Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance

[Monsieur Remings]

Any good? Need to move on leaps and bounds in my know how and just wondering whether anyone has had any experience of this book, or whther there are other recommendations for a novice like me'self to get my teeth into?

 

[swee'pea99]

Have you tried youtube? It has little films on all sorts of maintenance jobs, and I often find it easier to 'get it' from a movie than a book...much as I like books.

 

[slowmotion]

I've had a copy for about six months. I'm sure it has a lot of good stuff, but I find it strangely disengaging. The " drawn" illustrations are not that great. I'm sure there are lots of people who will disagree though.

 

[Steve H]

I've got this book and the mtb one. Both pretty good and easy to follow. I also use some YouTube clips to supplement.

 

[cyberknight]

I have the book and TBH there is not much in there you could not find on parktools or the rest internet for free, its just nice to have it all in one place .

 

[jonathanw]

I've got this book and the mtb one. Both pretty good and easy to follow. I also use some YouTube clips to supplement.

+1, wot he said

I agree - a combination of this book plus you tube, ESP. When working on front and rear mechs

 

[ianrauk]

It's a good book to dip into now and again. But You Tube is the place now for tips on maintenance.

 

[Monsieur Remings]

Thanks folks, have ordered it now anyway, and yes, tend to agree insofar as youtube is concerned.

 

[yello]

Another here that has both road and mtb versions. Both are very good imo. You have to keep in mind that they are sometimes general, and the specifics of the task you're actually doing may differ slightly, but that's not to worry, the general principles are there. Both books are excellent for just pointing you in the right direction.

I too use the internet (youtuve vids etc) as they often help you visually with the task. That said, some of the youtube clips can be overly simplistic, and assume your bike is in good nick. For example, you might have a well stuck bottom bracket, the vid clip will say something 'just remove the bottom bracket'!! NO indication of what to do if the beggar wont shift!

The advantage of books over the tinternet is that you can sit the book alongside you in the worksop (my Zinns have oily finger prints all over!). I built a wheel usiing only Zinn too.