Art Shotwell

I'm wondering if anyone here has a recommendation for a good bike repair book for road bikes for an experienced rider, but inexperienced repair guy.

freeranger

Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance. I have heard nothing but good things about Zinn Maintenance books. I'm lucky in that I'm mechanically inclined, have been since I was very young, but I've found the Park Tool website and also Sheldon Brown's website to be very helpful. As are the people who frequent Bike Forums.

Dusk

Best manual is Barnett's. Not cheap but the best. Check lists so you can keep track of what you are doing.

HillRider

Agree that Barnettt's is the best and it's the major reference work for professional shop-level mechanics but it's really overkill for a new mechanic. Zinn is good as is Bicycling Magazine's repair manual.

Park's web site is an excellent resource as is Sheldon Brown's.

Art Shotwell

Thanks for the tips. I think I'll order Zinn's. I'm heading off on a bike trip along the Oregon coast in September. Just thought I should have a repair manual along with me. Art

HillRider

Uh, the time to read the manual is BEFORE the trip. The side of the road with a broken bike is a poor place to study.

Art Shotwell

You're certainly right on that note. I do know a little about bike maintenance having been a rider for, oh, 30 years. And, my ride isn't for another two months. So, my intent was to do a little reading, learn the specifics that affect my bike, talk to the LBS if needed, and take the book along for the trip.

Metaluna

Speaking of Zinn, I noticed that his road bike maintenance book is now into the 2nd edition. Does anyone have a list of what's changed? I noticed that he added a bunch of stuff on cantilever brakes but I don't know if it's worth upgrading if you already have the 1st ed.

HillRider

Which manual has changed, the MTB or the road version?

Metaluna

It's the road version. I don't know if the MTB one has been updated lately.

P.S. I just picked up Todd Downs' book (the one from Bicycling magazine) and I really like it (I confess, I'm a book collector). Great pictures and very good explanations. From the sections I've read so far I think this is a better book for a beginner than Zinn's, IMHO.

Peek the Geek

Both the mtb and road versions of Zinn had new editions come out.

Mr_H

I've been looking at a couple of these today. I noticed that Zinn has two (Road Bike and Moutain Bike). I only have a mountain bike now, but eventually I want to get a road bike for commuting purposes. That'd leave me with getting two books.

Then I saw the book by Todd Downs, which states it is Road and Mountain Bikes in one book.

I ride a lot, but I'm a complete newbie when it comes to bicycle repairs (I can change tires... :b)

Would it be worth getting the two books vs the one book with both bike types?

masiman

Try your library or a used book store for simple book and get the Zinn books when you find that the library books are missing something. The library books will buy you some time and enable you to see what you want in a repair book.

Philatio

www.sheldonbrown.com
www.parktool.com/repair
https://bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php?f=10

all I've ever used/needed, plus a little common sense.

HillRider

I agree. The Bicycling manual is aimed at the really inexperienced mechanic and is a better primer. Zinn requires at least a small amount of prior knowledge to get the most out of it.

As dreadful as the magazine is, their repair book is pretty good.

Peek the Geek

Yes it would be worth getting two, in my opinion (speaking as someone who has all three of the books you mention). The Zinn books are able to go into further detail regarding the various brake systems, suspension, etc, since they're not limited to cramming everything into one book.

HardyWeinberg

There are aspects of my Felt 'flatbar roadbike' that are not covered in Zinn's roadbike book, but are focused on more in his mtn bike book (*&^%&^ mini-V *&*^*&# brakes). I have both of his books and like them, but have to say I get more out of talking to (more or less) knowledgeable people as well as just trying to puzzle out mechanisms. w/o people to talk to/bounce things off of (in real life or online), the books (or websites) aren't as helpful to me if I'm missing something that seems like it should be obvious to the author but isn't to me... (I'm still wondering if it would be better to have a continuous/frictional shifter for my front derailer than that freaking indexed thing).

Mr_H

Thanks for the tips all. I ended up buying the two Zinn books, seeing as how they were free (gift cert for birthday). Hopefully my bike wont fall apart on me after my repairs