Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance

I chose this book on the strength of the reviews already logged with Amazon, but I was hardly prepared for how good it is. It is a hundred times better than I expected.Everything you could possible want to know is here, clearly explained and diagrammed. And it is packed with lots of little hints and tricks about doing real bike maintenance ... obviously written by someone that has done it for real. Unlike those old car maintenance books full of idiotic statements like "Remove the six retaining bolts" ... Duh ... they appear to have welded themselves to the cyclinder head! Or that old cop-out "Assembly is the reverse of disassembly." Not it isn't. It never is. Zinn knows this.What I was not prepared for was the huge SIZE of the book. It is in A4 format (or bigger) and at least an inch thick. It is not the sort of thing you just pop into your backpack when you go out for a ride.Now I'd like to see "Zinn's pocket guide of emergency fixes to get you home when your bike breaks down miles from anywhere"Highly recommended.

My son is absolutely delighted with this. He's about to go off on a 300 mile charity bike ride and loves the clarity and comprehensivenss of this book. Within minutes he was able to check whether he needs to pack any additional tools to those he also got for his birthday in a tool set. If there's anything to know about a bike, it should be here and I second the other positive reviews here.Other reviewers have complained about the lack of colour photos. They's not necessary. This is a manual, not a Sunday Supplement. The black and white line drawings are functional and clear -that's exactly what's needed in a manual. Don't be put off by this point in other reviews. The pics are fine.Good, practical book.AA

I must be one of the least equipped people to do anything practical on a bike, and to be honest, I thought the reviews I'd read were OTT. But I don't think they were:- it is VERY easy to understand- the instructions are incredibly detailed and easy to follow.- it says how easy or difficult a task is, which is incredibly valuable if you're not a practical person.I've been able to sort several things that others might find straightforward but before getting the book would have been beyond me. I'm delighted! It si already saving me money as I don't need to take my bikes to a shop to sort the maintenance things that have been necessary. Riding is so much more enjoyable with a well-set-up bike.

Well written for Naughties Bikes and easy to understand. Unfortunately, technical development of bikes has moved on dramatically in last 10 years and the edition I bought is a little dated. Make sure you purchase latest edition

Just got back on the bike recently & wanted to update my bike maintenance reference. I hadn't come across Lennard's books before, but took a gamble on the great reviews. I have to agree - it covers all the old gear that I still have & the new stuff that I'm no doubt going to have to work with at some stage. I was disappointed at first at the lack of photos, but the diagrams are plentiful & clearly drawn. Reassuringly chunky & highly recommended!