Reference Book Question
 

As far as bike maintenance and repairs go, what would be the better reference book? Right now I am looking at either the "Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair" or "Zinn & The Art of Road Bike Maintenance". I'm leaning towards the BBB as I am always referring the Park Tools website, but find the online repair section to vague for me to get a complete understanding of more complex issues that are new to me (i.e derailleurs).

Zinn.

I really like the maintenance instruction sheets that come with Shimano components. The instructions are specific to the component model, so they are always more accurate than generic instructions in the beginner repair books. Last time I checked, the instructions are also available as downloadable PDF files on the Shimano web site. I assume that SRAM and Campy have similar instructions.

Hey, well why not try our brand new and totally free online repair manual! We've got almost 80 guides up and running for starters, each with hd video, images and step by step text, and we're planning another 80 or so in the next couple of months. This is the plug I have been waiting for!

http://www.madegood.org/bikes/library/

Hope you find it useful, feedback always welcome and appreciated.

Wow, thats a pretty cool website. I like how you transcribed the video with the pictures underneath and seeing the motions helps too. Definitely putting that in my favorites.

Thanks for the responses. They are all good and useful information and helps out a lot.

If you have a mainstream bike, I'd recommend the Park book. The procedures are clear and concise, well illustrated and easy to follow.

Zinn is OK too, so you can't go too wrong buying it, especially if you have experience with mainstream repairs and are looking for info on out-of-the ordinary stuff.

But for most folks Park is a better bench reference.

My $0.02

-Tom in SoCal

Why buy the Park book when you already have Park's website? If I were you, the Zinn book would be my choice, as that means you'll have another reference in addition to the Park Tool USA website.

You can't lose with either of those books though.