This book really democratized bike repair. Good, clear diagrams and text. ( )

Simply the best basic book on bicycle maintenance you can find. Since it was first written however many years ago it has been periodically updated to deal with changes in the technology - the coming of the mountain bike, index shifting, 10 gear hubs, and so on. Starting from the premise that even the most complex bike is a simple machine anyone with a little patience can learn to maintain, it takes you through the care and feeding of every part. Each section has information on diagnosing problems, and how easy, or hard it will be to fix. There are helpful tips and spaces to write down important pieces of information, like how many ball bearings there are in your front and rear hub, so you'll know when you've lost one. Or four. This book is meant to sit next to your little box of bike tools and be covered in greasy finger prints.

Forget the new ones with glossy photos of exactly this or that model of derailleur. Pick up the one that is still in print after a few decades with the hand-drawn diagrams of the bits you actually need to worry about. And follow his advice about flags and tassels and other junk. ( )

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