Zinn & the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance

My family is fortunate to own seven bikes including two very nice high end dual suspension carbon fiber mountain bikes and I am at about the advanced home mechanic level of expertise. I clean, rebuild or install my own headsets, bottom brackets, hub bearings, disk brakes and fork internals. I even build my own wheels occasionally. I however, am not a shop mechanic, and I do not chase bottom brackets, weld frames or align dropouts. With that said, I like to have as a backup to the internet, one complete reference for everyday maintenance. The Zinn book fits that bill perfectly.His book covers all the basics from purchasing the right tools to basic maintenance to emergency repairs. (I like his recommended tool lists more than those covered at the Park Tools website or the lists compiled by United Bicycle Institute) He also covers roughly 99% or more of the repair procedures that any home mechanic might need to attempt. The book even covers wheel building (which bike purists would say is holy ground), frame alignment, proper rider fit and has a decent set of torque tables. The repair procedures are broken down by difficulty in each chapter into Levels I, II and III. For example, a Level I repair would entail a procedure that a newbie mechanic could tackle (like changing a tire or adjusting a seatpost), a Level II would be something more for the home mechanic with some experience (like installing a new front derailleur) and a Level III repair would be for the advanced home mechanic or shop guru (like facing a bottom bracket).There are a few areas where Zinn does not go into much detail, but these tend to be rare topics that even the experienced shop mechanic is probably only going to see a few times a year. Perhaps the only weakness of the book is that for a few of the more detailed procedures, some more photos or diagrams would be helpful. For myself, I was fine with the amount of diagrams but I can see where a newer home mechanic might appreciate it. I am also glad he tends to update this work about once every three to five years. Will be waiting for the next release, and a great guide for more than 99% of home mechanics. Five stars

I rely heavily on this book and another entitled 'Bicycle Maintenance & Repair for Road & Mountain Bikes' (Todd Downs). We have only MTBs and a hybrid bike in our household, and I find that Zinn's book is not only a bit more in-depth (more explanatory) for our bikes, its instructions are also a bit clearer. If you own an MTB, especially one with both a front and a rear suspension, this book is an amazing value.So far, I've found only one statement in the 5th edition (c. 2010) that is clearly both nonsensical and a fallacy. Chapter 14, page 367:"Damping is speed sensitive. Don't worry about settings that feel good at low speeds being too light for high speeds; the shock will get stiffer as you hit things faster."This sentence was within the context of a discussion about rebound damping. First off, the author must have meant "resistive" where he instead printed "light", because otherwise it is inconsistent with his point. However, his point is completely untrue anyway. My explanatory response to his statement: No! Damper oil is a Newtonian fluid. Unlike a mixture of cornstarch and water, it is NOT shear rate thickening, and therefore a hydraulic rebound damper does NOT behave as the author has described here.Hopefully Mr.Zinn will correct that error in a future revised edition of his book.

Good book, with a wealth of knowledge and helpful tips for attacking your own bike maintenance. At this point some of the references are a bit dated and specific product, brand and parts have changed but it still gives you a good overall feel for bike maintenance. Might as well get the newer version at this point if you are working on newer bikes I am sure it will be more applicable. The amount of time devoted to rim brakes is a bit excessive in this version given that they are non-existent at this point on real mountain bikes.Descriptions are usually pretty clear and the illustrations are well selected. More would always be nice but then it would be an even thicker book and probably cost twice as much.

This book is great for any cyclist who is mechanically inclined to do your own maintenance. I happen to be a newb in the MTB realm and have already used this book for a number of “adjustments” and “alignments” to my bike.

I've been trying to maintain my mountain bikes without any manual and it's been a struggle. I was excited about getting this book to help me through some harder tasks. First--derailleur adjustment: the instructions were too confusing and ultimately not very helpful. I've spent hours on this and the adjustment is still off. Second, replacement of my front derailleur: Even though the directions covered several types of derailleur, it left out some vital steps including how to use the inner sleeve and--oddly--getting the chain through the cage. Presumably, the chain would need to be separated or the cage breeched (a real trick as it was obviously not intended to be opened)--but there was absolutely no mention of this. True, I'm a novice and perhaps everyone but me knows how to do this, but a mention would have been helpful. Finally, changing the front fork and replacing the front stem bearings: The directions were too confusing for me to even think of attempting this and I'll probably need to Google it for more help. I'm still trying to use the book but it is much more complicated than I would like for my inexperience.

大判で見やすい。allイラストです。デレイラーのHigh　low調整は、わかりやすい。lowが上にあるネジです。時計回りにまわす。→clockwise　反時計まわり→counter　clockwise　こんな簡単な英語表現も身につく便利本かもしれない。　４４０Pの分厚さで読み応え十分。アメリカのMTBに対する情熱と市場の大きさを、こんな本からも見え隠れします。日本のメンテナンス本はせいぜいこの３分の１か、それ以下のコンテンツで本にしています。ただしモノクロイラストで、どのパーツをさしているか、わかりにくいので星４つです。

大分ぶ厚い本です。もちろんすべて英語ですが、イラストは豊富なため、重要な所だけ、翻訳すれば、あとはニュアンスでいけそうです。確かに、こんなに豊富なMTB本は、日本にない。

例えばチェーン掃除を例にとると、メーカー宣伝みたいなこと書いてないです。ウエスとオイルさし＆ふき取り＆ライド後にまたウエス＆オイル＆ふき取りを習慣づければ、ケミカル使わなくてもOK!というのが一番最初に書いてあります。翻訳されれば良いのに…でも翻訳本でたら、日本人が書いた宣伝＆テキトー書籍が売れなくなっちゃうでしょうね。

Book looked good but if you are just looking to maintain your bike, fix common problems and repair/replace parts, this book is DEFINATELY not for you. Full of jargon and poor illustrations it is a book for someone who already has good engineering skills and a garage full of complex and expensive tools. It is also a little out of date with the latest bike technology General bike maintenance is not rocket science but this book makes it sound like it is.

Very concise with great example pictures. Note the brits ..... this book is written by an American and to that end has words such as wrench and overhaul. Once you get your head round these little isms you too will apprieciate this book and all it contains.