[.ca] Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance (ISBN 1884737706)

From Amazon.com:
Lennard Zinn is a cycling god. Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance is revered as a bible among the fat-tire set; he now extends the gospel to the rest of the cycling faithful in Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance. From simple, routine maintenance to more complicated tasks, Zinn remains "convinced that anyone with an opposable thumb can perform any repair on a bike." He begins with "Basic Stuff" such as pre-ride inspections and cleaning the drive train, and continues on through the super-advanced task of wheel building--arguing that "the construction of a good set of bicycle wheels is actually a straightforward task." Zinn guides readers step by step through every possible repair on every possible part, handlebar grips to Maric Mektronic electronic shifting, with plain-speaking text and helpful illustrations. There's even a section on emergency repairs, including unexpected advice such as straightening a bent rim by hitting it against the ground: "You may be surprised how straight you can get a wheel this way." This comprehensive manual is essential reading for those who love their bike. "All you have to do is follow the instructions and trust yourself." Indeed. --M. Stein

Nice beginner's book:
A lot of good basic information and up to date. SOme though, is too basic. His instructions for adjusting derailleurs are so poor as to be barely adequate. For the front deraill. for example he has 3 steps. HI gear-- 1.shift back and forth between the middle and inner rings. 2. If the chain jumps over the big ring, tighten the hi-gear limit screw. 3---(more of the same)the .Yea, this is good basic stuff to get you into very roughly correct adjustment, but that is all. Better info is free on Park tool's site. From the troubleshooting section--Tire is Flat. Cause: tire deflated. Action: pump tire. I doubt anyone is so inept they need to be told that. That said, it is good for those he said it was written for: "(Those) who do not think they are capable of maintaining their bikes." I have the Bicycling magazine book too, and frankly I cannot say one is better than the other. The fact is, once you get the basics down, if you have any mechanical experience or aptitude, most of this stuff is pretty simple. I had hoped for some more advanced tips on making things operate more smoothly or efficiently, but while the Bicycling mags book has some, this has very few. It's a simple book with the basics. Anytime you find a "maintenance" book that tells you ho to chance a tube, you are looking a a very simple book. If you need more, you'll be disappointed. If the basics are what you want, this books is more than adequate.

Not for the poor:
An excellent book in many respects. However, Zinn falls victim to the "newer is better" (or, rather, "old is unimportant.") Lots of great bicycle fixing advice, excellent diagrams -- but you are SOL if you are trying to repair a bicycle older than 1998. For example, Zinn only covers sidepull brakes with a quick release. Only new/expensive bikes have this quick release tab; all other bicycles require you to, e.g., deflate your tires to pull them off. If you didn't know this, you would damage your bicycle. Keeping with this ignoring of those of us who are, e.g., fixing an older bicycle, Zinn gives no help on these issues -- but does spend pages and pages on how to fix the "wireless radio transmitter transmissions". Next time, Mr. Zinn -- try to keep the ordinary folks in the loop, eh?

Great book!:
This book has taught me a lot about working on my bike. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes (or needs) to work on their bike but doesn't have much experience. I overhauled my front hub and dialed-in my brakes with the help of this book. Highly recommended!

Already saving me money!:
This book is great! After going to my local bike shop and paying $18 for a simple gear and brake adjustment I knew it was time to start learning how to work on my own bikes. My confidence is growing as I am learning the inner workings of all these formerly "mysterious" mechanical devices. Zinn writes in a way that is easy to understand and gives you confidence. Trust me..nobody will adjust your gears with the precision that you will after you learn how. My shifting has never been smoother! I think besides all of the normal maintenance on my bike, I will probably build one from the ground up as my next project. I highly reccomend this book if you are mechanically declined (like me) or mechanically inclined.

Great book!:
I read this book from cover to cover the day I got it, even though this is a reference book! The instructions are very detailed. It even guides you through steps in a logical way and tells you to jump to different steps depending on the result of the previous step! I would have given it 5 stars...but I bumped it down by one because a lot of the diagrams are not on the page that references the diagram so I found myself flipping back and forth a lot...this is a bit annoying when you're working on your bike...