Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #961596 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 351 pages

Synopsis
New and improved for 1999, this updated fourth edition includes information on new road and mountain bike models, specialized seats, V-brakes, and more, as well as many new photographs and a detailed troubleshooting section. Original.

Customer Reviews

Poor structure, lacks diagrams & good photos, bits missing
I was most disappointed with the book after the glowing reviews I have read on your web page. Considering that this book is about maintenance and repair one would expect a lot of good quality diagrams to supplement the text but this is not the case (compare this with a Haynes manual for example). In places there are several pages of description without a single diagram or photograph (for example P85..P89 & P107..P113). Whilst the book does have a lot of black and white photographs they are generally of poor quality and in some cases so poor you cannot see enough detail to make it worth it (for example P198/9 & P244). Diagrams are poor and few in number and the ones there are remind me of those done in the 60s (for example P17 & P33).

In addition the text does not have anywhere near enough sub title/headings in order to quickly identify the different sections and you have to wade your way through pages of text in order to find what you need - that is if you could find it. The order of some topics is another mystery. This is all made worse because of the lack of accompanying diagrams which can sometimes help when the text is lacking.

One of the points of buying a book like this is that I want to be able to do the work myself. The last thing I want to read is phrases like 'take the bicycle to a main dealer'. Whilst this might be true for a few particularly difficult procedures I cannot believe that the majority of bicycle maintenance and repair procedures require that much expertise even though the tools can sometimes be a bit expensive. It is my experience that main dealers are a pretty incompetent lot and in the past I have had to do the work myself in order to have the job done correctly so there is no way I want them to do it!

The last bad thing to say is that the resources in the back of the book are clearly designed for a US not an international readership.

One good thing about the book is that it uses recycled paper.

Sorry, but not impressed.

Absolutely Brilliant!
This book is the most comprehensive guide I've ever seen for repairing and maintaining bycicles. It has step by step instructions and easy to follow diagrams and illustrations It even gives you lists of what you neeed for the job. I highly recomend for the professional or beginner.

Excellent value for money
This book is worth every penny of its price. It is to the point and has a lot of good advice and helpful tips. A couple of the photographs have not transferred too well to the printed page but it has saved me from the expense of professional bike repair so far! Even those unskilled in bike repair can follow this. Buy it!