Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance
by Lennard Zinn
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Book Reviews of Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance
Book Review: After one day with this book...
Summary: 4 Stars
I spent the better part of yesterday reading through this book and working on my badly-out-of-tune bike. I learned how to properly clean and maintain my bike, adjust derailleur positioning, cable tension, limits, and how to true the wheels. I also learned a bunch of emergency repair techniques. By the end of the day, my bike was properly cleaned and lubed, was shifting quickly and smoothly, and my noticeably wobbly back wheel was perfectly straight. I did all of these things using only my Topeak Alien II (which I highly recommend) and a makeshift bike stand. Today, I took my bike out on a 3-hour ride to test it and it worked flawlessly. I'm giving this book a 4-star rating now because I haven't had enough time to read through the whole thing yet, but I can say that it definitely deserves a 5-star rating for basic bike maintenance instruction.
The book is well illustrated and the instructions are very much to the point and generally very easy to follow. The pages are 8.5 by 11", so there's plenty of room for large illustrations and the text spacing makes it very easy on the eyes. It explains each process for multiple brands (Shimano, Campy, SRAM, etc.), which is extremely useful because the directions describe the exact part you're working on. It is well written and the author's personality comes out to some degree and makes it entertaining to read. The illustrations are excellent and very helpful--there are many exploded-view drawings of parts so you can see exactly how it works and how to take it apart and put it back together. Overall, it has been an excellent resource so far and one day's use has saved me a ton of money.
Book Review: no V-brake section, attn hybrid owners
Summary: 4 Stars
I have a hybird bike (Trek 7.3fx) that sits a little more toward the road bike side of the Road-Mountain bike spectrum among hybrids. Because of this, I thought this road bike edition of the Zinn book was more appropriate.
Turns out I was wrong. There is no V-brake section in this version. You need the mountain bike version for that. I am now a happy owner of Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance, but it would have been nice if the choice had been clearer earlier on.
For what its worth, having seen both the road and mountain versions of this book, I'd recommend the mountain bike book to hybrid bike owners. Of course this depends on the particular bike you have, but the hybrids I've seen will mostly likely be better covered in the other work. Especially if you have V-brakes, the choice for the mountain bike book is a no-brainer.
Book Review: Perfect for learning about your bike...
Summary: 5 Stars
If you ride a road bike and don't like paying the wrench at your local shop to maintain it, buy the book; it tells you how to fix what's broken and it even tells you when your probably not going to be able to fix it yourself. Also it gives you a complete list of tools that you will need that corresponds with the level of the repair. I've ridden bikes my entire life but I have only recently been fixing my bike myself. Since I bought the book I have fixed broken spokes, replaced the cogset on the rear wheel and built a single speed city cruizer. If you want to fix your bike and don't really know where to start buy this book. But be prepared to have many of the page corners covered in chain lube and citrus degreaser...Good luck you won't need much if you have this book next to your tool box.Book Review: Made a fantastic and useful gift!
Summary: 5 Stars
I really don't know what I can say here besides that my boyfriend found a road bike he loves (a rare one in fact) and then he researched and found that this book is the best book out there if you want to learn all about road bikes, how to take care of them, how to keep them clean and working their best.. etc etc. He now wants to build his own bike, and he says the book is great and that he reads quite a bit of it every day. He told me about it, so I bought it for him :) I would recommend it to anyone interested in the bike world!Book Review: Awesome awesome awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
There are a few times where I get caught up because he uses some lingo I don't understand (coming from having no background in bike repair) but eventually I figure it out. AWESOME BOOK. I now do ALL of my own repairs. (except for that which I don't have equipment for :))