Customer Reviews

Mountain Bike Maintenance: The Illustrated Manual

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A lifelong cyclist and part time bike mechanic who works in a bookstore in the off season(not Amazon) I get to read a fair number of books pertaining to bicycling and bike repair. Short and sweet, this book stands heads and shoulders and feet and knees above all the rest! Far more than the usual collection of turn this screw, push this cable, variety of bike repair tips, this book gives equal ink to the all important "Whys" that other books completely omit.

My Dad, a highly skilled mechanical engineer, used to say that the problem with most manuals is that the step by step instructions they provide are worse than useless if anything falls outside the norm. Tell someone how to do a job, he would say, and he's sunk as soon as a single variable changes.

Allwood clearly belongs to my Dad's camp and this wonderful book is full of details on why things are built a certain way, how they should function, how to tell when they are not functioning properly, etc. As a result, while it is not impossible to find oneself lost in a Lost World while attempting a repair, nine times out of ten Allwood provides enough detail to get one out of any jam.

In addition, there is a great deal of ink devoted to design details. The section on shocks is almost good enough to serve as a mini-course for engineers new to the field, for instance.

As with all books, there are some areas that could be improved. The section on adjusting derailleurs, for instance, seemed needlessly complex with the excess detail serving to confuse rather than clarify. Had I been the editor, this section would have gotten a rewrite.

That said, most other sections of the book are clearly written, well illustrated, and entertainingly presented. In short, this is the only repair manual I have ever read cover to cover simply because it was too damn good to put down.

Five stars and a cheer to boot! And lets hope Allwood has another book in the works!

I have spent the last three evening reading the drivetrain section and am delighted with this book. It has ample illustration to supplement an in-depth, well-written text. It is technical and may be a tough read for some, but if you want to understand how your bike works and how to fix it when it breaks, this is indeed, as good as it gets.

If there's only one at-home reference needed for your mountain bike's maintenance, make it Mel Allwood's Mountain Bike Maintenance: The Illustrated Manual, a virtual bible of explicit, user-friendly details on the care of any mountain bike. Allwood's an expert mountain bike mechanic, but explains that these bikes are surprisingly simple in design, and easy to work on. Chapters detail minor adjustments ranging from brakes to `transmission', cable-cleaning and chains and speeds, and include plenty of black and white and color photos for clear detail throughout. Highly recommended.

Loaded with nice full-color photographs and clear directions, this book is a great reference for anyone looking at performing some basic maintenance on his or her bike. The large page size definitely calls for a two-column text layout, but that's a minor quibble. Content is king, and the book delivers on its promise.

That said, the Park Tools website contains a good deal of the same info, and tends to be updated as trends and components change. The Park Tools book is also a good deal, and most local bike shops carry it (a good opportunity to support your local economy).

This book is the best description of cycling maintenance that I have seen. Lots of clear pictures, great layout thorough explanation with great tips that come from experience. The best part about this book? It covers all this current technologies on bikes. Eg how to bleed hydro breaks, how to dismantle and service some common brand forks and rear shocks, sealed bearings etc. A lot of work has gone into this book and it deserves the 5 stars. Cheers.

I was expecting a book full of technical explanations and vague drawings, typical of so many Manuals' these days.

I was totally taken aback at how well the technical information was laid out in easy to follow steps, and the "Whys" of performing certain checks and maintenance jobs as well as the clear and concise pictures of each part explained.

This is one book that will be referred to again and again as the two simple checks and adjustments I have already made, has made the bike that much more stable.

A must have for anyone who rides and rides hard.

A truly outstanding book.

Congratulations Mel, on a really great book.

I've bought Mel's maintenance book following the suggestions from previous customers. Their reviews pointed me to this book. It's now natural that I wish to contribute to the plethora of enthusiastic readers.
If you are considering buying an mtb maintenance book don't go any further: Mel has it all you need to keep in your own garage workshop. Oh yes, this is not the book you'll see collecting dust in a bookshelf. This is the kind of reading that you'll devour in one shot, and keep it at hands for years. Mine has already a few stains, even though I treated it with highest respect.
No matter how good you are in mtb maintenance, Mel has the right hint for you to dramatically improve your skill, all dressed with an impressive selection of pictures that will take you step by step to the solution of your problem. Other maintenance books may have pictures as well, other maintenance books may guide you through a problem-solving tree, but Mel has a unique ingredient: LOVE.
Yes, Mel loves his bike, and you'll feel it throughout the entire book. I love my bike as well..... AND YOU?

The book seems well organized upon first glance. However, as I read through a procedure, the text seems to cover 75% of the task and then trail off. I don't feel there is a resolution to the topic before the next one starts. I like the "why/how it works" discourse at the beginning of each section to explain how a system is intended to operate, but beyond that the procedural portions are not as satisfying as "Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance". Zinn just seems to cover each topic as completely as possible (covering different brands quirks) rather than a general procedure that leaves a little of interpretation by the user for their particular case. This author at least encourages working around breaking the chain to save from constantly replacing links whenever you work on the drivetrain. I recommend the Zinn reference over this one for a beginning home mechanic.

This is a great book for anyone interested in maintaining his mountain bike by himself. It is intended for someone starting out and the book also has recommendations for more advanced maintenance topics. There are lots of illustrations which is quite useful for a do-it-yourself book such as this one. The book even gives specific examples for some major brand item repair work. Highly recommended.

After reading the other reviews I was expecting this book to be the only book that I would need when it comes to mountain bike maintenance. However, I ended up being a bit disappointed.

The photos are fine and there is a lot of material included but the author is awfully verbose and some of the advice he gives contradicts with other repair manuals. Reading the book is akin to listening to repair advice by some friend who has fixed his own car a couple of times but who isn't really a car mechanic by training.

Sadly, I will still have to rely on a bike tool manufacturer's website for maintenance guides.