Fifty Plus (50+) - Quick Zinn question

Haven't had a chance to check out the book at the LBS (local bookstore) yet. Does it cover old bikes? And, should I get the mountain bike one, or the road bike one, to work on my Peugeot?

Is your Peugeot a road bike? Maybe you can answer your own question. There is an older mechanic book from Bicycling magazine that would deal with older bikes. For older bikes Sheldon Brown is a great reference. Zinn's books are both good...I have both.

Actually, the Zinn mountain bike book shows pictures of some fairly obsolete brakes and such so I'd say it would be an excellent reference for working on older bikes. I don't know how much difference there is between the road and mountain books but, since you're working on a mountain bike, I think that I'd get that one.

When I started messing with bikes I bought "Anybody's Bike Book". I like the Zinn book today in the same way that I liked Anybody's book back then. They both have the same kind of charm.

Deeg, you remind me of myself when I was studying Italian. I thought if one study book was good, two might make me twice as good, or at least better. Mama mia, it was difficult enough to master (or even grasp) the verbs or vocabulary in the first one. MY advice: get the MTB edition first and see if you really use it or if it collects dust on your shelf.

BTW, I have a much used and highly grease-smudged 1970s version of Anybody's Bike Book--a classic that shows how far bikes have evolved (or is it devolved?).

The two books are very similar. I'd start with the MTN bike book but after that you won't need the other for a long time.

BTW, I have a much used and highly grease-smudged 1970s version of Anybody's Bike Book--a classic that shows how far bikes have evolved (or is it devolved?).
Is that the one by Tom Cuthbertson? I have his "Bike Tripping" from the same era. I read somewhere, a year or two ago, that he had died.:(

Is that the one by Tom Cuthbertson? (


Yes. To my mind, That and Volkswagen Repair for the Complete Idiot served as the models for all the "Dummies" books that followed through the years.

Yes. To my mind, That and Volkswagen Repair for the Complete Idiot served as the models for all the "Dummies" books that followed through the years.
I always enjoyed his non-conformist approach to cycling, riding in a kilt for example.:D He was truly a character.

Zinn'z books are just fun to read and fillled with all kinds of cycling info. I would go with the one that most suits your riding interests(road or Mt.).

I have Zinn's Road Bike manual, in the previous edition, and it does cover old bikes, back thru the '60s or '50s, with the possible of exception of coaster brakes and Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hubs. For those look for Glenn's.

Zinn DEFINITELY covers older types of rim brakes and friction shifting systems.

Road Fan

Well, I guess the Peugeot is a "mountain bike" since it came with wide, knobby tires and a flat bar. See, I'm not completely clueless! :D

I always enjoyed his non-conformist approach to cycling, riding in a kilt for example.:D He was truly a character.

Yup. We have a couple of threads going about what emergency supplies one needs to carry with them and who lacks the ability to fix their own flat tires. Cuthbertson's approach was to carry nothing with you on your bike. He felt that, if you had a flat tire, the ride was spoiled anyway so what's the point?

I don't go quite that far (I can fix my own flats thank you) but I try not to carry too much junk with me when I ride. Some of my most memorable experiences have been the kindnesses of strangers after a ride has gone south.

Well, I guess the Peugeot is a "mountain bike" since it came with wide, knobby tires and a flat bar. See, I'm not completely clueless! :D

It may be a mountain bike, or it may be a cross, by that criterium. My NB-28 is a cross, even though it has wide knobby tires and a flat bar. And a triple. I used to think triples were a sign of a mountain bike, but now there are fixie mtbs....