Bicycle!: A Repair & Maintenance Manifesto (Paperback)

by Sam Tracy (Author) "We begin with the tools..." (more)
Key Phrases: spider crank, brake noodles, freehub body, Dual Drive, Dia Compe, Dura Ace (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

At their finest hours, bikes exist on a level above mere machines, and there's no reason the joy should end when the ride is over.

Bicycle!, written by a working bicycle mechanic, covers -everything you need to know to feed and care for your own swank, two-wheeled ride. This book cuts through the obtuse techno-speak and delivers maintenance clarity with a touch of humor and radicalism while categorically denying mechanics' supposed dreariness. Bicycle! is about encouraging society to learn for themselves how to make their bikes work, not because they have to, but because they want to.

With detailed descriptions of all maintenance tasks and repair situations, clearly illustrated with photographs and drawings, this guide will serve the need for a serious rider's manual. Professional bicycle workers-messengers, mechanics, pedicab drivers-as well as bicycle commuters have been waiting for this book.

Sam Tracy writes about bikes from a practiced Midwestern perspective. He began producing the 'zine Biker Pride at some point in the early 1990s, after being fired from the college newspaper for violating its objectivity rules, and this project was later broadened just enough to become the urban cycling-focused Multiplier 'zine. Having biked through the last 15 snowy winters in Minneapolis, including five as a messenger, Tracy is currently enjoying the warmer weather while wrenching on bikes in San Francisco.

About the Author
Sam Tracy is the world's most dangerous bicycle mechanic. He wants you to enjoy fixing your bike! He not only wants you to adjust your own bike, he wants you to adjust your attitude! Sam has been a mechanic for 10 years and has written extensively on the social value of bicycles. He has recently relocated to San Francisco from Minneapolis.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Speck Press (June 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933108010
• ISBN-13: 978-1933108018
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #86,575 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for cyclists, July 23, 2007

By	D. Spindler - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Manifesto is a wonderful description of how to care for your bike, whether you are a weekend biker and barely know where the handlebars are, or a biker who has built his own wheels and goes through many sets of tires a year. But this book is also interesting to read on its own. The author has a way of helping to make riding a bike a political statement that supports taking care of our planet. For instance, the idea of recycling bike parts instead of throwing them away. It is a small thing until you see the huge piles of bikes that get thrown out each year. This book is offering a solution to this waste. And of course, if you use your bike to get to work or do your shopping, you are not spending anything at the pumps. And all this in a readable, even for the not-really biker, and informative package. Worth a read even if you would rather walk.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smart Writing-Unique, March 3, 2006

By	Mike (Boulder, Colorado) - See all my reviews

This book is not "The idiot's guide" so don't buy it if you're expecting that. I enjoyed reading it because it assumes the reader is motivated to make the most of their bike. There are a lot of insiders tips that I haven't come across anywhere else. I do think you may need multiple repair manuals to really become an expert, but I think that's the case with any hobby. The material in this book is unique and refreshing, a must for anyone who wants to take their bike repair knowledge to the next level.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable to read, in no sense complete, May 2, 2006

By	Sam Putman "xeneticist" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book has encouraged me to become a stronger maintainer and repairer of my bicycle, and I have to give it props for that. The reading style is also so enjoyable as to make me read on things, such as fixed wheel bikes, in which I have no present interest. Since I tend towards his leanings politically and whatnot, this is fun; many would merely find it annoying.

The book loses one star for being pretty much a ramble. I found something useful in every section I've consulted on a job so far (I'm overhauling my ride) but I have always had to also consult other sources. It loses another star because the pictures are small and next to useless.

This book is probably most useful for the knowledgable mechanic who may not know about such esoterica as 'soup spoons' and 'spare fingers' and how to cheaply keep the grip shifters from coming off your crap rental bikes -- alternately to convince the complete beginner that bike mechanistry is an art anyone can practice. It's a fun read if you like zines, and it may well empower you to care for your own ride in a way that a dull, by-the-numbers book wont...but get one of those too, because you'll need it.