disdainful "department store" bike - but I'm starting cheap to see if I stay with it.) I bought this book the next day. On the way to the post office on my third or fourth trip out, a tire goes flat. Having read most of this book, I walked into the local bike shop for the first time and confidently asked for tire levers and a patch kit. The helpful saleswoman immediately went and got them for me, and as I was checking out, having incorrectly identified me as an experienced biker, she began to talk to me of problems with a customer's bike they were looking at in back and of the Tour de France.

This book seems to have done the trick.

I was wanting a more general book than one only on maintenance, and I wanted the maintenance sections to cover all bikes. There are several books available just on road bikes or just on moutain bikes. This book does what I want, and began with an interesting history of bicycles. In usual Idiot's Guide style, the book is easy to read, has a personable style and interesting margin notes defining terminology, giving some related, interesting facts, or giving notes of warning. The author seems to be very qualified and knowledgable to write such a book. I thought the sections on on-the-road emergencies, buying a bike, and riding a bike were particularly helpful, and were nice additions.

However, this book has one major flaw. Almost all of the figures were supplied by Park Tool and Campagnolo. If the author had one of these illustrations that demonstrated the subject of the text, he inserted it, but often there was no figure, or the figure didn't quite illustrate the text. In a book on maintenance, good figures showing the procedures are a must - especially for a book aimed at beginners as this is (It IS an "idiot's guide," after all). Figures are also needed to simply show what items look like. I could probably find several examples on every page, but how about a diagram of a butted tube, or of a quill pedal, or of the different brake systems?

Although this book meets its goal somewhat painfully (you may need to sit in front of a bike to figure out what it is trying to describe in words), a much better book is Bicycling Magazine's Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair for Road and Mountain Bikes. Its authors have not skimped on the figures as those of the Idiot's Guide have, including clear step-by-step black-and-white photos of all procedures. For those wanting some color, and don't mind that mountain bikes and road bikes are covered in separate books, you may want to examine the books by Zinn and Van der Plas, which I've seen but have not read.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Intro Book., October 30, 2002

By 

joel (kingsport, tn United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Complete Idiot's Guide to Bike Maintenance and Repair (Paperback)

If you need a repair manual that explain simple repairs and doesn't go to far into complex repairs this is a good book, It has some good diagrams and instructions but it also has alot of useless information. There are definately better bike manuals out there but for the average person this book is sufficient.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not enough substance or details, May 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Complete Idiot's Guide to Bike Maintenance and Repair (Paperback)

This book is a general introduction to bikes and bike maintenace, not a book that will guide you through difficult repairs or even many routine adjustments. The book's breezy, informal tone is friendly at first but becomes annoying when using the book as a repair guide.