Bicycle Mechanics - Bicycle repair book recommendation

I discovered a very good book on bicycle repair called Anybody's Bike Book .

The oldtimers are going to scream because the original version came out about 20 years ago and was the bible of the bike repair world. It took some of the mystery out of the gadget filled 10-speeds of the era and inspired many who went on to become bike mechanics and open their own shops.

This is an updated version published in 1998. Thus, most of the more modern components are addressed in this book.

It shows simple and practical ways to check for maintanance like how to tell if your chain is worn to the extent it needs replacement or how to fix bent wheels when your MTB crashes in the middle of nowhere.

The explanations and sketches make this a good book even for those who don't know anything about bike repair.

I recommend it.:thumbup:

Here are the details so you can get it:

Title: Anybody's Bike Book
Author: Tom Cuthbertson
Copywright: 1998
Publisher: Ten Speed Press, P.O. Box 7123, Berkeley, CA 94707

Library of Congress Cat. info "On file with the publisher" (what the heck).

Mike,

I agree with you. This is a great book. :thumbup:
Lots of drawings and excellent advice and tips.

I bought it shortly after I bought my first bike (after a 10 year break from cycling) a couple of years ago. I have underlined or highlighted half the book.
I would recommend it to anyone with any type of bike since it covers road, mountain, and hybrids of almost any age.

Ron

Hey, Mike, thanks for the recommendation! I'm still learning about my bike. I was supposed to go to a maintenance workshop today, but they cancelled it at the LBS which was 30 miles away. I'm kinda bummed, so I guess there's always next month. Until I find somewhere else.

Anyway, I have the Zinn book on MTB, and it's all dirty with grease now. :D It seems as if it kinda stops short of really explaining some of how the repairs or the components of the bike, because I always have questions after I look at their drawings. Guess that's just me??

I keep hoping I'd run in to someone that could teach me the ropes on this stuff, but I guess I'll have to keep trying on my own. :)

Technogirl, have you tried your local library/libraries?

I've found several dozen really good books on bicycles, including bike repairs, at the library.

Originally posted by JonR
Technogirl, have you tried your local library/libraries?

I've found several dozen really good books on bicycles, including bike repairs, at the library.

Yup, Good advice, Jon. That's where I got the book mentioned on this thread about maintanance.

You can have a gander at the library and decide if you want to buy it or not.

Great idea, guys! I think I'll ride down their this afternoon to check it out. Guess I'll have to dust off my library card, and check out what's new over there!

Technogirl:

If you haven't been to the library in a long time, you might find that your local library is on-line.

Check to see. If so, you can usually find out what books they have, if they are researved or available, and you can reserve them on-line. They may even deliver the books to the most convenient library branch near you by the next day. Our local library does all this and many others do too.

My dad bought that book back in the '70's because he always tries to do-it-yourself. :cool:

The part I remember (as a teenager) is the cartoon showing a guy in bed with his bike, with his wife being forced out of the bed...

Originally posted by mike
...you can usually find out what books they have, if they are researved or available, and you can reserve them on-line. They may even deliver the books to the most convenient library branch near you by the next day. Our local library does all this and many others do too.
Same in Kansas City: you can even make a request for a book they don't have, and they'll obtain it from somewhere else in the USA and let you pick it up wherever is convenient. I did this with a book a few months ago. It's great.

Another advantage is that, from home, you can see what's available at any branch location at a given time--and what should be available, but isn't (checked out, stolen, etc.). This in itself can be a convenience. You don't need to make a trip, if the book isn't even at the library!

Im trying my first ever wheel lacing and having a bit of trouble does this book explain how to lace a wheel trueing is not the problem getting all the spokes in the right holes and sequence is a b- - - - ! will this book be helpfull? Thanks

I can't answer about the book, but in the meantime you might want to take a look at http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html which is about wheelbuilding. Pretty good! Hope it helps...

Brownie - I highly recommend "The Art of Wheel Building" by Gerd Schraner. Probably not available at your local library, but it's what I used to learn wheel building and I swear by it. Easy to use large pictures to follow when doing the actual build plus lots of additional info from a master wheel builder.

A few years ago I came across the original version of the book. I found it to be very helpful when working on my 1973 3-speed. As much as I like the old one, I will have to upgrade my library and check out the new edition.

I've currently checked out 3 bicycling books at the local library. Well, unfortunately, that's all they had. :( It's quite sad. They were actually pretty interesting, and had some good topics on maintenance, even if it was 10 years old. I might have to check the next city's library. They seemed to have a better selection of books, last time I was there. They're probably online, too.

I picked up the '98 version of "Anybody's Bike Book" for $4.25 at the local used book store. I've gotten 16 others there in the last 10-12 months, including "Glenn's Complete Bicycle Manual" (a little dated but lots of good blown up pictures), "The Everything Bicycle Book" good overview of all things bicycling),"The Complete Book of Bicycling" (covers everything ), and "Greg LeMond's Complete Book of Bicycling" (good reading). They were all under 5 bucks.

Wow, that sounds like a great used bookstore, to me! I'll have to check out the one down the street, and some other used bookstores to see if they have any in stock.

I have picked up some goodies from my favorite used book store, including an earlier edition of "Anybody's Bike Book" and a practically new copy of "The Bicycle Wheel", one of the bibles of wheelbuilding.

I have several repair books, including the extensive Barnett Bicycle Institute manuals. My day-to-day "go to" is now Bicycling Magazine's "Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair". Good explanations, step by step instructions, and decent pictures. Leans toward newer bikes but covers older stuff, too. Even has a pretty good section on wheel building.
Regards,
Raymond