a really useful guide, 22 Feb 2008
Having both a hybrid and a road bike i needed a book for general maintenance that would cover the essentials for both types. This book does that. It covers the steps for various brakes, wheels and gear adjustment as well as other stuff like a bottom bracket and even adjusting a seat post.

What you can't see on the internet is the size of this book - it's only about 12cm tall and so is a real pocket size which could be easily fitted in a pannier if you tour or commute.

The pages of the book which i was particuarly looking for were the maintenance schedules - weekly, monthly and yearly. Each shows what you should do in simple steps to keep your bike running well.

Highly recommended, particularly for beginners

Concise and excellent, 02 Jun 2007
This is a concise book that covers the essentials, yet is written for beginners. It's a book you need if you're not necessarily a bike hobbyist but are a casual or commuting cyclist who simply needs to know what's what.

Everything you need to know is covered. Brakes, wheels, cranks, gears... In each case, a brief outline is given of how things work, and then a brief step-by-step maintenance guide is provided. Note the word 'brief' there. This is far from an encyclopaedic book, but that's part of its appeal.

What I liked most is that this is a guide for those of us with ordinary bikes that cost under £300, rather than the expensive and complicated road or mountain bike. However, more complex components such as suspension forks and disc brakes are covered too.

a really useful guide, 22 Feb 2008
Having both a hybrid and a road bike i needed a book for general maintenance that would cover the essentials for both types. This book does that. It covers the steps for various brakes, wheels and gear adjustment as well as other stuff like a bottom bracket and even adjusting a seat post.

What you can't see on the internet is the size of this book - it's only about 12cm tall and so is a real pocket size which could be easily fitted in a pannier if you tour or commute.

The pages of the book which i was particuarly looking for were the maintenance schedules - weekly, monthly and yearly. Each shows what you should do in simple steps to keep your bike running well.

Highly recommended, particularly for beginners

Concise and excellent, 02 Jun 2007
This is a concise book that covers the essentials, yet is written for beginners. It's a book you need if you're not necessarily a bike hobbyist but are a casual or commuting cyclist who simply needs to know what's what.

Everything you need to know is covered. Brakes, wheels, cranks, gears... In each case, a brief outline is given of how things work, and then a brief step-by-step maintenance guide is provided. Note the word 'brief' there. This is far from an encyclopaedic book, but that's part of its appeal.

What I liked most is that this is a guide for those of us with ordinary bikes that cost under £300, rather than the expensive and complicated road or mountain bike. However, more complex components such as suspension forks and disc brakes are covered too.

Comprehensive, straightforward and well illustrated., 26 Oct 2007
Having looked at a number of cycle repair manuals I liked this one the most. The layout of the book is clear and easy to follow. Instructions are very clearly explained and excellently illustrated with photographs and diagrams. It covers in plenty of detail everything I ever want to know about cycle repair and maintenance and is far easier to understand and work from than some other manuals e.g. the Haynes cycle manual.

a really useful guide, 22 Feb 2008
Having both a hybrid and a road bike i needed a book for general maintenance that would cover the essentials for both types. This book does that. It covers the steps for various brakes, wheels and gear adjustment as well as other stuff like a bottom bracket and even adjusting a seat post.

What you can't see on the internet is the size of this book - it's only about 12cm tall and so is a real pocket size which could be easily fitted in a pannier if you tour or commute.

The pages of the book which i was particuarly looking for were the maintenance schedules - weekly, monthly and yearly. Each shows what you should do in simple steps to keep your bike running well.

Highly recommended, particularly for beginners

Concise and excellent, 02 Jun 2007
This is a concise book that covers the essentials, yet is written for beginners. It's a book you need if you're not necessarily a bike hobbyist but are a casual or commuting cyclist who simply needs to know what's what.

Everything you need to know is covered. Brakes, wheels, cranks, gears... In each case, a brief outline is given of how things work, and then a brief step-by-step maintenance guide is provided. Note the word 'brief' there. This is far from an encyclopaedic book, but that's part of its appeal.

What I liked most is that this is a guide for those of us with ordinary bikes that cost under £300, rather than the expensive and complicated road or mountain bike. However, more complex components such as suspension forks and disc brakes are covered too.

Comprehensive, straightforward and well illustrated., 26 Oct 2007
Having looked at a number of cycle repair manuals I liked this one the most. The layout of the book is clear and easy to follow. Instructions are very clearly explained and excellently illustrated with photographs and diagrams. It covers in plenty of detail everything I ever want to know about cycle repair and maintenance and is far easier to understand and work from than some other manuals e.g. the Haynes cycle manual.



Couldn't get home without it, 03 Jan 2005
Full of practical advice, clearly presented and above all memorable. Got stuck out on the trail recently, but remembered some of the tips gleaned from this book, and ended up being able to contunue back home. Invaluable!

Bolt the what on where?, 29 Sep 2004
Spectacularly unhelpful maintenance manual. Inadequate textual deacription....pictures too small or unhelpful....terms and parts not described or explained....too much assumed knowledge....omits several important basic tasks. Surprising but sadly true as Sidwell's "Bike Book" is great.

Essential Information for Greater Biking Enjoyment!, 14 May 2004
Reading this book made me want to go out and buy new bikes for the whole family!

There's nothing quite like the pleasure of riding out of a beautiful bike showroom on a great bicycle! Yet within months, I always noticed that the feel was gone. Pretty soon, I wasn't riding as much.

Now from reading this book, I know that all bikes need regular maintenance to keep that top-performance feeling. And I know what to do. It's a wonder that my bikes and my children's bikes ran at all before reading this book!

My idea of bike repair was to patch a puncture, adjust the seat and handle bars, and get a new chain if it broke. That's about 3 percent of what you really need to know.

The book is also useful as a guide to what type of bike to buy in the first place. The pros and cons of various types of materials and structures are well developed.

For those who enjoy mastering physical tasks, this book also offers much potential pleasure. "Keeping your bike in tip-top shape is very satisfying -- and makes riding more enjoyable."

Although I am far from being a mechanical person, I could clearly do everything in the book. But I do need different tools. No problem! The book shows you just what to buy, with many choices (more kinds of bike stands than you ever knew existed, as an example). Not only that, it tells you which ones to take with you on a long touring ride. If you don't have the right tool, it shows you how to improvise with materials usually found along the side of any road. This was fascinating! In fact, the paperback is just the right size to take along on a ride, so you can figure out what to do if you bend a rim.

One of the real insights for me was to realize that all of the bearings are meant to be rebuilt once a year. And there are a lot of bearings on any bike.

Where a bike might have different types of equipment (such as for brakes and transmissions), you get descriptions of what to do with all the major types.

Many pictures show you what each part looks like, and the steps to go through for maintenance. This is the main drawback of such a compact book. Some of the images can be a little small. But I see no way around that if you are to have a truly portable guide to repair and maintenance.

Most people will decide to still get some maintenance and repair at the local bike shop. But this book can show you what's involved so you can figure out what it might cost in time and money to do the work yourself.

One of my favorite parts of the book was the Troubleshooting Chart to give you an idea from the symptom you have observed what is a likely cause, the solution, and where the information is found to implement that solution.

I suggest that you both get this book and try doing some of the maintenance. If you enjoy this, it could become a very satisfying hobby. You could also do maintenance for other people to help cover the cost of the tools. I suspect that less than 1 bike in 50 is properly maintained.

If you have children who like to learn to fix and maintain things, this could be a fun family activity. My dad was very good at such things when I was a wee lad, so good that I never learned how to fix anything. Be sure to pass along what you know and learn instead.

But whatever you do, be sure you get out and enjoy biking with loved ones! That's the ultimate payoff.

A brilliant little book that I never want to be parted from., 06 May 2004
The minute I got this book I used it to adjust my gears and clean my headset. I do lots of cycling but I'm not too good at some of the more complex repairs - this book is 10 times better than any other bike maintenance book I've seen. It contains everything you need to know, whether you are an occasional weekend cyclist or a hardened racer. It covers all types of bikes from road bikes to mountain bikes and children's bmx's. It is packed with easy to read information on how all the parts of a bike work, how to clean, maintain and repair them. Every page contains easy to follow explanations - all accompanied by very clear pictures. It covers every level of expertise from fixing a puncture and changing a brake cable to truing a wheel and repairing suspension forks. I cannot imagine how I ever lived without it.

too high-level for its intended use, 10 Dec 2001
It's small, you can carry it around with you, it's got loads of nice colour photos, but unfortunately it doesn't have sufficient detail to really explain how to do much maintenance or repair at all!! I needed a real "how-to" kind of book and this is not it

a really useful guide, 22 Feb 2008
Having both a hybrid and a road bike i needed a book for general maintenance that would cover the essentials for both types. This book does that. It covers the steps for various brakes, wheels and gear adjustment as well as other stuff like a bottom bracket and even adjusting a seat post.

What you can't see on the internet is the size of this book - it's only about 12cm tall and so is a real pocket size which could be easily fitted in a pannier if you tour or commute.

The pages of the book which i was particuarly looking for were the maintenance schedules - weekly, monthly and yearly. Each shows what you should do in simple steps to keep your bike running well.

Highly recommended, particularly for beginners

Concise and excellent, 02 Jun 2007
This is a concise book that covers the essentials, yet is written for beginners. It's a book you need if you're not necessarily a bike hobbyist but are a casual or commuting cyclist who simply needs to know what's what.

Everything you need to know is covered. Brakes, wheels, cranks, gears... In each case, a brief outline is given of how things work, and then a brief step-by-step maintenance guide is provided. Note the word 'brief' there. This is far from an encyclopaedic book, but that's part of its appeal.

What I liked most is that this is a guide for those of us with ordinary bikes that cost under £300, rather than the expensive and complicated road or mountain bike. However, more complex components such as suspension forks and disc brakes are covered too.

Comprehensive, straightforward and well illustrated., 26 Oct 2007
Having looked at a number of cycle repair manuals I liked this one the most. The layout of the book is clear and easy to follow. Instructions are very clearly explained and excellently illustrated with photographs and diagrams. It covers in plenty of detail everything I ever want to know about cycle repair and maintenance and is far easier to understand and work from than some other manuals e.g. the Haynes cycle manual.



Couldn't get home without it, 03 Jan 2005
Full of practical advice, clearly presented and above all memorable. Got stuck out on the trail recently, but remembered some of the tips gleaned from this book, and ended up being able to contunue back home. Invaluable!

Bolt the what on where?, 29 Sep 2004
Spectacularly unhelpful maintenance manual. Inadequate textual deacription....pictures too small or unhelpful....terms and parts not described or explained....too much assumed knowledge....omits several important basic tasks. Surprising but sadly true as Sidwell's "Bike Book" is great.

Essential Information for Greater Biking Enjoyment!, 14 May 2004
Reading this book made me want to go out and buy new bikes for the whole family!

There's nothing quite like the pleasure of riding out of a beautiful bike showroom on a great bicycle! Yet within months, I always noticed that the feel was gone. Pretty soon, I wasn't riding as much.

Now from reading this book, I know that all bikes need regular maintenance to keep that top-performance feeling. And I know what to do. It's a wonder that my bikes and my children's bikes ran at all before reading this book!

My idea of bike repair was to patch a puncture, adjust the seat and handle bars, and get a new chain if it broke. That's about 3 percent of what you really need to know.

The book is also useful as a guide to what type of bike to buy in the first place. The pros and cons of various types of materials and structures are well developed.

For those who enjoy mastering physical tasks, this book also offers much potential pleasure. "Keeping your bike in tip-top shape is very satisfying -- and makes riding more enjoyable."

Although I am far from being a mechanical person, I could clearly do everything in the book. But I do need different tools. No problem! The book shows you just what to buy, with many choices (more kinds of bike stands than you ever knew existed, as an example). Not only that, it tells you which ones to take with you on a long touring ride. If you don't have the right tool, it shows you how to improvise with materials usually found along the side of any road. This was fascinating! In fact, the paperback is just the right size to take along on a ride, so you can figure out what to do if you bend a rim.

One of the real insights for me was to realize that all of the bearings are meant to be rebuilt once a year. And there are a lot of bearings on any bike.

Where a bike might have different types of equipment (such as for brakes and transmissions), you get descriptions of what to do with all the major types.

Many pictures show you what each part looks like, and the steps to go through for maintenance. This is the main drawback of such a compact book. Some of the images can be a little small. But I see no way around that if you are to have a truly portable guide to repair and maintenance.

Most people will decide to still get some maintenance and repair at the local bike shop. But this book can show you what's involved so you can figure out what it might cost in time and money to do the work yourself.

One of my favorite parts of the book was the Troubleshooting Chart to give you an idea from the symptom you have observed what is a likely cause, the solution, and where the information is found to implement that solution.

I suggest that you both get this book and try doing some of the maintenance. If you enjoy this, it could become a very satisfying hobby. You could also do maintenance for other people to help cover the cost of the tools. I suspect that less than 1 bike in 50 is properly maintained.

If you have children who like to learn to fix and maintain things, this could be a fun family activity. My dad was very good at such things when I was a wee lad, so good that I never learned how to fix anything. Be sure to pass along what you know and learn instead.

But whatever you do, be sure you get out and enjoy biking with loved ones! That's the ultimate payoff.

A brilliant little book that I never want to be parted from., 06 May 2004
The minute I got this book I used it to adjust my gears and clean my headset. I do lots of cycling but I'm not too good at some of the more complex repairs - this book is 10 times better than any other bike maintenance book I've seen. It contains everything you need to know, whether you are an occasional weekend cyclist or a hardened racer. It covers all types of bikes from road bikes to mountain bikes and children's bmx's. It is packed with easy to read information on how all the parts of a bike work, how to clean, maintain and repair them. Every page contains easy to follow explanations - all accompanied by very clear pictures. It covers every level of expertise from fixing a puncture and changing a brake cable to truing a wheel and repairing suspension forks. I cannot imagine how I ever lived without it.

too high-level for its intended use, 10 Dec 2001
It's small, you can carry it around with you, it's got loads of nice colour photos, but unfortunately it doesn't have sufficient detail to really explain how to do much maintenance or repair at all!! I needed a real "how-to" kind of book and this is not it

A good book but at times boring, 21 Apr 2008
I like this book. It covers most aspects of bicycle maintenance. The troubleshooting sections were helpful. I liked the full page colour photographs of bikes in action. I think it would have been better to have used colour photographs to accompany the step by step instructions. There is a lot of text in this book, which at times I found dull and boring. I prefer The Bike Book which is a British book published by Haynes whereas this book is American.

Big, comprehensive but definitely a book for hobbyists, 02 Jun 2007
This book reminds me a lot of the old Haynes car manuals that were based the stripping-down and reassembling of a car. But it's equally frustrating in a way because it doesn't focus on problem solving. Yes, there are problem-solving sections, but I would have liked to see each of the illustrated guides showing how to solve a particular problem, rather than being based on simply taking something apart and reassembling it. After all, why else would I be reading a book on bike maintenance if it wasn't to fix something?

In a way, this is a good indication of who this bike is aimed at: Hobbyists. It's for people who enjoy tinkering with bikes. That's not to say it won't be useful for more casual or commuting cyclists, but you'll have to wade through a lot of sometimes patronising waffle to find what you need.

That said, the book has formed a handy reference for me, even if it isn't the first book I turn to. Everything is covered and although the book is specifically aimed at higher-end mountain and racing bikes, everything inbetween is covered provided you apply common sense. There's enough info here to cover all aspects of my cheap £150 hybrid bike, for example.

In addition to the guides, there are full descriptions of each bike component, and Q&A troubleshooting sections. There's also a strong intro section on basic maintenance technique and tools.

a really useful guide, 22 Feb 2008
Having both a hybrid and a road bike i needed a book for general maintenance that would cover the essentials for both types. This book does that. It covers the steps for various brakes, wheels and gear adjustment as well as other stuff like a bottom bracket and even adjusting a seat post.

What you can't see on the internet is the size of this book - it's only about 12cm tall and so is a real pocket size which could be easily fitted in a pannier if you tour or commute.

The pages of the book which i was particuarly looking for were the maintenance schedules - weekly, monthly and yearly. Each shows what you should do in simple steps to keep your bike running well.

Highly recommended, particularly for beginners

Concise and excellent, 02 Jun 2007
This is a concise book that covers the essentials, yet is written for beginners. It's a book you need if you're not necessarily a bike hobbyist but are a casual or commuting cyclist who simply needs to know what's what.

Everything you need to know is covered. Brakes, wheels, cranks, gears... In each case, a brief outline is given of how things work, and then a brief step-by-step maintenance guide is provided. Note the word 'brief' there. This is far from an encyclopaedic book, but that's part of its appeal.

What I liked most is that this is a guide for those of us with ordinary bikes that cost under £300, rather than the expensive and complicated road or mountain bike. However, more complex components such as suspension forks and disc brakes are covered too.

Comprehensive, straightforward and well illustrated., 26 Oct 2007
Having looked at a number of cycle repair manuals I liked this one the most. The layout of the book is clear and easy to follow. Instructions are very clearly explained and excellently illustrated with photographs and diagrams. It covers in plenty of detail everything I ever want to know about cycle repair and maintenance and is far easier to understand and work from than some other manuals e.g. the Haynes cycle manual.



Couldn't get home without it, 03 Jan 2005
Full of practical advice, clearly presented and above all memorable. Got stuck out on the trail recently, but remembered some of the tips gleaned from this book, and ended up being able to contunue back home. Invaluable!

Bolt the what on where?, 29 Sep 2004
Spectacularly unhelpful maintenance manual. Inadequate textual deacription....pictures too small or unhelpful....terms and parts not described or explained....too much assumed knowledge....omits several important basic tasks. Surprising but sadly true as Sidwell's "Bike Book" is great.

Essential Information for Greater Biking Enjoyment!, 14 May 2004
Reading this book made me want to go out and buy new bikes for the whole family!

There's nothing quite like the pleasure of riding out of a beautiful bike showroom on a great bicycle! Yet within months, I always noticed that the feel was gone. Pretty soon, I wasn't riding as much.

Now from reading this book, I know that all bikes need regular maintenance to keep that top-performance feeling. And I know what to do. It's a wonder that my bikes and my children's bikes ran at all before reading this book!

My idea of bike repair was to patch a puncture, adjust the seat and handle bars, and get a new chain if it broke. That's about 3 percent of what you really need to know.

The book is also useful as a guide to what type of bike to buy in the first place. The pros and cons of various types of materials and structures are well developed.

For those who enjoy mastering physical tasks, this book also offers much potential pleasure. "Keeping your bike in tip-top shape is very satisfying -- and makes riding more enjoyable."

Although I am far from being a mechanical person, I could clearly do everything in the book. But I do need different tools. No problem! The book shows you just what to buy, with many choices (more kinds of bike stands than you ever knew existed, as an example). Not only that, it tells you which ones to take with you on a long touring ride. If you don't have the right tool, it shows you how to improvise with materials usually found along the side of any road. This was fascinating! In fact, the paperback is just the right size to take along on a ride, so you can figure out what to do if you bend a rim.

One of the real insights for me was to realize that all of the bearings are meant to be rebuilt once a year. And there are a lot of bearings on any bike.

Where a bike might have different types of equipment (such as for brakes and transmissions), you get descriptions of what to do with all the major types.

Many pictures show you what each part looks like, and the steps to go through for maintenance. This is the main drawback of such a compact book. Some of the images can be a little small. But I see no way around that if you are to have a truly portable guide to repair and maintenance.

Most people will decide to still get some maintenance and repair at the local bike shop. But this book can show you what's involved so you can figure out what it might cost in time and money to do the work yourself.

One of my favorite parts of the book was the Troubleshooting Chart to give you an idea from the symptom you have observed what is a likely cause, the solution, and where the information is found to implement that solution.

I suggest that you both get this book and try doing some of the maintenance. If you enjoy this, it could become a very satisfying hobby. You could also do maintenance for other people to help cover the cost of the tools. I suspect that less than 1 bike in 50 is properly maintained.

If you have children who like to learn to fix and maintain things, this could be a fun family activity. My dad was very good at such things when I was a wee lad, so good that I never learned how to fix anything. Be sure to pass along what you know and learn instead.

But whatever you do, be sure you get out and enjoy biking with loved ones! That's the ultimate payoff.

A brilliant little book that I never want to be parted from., 06 May 2004
The minute I got this book I used it to adjust my gears and clean my headset. I do lots of cycling but I'm not too good at some of the more complex repairs - this book is 10 times better than any other bike maintenance book I've seen. It contains everything you need to know, whether you are an occasional weekend cyclist or a hardened racer. It covers all types of bikes from road bikes to mountain bikes and children's bmx's. It is packed with easy to read information on how all the parts of a bike work, how to clean, maintain and repair them. Every page contains easy to follow explanations - all accompanied by very clear pictures. It covers every level of expertise from fixing a puncture and changing a brake cable to truing a wheel and repairing suspension forks. I cannot imagine how I ever lived without it.

too high-level for its intended use, 10 Dec 2001
It's small, you can carry it around with you, it's got loads of nice colour photos, but unfortunately it doesn't have sufficient detail to really explain how to do much maintenance or repair at all!! I needed a real "how-to" kind of book and this is not it

A good book but at times boring, 21 Apr 2008
I like this book. It covers most aspects of bicycle maintenance. The troubleshooting sections were helpful. I liked the full page colour photographs of bikes in action. I think it would have been better to have used colour photographs to accompany the step by step instructions. There is a lot of text in this book, which at times I found dull and boring. I prefer The Bike Book which is a British book published by Haynes whereas this book is American.

Big, comprehensive but definitely a book for hobbyists, 02 Jun 2007
This book reminds me a lot of the old Haynes car manuals that were based the stripping-down and reassembling of a car. But it's equally frustrating in a way because it doesn't focus on problem solving. Yes, there are problem-solving sections, but I would have liked to see each of the illustrated guides showing how to solve a particular problem, rather than being based on simply taking something apart and reassembling it. After all, why else would I be reading a book on bike maintenance if it wasn't to fix something?

In a way, this is a good indication of who this bike is aimed at: Hobbyists. It's for people who enjoy tinkering with bikes. That's not to say it won't be useful for more casual or commuting cyclists, but you'll have to wade through a lot of sometimes patronising waffle to find what you need.

That said, the book has formed a handy reference for me, even if it isn't the first book I turn to. Everything is covered and although the book is specifically aimed at higher-end mountain and racing bikes, everything inbetween is covered provided you apply common sense. There's enough info here to cover all aspects of my cheap £150 hybrid bike, for example.

In addition to the guides, there are full descriptions of each bike component, and Q&A troubleshooting sections. There's also a strong intro section on basic maintenance technique and tools.

Good introduction but for practical advice forget it, 02 Jul 2004
If you've never owned a bike before then this is a good book from which to get a basic knowledge, what the various bits are called and what they do etc.
However, the servicing information it contains lacks any practical advice and if you follow it you'll get nowhere in my experience. They show nice photos of a clean brand new bike (with parts removed for clarity) which just doesn't map across to the real world. And what happens when you follow their instructions but it still doesn't work: well, you're left with a bike in a worse condition then when you started. If you want hands on, real world, practical advice on how to maintain your bike you are better searching the web where you will find excellent articles with more explanation and more 'if that doesn't work, then do this' kind of advice.

Not bad... if you own a mountain bike, 15 May 2002
I'm somewhat disappointed by this book as it spends WAY too much time discussing mountain bikes.

I own a Bianchi city bike (a hybrid, but hardly from an unknown brand) and it's hard to find pictures of ANYTHING that looks like my bicycle. Maybe the pictures just aren't clear enough or maybe I'm just obtuse but I DO find this book rather confusing.

There's a LOT of space (pages and pages, actually) devoted to giving free and shameless plugs to ANYTHING made by Avenir. I find that tacky. A second line of attack seems to be to talk you into spending lots and lots and LOTS of money on weird and wonderful tools. A lot of space is wasted on pictures of tools, but with very little space devoted to how to USE the blessed things.

Finally, as far as the "housewife from Bolton"'s review for this book goes, you can find the exact same review (verbatim!) on the page for Fred Milson's "The Bike Book". I can only presume it was placed here by some zealous sales type.

Maybe if I owned a mountain bike I'd get more out of this book, as it is it's been a waste of money. Ask the guys at the shop to show you how they fix things.

Excellent book for beginners., 23 Jun 2000
I am a housewife who does a lot of her shopping by bicycle, but was rather ignorant about cycle technicalities. But no longer, as with the help of this excellent book I have now successfully repaired and serviced my three current bikes: a small folding bike, a racing bike and a ladies shopper bike. The pictures and text are very clear, it just takes a little more time to grasp all the new jargon if you are a complete beginner.

An Essential Manual for Enthusiastic Bikers, 26 Oct 1999
This is an excellent and well-illustrated guide to DIY bike maintenance. It describes all that a non-pro will need to know ... as well as most of what a pro ought to know. Pity it has not been updated ... it is now starting to get out-dated, but nevertheless strongly recommended. Very easy to follow instructions.

Four crowns not five only because it has been published almost five years ago.

Excellent Basic Knowledge, 23 Apr 1999
This book provides an excellent introduction to how to maintain your bike. It has good clear pictures with easy to read and understandable text. I managed to not feel scared in taking apart my headset and get it back together so that it still worked. Not so good for top end bikes as the bits become less standard

a really useful guide, 22 Feb 2008
Having both a hybrid and a road bike i needed a book for general maintenance that would cover the essentials for both types. This book does that. It covers the steps for various brakes, wheels and gear adjustment as well as other stuff like a bottom bracket and even adjusting a seat post.

What you can't see on the internet is the size of this book - it's only about 12cm tall and so is a real pocket size which could be easily fitted in a pannier if you tour or commute.

The pages of the book which i was particuarly looking for were the maintenance schedules - weekly, monthly and yearly. Each shows what you should do in simple steps to keep your bike running well.

Highly recommended, particularly for beginners

Concise and excellent, 02 Jun 2007
This is a concise book that covers the essentials, yet is written for beginners. It's a book you need if you're not necessarily a bike hobbyist but are a casual or commuting cyclist who simply needs to know what's what.

Everything you need to know is covered. Brakes, wheels, cranks, gears... In each case, a brief outline is given of how things work, and then a brief step-by-step maintenance guide is provided. Note the word 'brief' there. This is far from an encyclopaedic book, but that's part of its appeal.

What I liked most is that this is a guide for those of us with ordinary bikes that cost under £300, rather than the expensive and complicated road or mountain bike. However, more complex components such as suspension forks and disc brakes are covered too.

Comprehensive, straightforward and well illustrated., 26 Oct 2007
Having looked at a number of cycle repair manuals I liked this one the most. The layout of the book is clear and easy to follow. Instructions are very clearly explained and excellently illustrated with photographs and diagrams. It covers in plenty of detail everything I ever want to know about cycle repair and maintenance and is far easier to understand and work from than some other manuals e.g. the Haynes cycle manual.



Couldn't get home without it, 03 Jan 2005
Full of practical advice, clearly presented and above all memorable. Got stuck out on the trail recently, but remembered some of the tips gleaned from this book, and ended up being able to contunue back home. Invaluable!

Bolt the what on where?, 29 Sep 2004
Spectacularly unhelpful maintenance manual. Inadequate textual deacription....pictures too small or unhelpful....terms and parts not described or explained....too much assumed knowledge....omits several important basic tasks. Surprising but sadly true as Sidwell's "Bike Book" is great.

Essential Information for Greater Biking Enjoyment!, 14 May 2004
Reading this book made me want to go out and buy new bikes for the whole family!

There's nothing quite like the pleasure of riding out of a beautiful bike showroom on a great bicycle! Yet within months, I always noticed that the feel was gone. Pretty soon, I wasn't riding as much.

Now from reading this book, I know that all bikes need regular maintenance to keep that top-performance feeling. And I know what to do. It's a wonder that my bikes and my children's bikes ran at all before reading this book!

My idea of bike repair was to patch a puncture, adjust the seat and handle bars, and get a new chain if it broke. That's about 3 percent of what you really need to know.

The book is also useful as a guide to what type of bike to buy in the first place. The pros and cons of various types of materials and structures are well developed.

For those who enjoy mastering physical tasks, this book also offers much potential pleasure. "Keeping your bike in tip-top shape is very satisfying -- and makes riding more enjoyable."

Although I am far from being a mechanical person, I could clearly do everything in the book. But I do need different tools. No problem! The book shows you just what to buy, with many choices (more kinds of bike stands than you ever knew existed, as an example). Not only that, it tells you which ones to take with you on a long touring ride. If you don't have the right tool, it shows you how to improvise with materials usually found along the side of any road. This was fascinating! In fact, the paperback is just the right size to take along on a ride, so you can figure out what to do if you bend a rim.

One of the real insights for me was to realize that all of the bearings are meant to be rebuilt once a year. And there are a lot of bearings on any bike.

Where a bike might have different types of equipment (such as for brakes and transmissions), you get descriptions of what to do with all the major types.

Many pictures show you what each part looks like, and the steps to go through for maintenance. This is the main drawback of such a compact book. Some of the images can be a little small. But I see no way around that if you are to have a truly portable guide to repair and maintenance.

Most people will decide to still get some maintenance and repair at the local bike shop. But this book can show you what's involved so you can figure out what it might cost in time and money to do the work yourself.

One of my favorite parts of the book was the Troubleshooting Chart to give you an idea from the symptom you have observed what is a likely cause, the solution, and where the information is found to implement that solution.

I suggest that you both get this book and try doing some of the maintenance. If you enjoy this, it could become a very satisfying hobby. You could also do maintenance for other people to help cover the cost of the tools. I suspect that less than 1 bike in 50 is properly maintained.

If you have children who like to learn to fix and maintain things, this could be a fun family activity. My dad was very good at such things when I was a wee lad, so good that I never learned how to fix anything. Be sure to pass along what you know and learn instead.

But whatever you do, be sure you get out and enjoy biking with loved ones! That's the ultimate payoff.

A brilliant little book that I never want to be parted from., 06 May 2004
The minute I got this book I used it to adjust my gears and clean my headset. I do lots of cycling but I'm not too good at some of the more complex repairs - this book is 10 times better than any other bike maintenance book I've seen. It contains everything you need to know, whether you are an occasional weekend cyclist or a hardened racer. It covers all types of bikes from road bikes to mountain bikes and children's bmx's. It is packed with easy to read information on how all the parts of a bike work, how to clean, maintain and repair them. Every page contains easy to follow explanations - all accompanied by very clear pictures. It covers every level of expertise from fixing a puncture and changing a brake cable to truing a wheel and repairing suspension forks. I cannot imagine how I ever lived without it.

too high-level for its intended use, 10 Dec 2001
It's small, you can carry it around with you, it's got loads of nice colour photos, but unfortunately it doesn't have sufficient detail to really explain how to do much maintenance or repair at all!! I needed a real "how-to" kind of book and this is not it

A good book but at times boring, 21 Apr 2008
I like this book. It covers most aspects of bicycle maintenance. The troubleshooting sections were helpful. I liked the full page colour photographs of bikes in action. I think it would have been better to have used colour photographs to accompany the step by step instructions. There is a lot of text in this book, which at times I found dull and boring. I prefer The Bike Book which is a British book published by Haynes whereas this book is American.

Big, comprehensive but definitely a book for hobbyists, 02 Jun 2007
This book reminds me a lot of the old Haynes car manuals that were based the stripping-down and reassembling of a car. But it's equally frustrating in a way because it doesn't focus on problem solving. Yes, there are problem-solving sections, but I would have liked to see each of the illustrated guides showing how to solve a particular problem, rather than being based on simply taking something apart and reassembling it. After all, why else would I be reading a book on bike maintenance if it wasn't to fix something?

In a way, this is a good indication of who this bike is aimed at: Hobbyists. It's for people who enjoy tinkering with bikes. That's not to say it won't be useful for more casual or commuting cyclists, but you'll have to wade through a lot of sometimes patronising waffle to find what you need.

That said, the book has formed a handy reference for me, even if it isn't the first book I turn to. Everything is covered and although the book is specifically aimed at higher-end mountain and racing bikes, everything inbetween is covered provided you apply common sense. There's enough info here to cover all aspects of my cheap £150 hybrid bike, for example.

In addition to the guides, there are full descriptions of each bike component, and Q&A troubleshooting sections. There's also a strong intro section on basic maintenance technique and tools.

Good introduction but for practical advice forget it, 02 Jul 2004
If you've never owned a bike before then this is a good book from which to get a basic knowledge, what the various bits are called and what they do etc.
However, the servicing information it contains lacks any practical advice and if you follow it you'll get nowhere in my experience. They show nice photos of a clean brand new bike (with parts removed for clarity) which just doesn't map across to the real world. And what happens when you follow their instructions but it still doesn't work: well, you're left with a bike in a worse condition then when you started. If you want hands on, real world, practical advice on how to maintain your bike you are better searching the web where you will find excellent articles with more explanation and more 'if that doesn't work, then do this' kind of advice.

Not bad... if you own a mountain bike, 15 May 2002
I'm somewhat disappointed by this book as it spends WAY too much time discussing mountain bikes.

I own a Bianchi city bike (a hybrid, but hardly from an unknown brand) and it's hard to find pictures of ANYTHING that looks like my bicycle. Maybe the pictures just aren't clear enough or maybe I'm just obtuse but I DO find this book rather confusing.

There's a LOT of space (pages and pages, actually) devoted to giving free and shameless plugs to ANYTHING made by Avenir. I find that tacky. A second line of attack seems to be to talk you into spending lots and lots and LOTS of money on weird and wonderful tools. A lot of space is wasted on pictures of tools, but with very little space devoted to how to USE the blessed things.

Finally, as far as the "housewife from Bolton"'s review for this book goes, you can find the exact same review (verbatim!) on the page for Fred Milson's "The Bike Book". I can only presume it was placed here by some zealous sales type.

Maybe if I owned a mountain bike I'd get more out of this book, as it is it's been a waste of money. Ask the guys at the shop to show you how they fix things.

Excellent book for beginners., 23 Jun 2000
I am a housewife who does a lot of her shopping by bicycle, but was rather ignorant about cycle technicalities. But no longer, as with the help of this excellent book I have now successfully repaired and serviced my three current bikes: a small folding bike, a racing bike and a ladies shopper bike. The pictures and text are very clear, it just takes a little more time to grasp all the new jargon if you are a complete beginner.

An Essential Manual for Enthusiastic Bikers, 26 Oct 1999
This is an excellent and well-illustrated guide to DIY bike maintenance. It describes all that a non-pro will need to know ... as well as most of what a pro ought to know. Pity it has not been updated ... it is now starting to get out-dated, but nevertheless strongly recommended. Very easy to follow instructions.

Four crowns not five only because it has been published almost five years ago.

Excellent Basic Knowledge, 23 Apr 1999
This book provides an excellent introduction to how to maintain your bike. It has good clear pictures with easy to read and understandable text. I managed to not feel scared in taking apart my headset and get it back together so that it still worked. Not so good for top end bikes as the bits become less standard

Brilliant!, 09 Sep 2007
This book is perfect for beginner to advanced users. It is perfect for on the trail/workshop repairs, and has instilled a real interest in my bike and how it works.

If you want to save some mechanics fees, get this book, it uses such an easy to understand format which is so hard to find on any technical manual.

Very Useful, for basics and beyond., 11 Aug 2006
Yes I liked this book very much. Its my first book on bike maintenance, so I am a complete novice.

But I find it clear and concise. It translates the bike langauage to something I can understand.

I dont claim to understand all in this book, and there are certainly many repairs etc explained that I could not do, due to inexperience, or lack of tools. But at least I understand what they are trying to achieve.

I am now ok at most of the rescue repairs, puncture, new inner tube, broken chain, even adjusting the gears.

I also found the regular checks very informative. Before I just checked my tyre pressure, now I check other things such as brakes and lubricants, and I always clean the bike now after use.

The book itself is small and has a plastic cover to keep it dry if you need to carry it with you.

Its excatly what I wanted, something to explain the basics, and something for me to learn more in the future when I get more acclimatised to cycling.

a really useful guide, 22 Feb 2008
Having both a hybrid and a road bike i needed a book for general maintenance that would cover the essentials for both types. This book does that. It covers the steps for various brakes, wheels and gear adjustment as well as other stuff like a bottom bracket and even adjusting a seat post.

What you can't see on the internet is the size of this book - it's only about 12cm tall and so is a real pocket size which could be easily fitted in a pannier if you tour or commute.

The pages of the book which i was particuarly looking for were the maintenance schedules - weekly, monthly and yearly. Each shows what you should do in simple steps to keep your bike running well.

Highly recommended, particularly for beginners

Concise and excellent, 02 Jun 2007
This is a concise book that covers the essentials, yet is written for beginners. It's a book you need if you're not necessarily a bike hobbyist but are a casual or commuting cyclist who simply needs to know what's what.

Everything you need to know is covered. Brakes, wheels, cranks, gears... In each case, a brief outline is given of how things work, and then a brief step-by-step maintenance guide is provided. Note the word 'brief' there. This is far from an encyclopaedic book, but that's part of its appeal.

What I liked most is that this is a guide for those of us with ordinary bikes that cost under £300, rather than the expensive and complicated road or mountain bike. However, more complex components such as suspension forks and disc brakes are covered too.

Comprehensive, straightforward and well illustrated., 26 Oct 2007
Having looked at a number of cycle repair manuals I liked this one the most. The layout of the book is clear and easy to follow. Instructions are very clearly explained and excellently illustrated with photographs and diagrams. It covers in plenty of detail everything I ever want to know about cycle repair and maintenance and is far easier to understand and work from than some other manuals e.g. the Haynes cycle manual.



Couldn't get home without it, 03 Jan 2005
Full of practical advice, clearly presented and above all memorable. Got stuck out on the trail recently, but remembered some of the tips gleaned from this book, and ended up being able to contunue back home. Invaluable!

Bolt the what on where?, 29 Sep 2004
Spectacularly unhelpful maintenance manual. Inadequate textual deacription....pictures too small or unhelpful....terms and parts not described or explained....too much assumed knowledge....omits several important basic tasks. Surprising but sadly true as Sidwell's "Bike Book" is great.

Essential Information for Greater Biking Enjoyment!, 14 May 2004
Reading this book made me want to go out and buy new bikes for the whole family!

There's nothing quite like the pleasure of riding out of a beautiful bike showroom on a great bicycle! Yet within months, I always noticed that the feel was gone. Pretty soon, I wasn't riding as much.

Now from reading this book, I know that all bikes need regular maintenance to keep that top-performance feeling. And I know what to do. It's a wonder that my bikes and my children's bikes ran at all before reading this book!

My idea of bike repair was to patch a puncture, adjust the seat and handle bars, and get a new chain if it broke. That's about 3 percent of what you really need to know.

The book is also useful as a guide to what type of bike to buy in the first place. The pros and cons of various types of materials and structures are well developed.

For those who enjoy mastering physical tasks, this book also offers much potential pleasure. "Keeping your bike in tip-top shape is very satisfying -- and makes riding more enjoyable."

Although I am far from being a mechanical person, I could clearly do everything in the book. But I do need different tools. No problem! The book shows you just what to buy, with many choices (more kinds of bike stands than you ever knew existed, as an example). Not only that, it tells you which ones to take with you on a long touring ride. If you don't have the right tool, it shows you how to improvise with materials usually found along the side of any road. This was fascinating! In fact, the paperback is just the right size to take along on a ride, so you can figure out what to do if you bend a rim.

One of the real insights for me was to realize that all of the bearings are meant to be rebuilt once a year. And there are a lot of bearings on any bike.

Where a bike might have different types of equipment (such as for brakes and transmissions), you get descriptions of what to do with all the major types.

Many pictures show you what each part looks like, and the steps to go through for maintenance. This is the main drawback of such a compact book. Some of the images can be a little small. But I see no way around that if you are to have a truly portable guide to repair and maintenance.

Most people will decide to still get some maintenance and repair at the local bike shop. But this book can show you what's involved so you can figure out what it might cost in time and money to do the work yourself.

One of my favorite parts of the book was the Troubleshooting Chart to give you an idea from the symptom you have observed what is a likely cause, the solution, and where the information is found to implement that solution.

I suggest that you both get this book and try doing some of the maintenance. If you enjoy this, it could become a very satisfying hobby. You could also do maintenance for other people to help cover the cost of the tools. I suspect that less than 1 bike in 50 is properly maintained.

If you have children who like to learn to fix and maintain things, this could be a fun family activity. My dad was very good at such things when I was a wee lad, so good that I never learned how to fix anything. Be sure to pass along what you know and learn instead.

But whatever you do, be sure you get out and enjoy biking with loved ones! That's the ultimate payoff.

A brilliant little book that I never want to be parted from., 06 May 2004
The minute I got this book I used it to adjust my gears and clean my headset. I do lots of cycling but I'm not too good at some of the more complex repairs - this book is 10 times better than any other bike maintenance book I've seen. It contains everything you need to know, whether you are an occasional weekend cyclist or a hardened racer. It covers all types of bikes from road bikes to mountain bikes and children's bmx's. It is packed with easy to read information on how all the parts of a bike work, how to clean, maintain and repair them. Every page contains easy to follow explanations - all accompanied by very clear pictures. It covers every level of expertise from fixing a puncture and changing a brake cable to truing a wheel and repairing suspension forks. I cannot imagine how I ever lived without it.

too high-level for its intended use, 10 Dec 2001
It's small, you can carry it around with you, it's got loads of nice colour photos, but unfortunately it doesn't have sufficient detail to really explain how to do much maintenance or repair at all!! I needed a real "how-to" kind of book and this is not it

A good book but at times boring, 21 Apr 2008
I like this book. It covers most aspects of bicycle maintenance. The troubleshooting sections were helpful. I liked the full page colour photographs of bikes in action. I think it would have been better to have used colour photographs to accompany the step by step instructions. There is a lot of text in this book, which at times I found dull and boring. I prefer The Bike Book which is a British book published by Haynes whereas this book is American.

Big, comprehensive but definitely a book for hobbyists, 02 Jun 2007
This book reminds me a lot of the old Haynes car manuals that were based the stripping-down and reassembling of a car. But it's equally frustrating in a way because it doesn't focus on problem solving. Yes, there are problem-solving sections, but I would have liked to see each of the illustrated guides showing how to solve a particular problem, rather than being based on simply taking something apart and reassembling it. After all, why else would I be reading a book on bike maintenance if it wasn't to fix something?

In a way, this is a good indication of who this bike is aimed at: Hobbyists. It's for people who enjoy tinkering with bikes. That's not to say it won't be useful for more casual or commuting cyclists, but you'll have to wade through a lot of sometimes patronising waffle to find what you need.

That said, the book has formed a handy reference for me, even if it isn't the first book I turn to. Everything is covered and although the book is specifically aimed at higher-end mountain and racing bikes, everything inbetween is covered provided you apply common sense. There's enough info here to cover all aspects of my cheap £150 hybrid bike, for example.

In addition to the guides, there are full descriptions of each bike component, and Q&A troubleshooting sections. There's also a strong intro section on basic maintenance technique and tools.

Good introduction but for practical advice forget it, 02 Jul 2004
If you've never owned a bike before then this is a good book from which to get a basic knowledge, what the various bits are called and what they do etc.
However, the servicing information it contains lacks any practical advice and if you follow it you'll get nowhere in my experience. They show nice photos of a clean brand new bike (with parts removed for clarity) which just doesn't map across to the real world. And what happens when you follow their instructions but it still doesn't work: well, you're left with a bike in a worse condition then when you started. If you want hands on, real world, practical advice on how to maintain your bike you are better searching the web where you will find excellent articles with more explanation and more 'if that doesn't work, then do this' kind of advice.

Not bad... if you own a mountain bike, 15 May 2002
I'm somewhat disappointed by this book as it spends WAY too much time discussing mountain bikes.

I own a Bianchi city bike (a hybrid, but hardly from an unknown brand) and it's hard to find pictures of ANYTHING that looks like my bicycle. Maybe the pictures just aren't clear enough or maybe I'm just obtuse but I DO find this book rather confusing.

There's a LOT of space (pages and pages, actually) devoted to giving free and shameless plugs to ANYTHING made by Avenir. I find that tacky. A second line of attack seems to be to talk you into spending lots and lots and LOTS of money on weird and wonderful tools. A lot of space is wasted on pictures of tools, but with very little space devoted to how to USE the blessed things.

Finally, as far as the "housewife from Bolton"'s review for this book goes, you can find the exact same review (verbatim!) on the page for Fred Milson's "The Bike Book". I can only presume it was placed here by some zealous sales type.

Maybe if I owned a mountain bike I'd get more out of this book, as it is it's been a waste of money. Ask the guys at the shop to show you how they fix things.

Excellent book for beginners., 23 Jun 2000
I am a housewife who does a lot of her shopping by bicycle, but was rather ignorant about cycle technicalities. But no longer, as with the help of this excellent book I have now successfully repaired and serviced my three current bikes: a small folding bike, a racing bike and a ladies shopper bike. The pictures and text are very clear, it just takes a little more time to grasp all the new jargon if you are a complete beginner.

An Essential Manual for Enthusiastic Bikers, 26 Oct 1999
This is an excellent and well-illustrated guide to DIY bike maintenance. It describes all that a non-pro will need to know ... as well as most of what a pro ought to know. Pity it has not been updated ... it is now starting to get out-dated, but nevertheless strongly recommended. Very easy to follow instructions.

Four crowns not five only because it has been published almost five years ago.

Excellent Basic Knowledge, 23 Apr 1999
This book provides an excellent introduction to how to maintain your bike. It has good clear pictures with easy to read and understandable text. I managed to not feel scared in taking apart my headset and get it back together so that it still worked. Not so good for top end bikes as the bits become less standard

Brilliant!, 09 Sep 2007
This book is perfect for beginner to advanced users. It is perfect for on the trail/workshop repairs, and has instilled a real interest in my bike and how it works.

If you want to save some mechanics fees, get this book, it uses such an easy to understand format which is so hard to find on any technical manual.

Very Useful, for basics and beyond., 11 Aug 2006
Yes I liked this book very much. Its my first book on bike maintenance, so I am a complete novice.

But I find it clear and concise. It translates the bike langauage to something I can understand.

I dont claim to understand all in this book, and there are certainly many repairs etc explained that I could not do, due to inexperience, or lack of tools. But at least I understand what they are trying to achieve.

I am now ok at most of the rescue repairs, puncture, new inner tube, broken chain, even adjusting the gears.

I also found the regular checks very informative. Before I just checked my tyre pressure, now I check other things such as brakes and lubricants, and I always clean the bike now after use.

The book itself is small and has a plastic cover to keep it dry if you need to carry it with you.

Its excatly what I wanted, something to explain the basics, and something for me to learn more in the future when I get more acclimatised to cycling.

If you are interested in advanced engine assembly, read this, 16 Mar 1998
This one book has all advanced assembly methods known to all racing shops. Although a few of the methods listed are out dated, if still is one of the best books I have read on Engine Rebuilding. Blueprinting an engine, is an involved process and this book outlines this process in grate detail.

a really useful guide, 22 Feb 2008
Having both a hybrid and a road bike i needed a book for general maintenance that would cover the essentials for both types. This book does that. It covers the steps for various brakes, wheels and gear adjustment as well as other stuff like a bottom bracket and even adjusting a seat post.

What you can't see on the internet is the size of this book - it's only about 12cm tall and so is a real pocket size which could be easily fitted in a pannier if you tour or commute.

The pages of the book which i was particuarly looking for were the maintenance schedules - weekly, monthly and yearly. Each shows what you should do in simple steps to keep your bike running well.

Highly recommended, particularly for beginners

Concise and excellent, 02 Jun 2007
This is a concise book that covers the essentials, yet is written for beginners. It's a book you need if you're not necessarily a bike hobbyist but are a casual or commuting cyclist who simply needs to know what's what.

Everything you need to know is covered. Brakes, wheels, cranks, gears... In each case, a brief outline is given of how things work, and then a brief step-by-step maintenance guide is provided. Note the word 'brief' there. This is far from an encyclopaedic book, but that's part of its appeal.

What I liked most is that this is a guide for those of us with ordinary bikes that cost under £300, rather than the expensive and complicated road or mountain bike. However, more complex components such as suspension forks and disc brakes are covered too.

Comprehensive, straightforward and well illustrated., 26 Oct 2007
Having looked at a number of cycle repair manuals I liked this one the most. The layout of the book is clear and easy to follow. Instructions are very clearly explained and excellently illustrated with photographs and diagrams. It covers in plenty of detail everything I ever want to know about cycle repair and maintenance and is far easier to understand and work from than some other manuals e.g. the Haynes cycle manual.



Couldn't get home without it, 03 Jan 2005
Full of practical advice, clearly presented and above all memorable. Got stuck out on the trail recently, but remembered some of the tips gleaned from this book, and ended up being able to contunue back home. Invaluable!

Bolt the what on where?, 29 Sep 2004
Spectacularly unhelpful maintenance manual. Inadequate textual deacription....pictures too small or unhelpful....terms and parts not described or explained....too much assumed knowledge....omits several important basic tasks. Surprising but sadly true as Sidwell's "Bike Book" is great.

Essential Information for Greater Biking Enjoyment!, 14 May 2004
Reading this book made me want to go out and buy new bikes for the whole family!

There's nothing quite like the pleasure of riding out of a beautiful bike showroom on a great bicycle! Yet within months, I always noticed that the feel was gone. Pretty soon, I wasn't riding as much.

Now from reading this book, I know that all bikes need regular maintenance to keep that top-performance feeling. And I know what to do. It's a wonder that my bikes and my children's bikes ran at all before reading this book!

My idea of bike repair was to patch a puncture, adjust the seat and handle bars, and get a new chain if it broke. That's about 3 percent of what you really need to know.

The book is also useful as a guide to what type of bike to buy in the first place. The pros and cons of various types of materials and structures are well developed.

For those who enjoy mastering physical tasks, this book also offers much potential pleasure. "Keeping your bike in tip-top shape is very satisfying -- and makes riding more enjoyable."

Although I am far from being a mechanical person, I could clearly do everything in the book. But I do need different tools. No problem! The book shows you just what to buy, with many choices (more kinds of bike stands than you ever knew existed, as an example). Not only that, it tells you which ones to take with you on a long touring ride. If you don't have the right tool, it shows you how to improvise with materials usually found along the side of any road. This was fascinating! In fact, the paperback is just the right size to take along on a ride, so you can figure out what to do if you bend a rim.

One of the real insights for me was to realize that all of the bearings are meant to be rebuilt once a year. And there are a lot of bearings on any bike.

Where a bike might have different types of equipment (such as for brakes and transmissions), you get descriptions of what to do with all the major types.

Many pictures show you what each part looks like, and the steps to go through for maintenance. This is the main drawback of such a compact book. Some of the images can be a little small. But I see no way around that if you are to have a truly portable guide to repair and maintenance.

Most people will decide to still get some maintenance and repair at the local bike shop. But this book can show you what's involved so you can figure out what it might cost in time and money to do the work yourself.

One of my favorite parts of the book was the Troubleshooting Chart to give you an idea from the symptom you have observed what is a likely cause, the solution, and where the information is found to implement that solution.

I suggest that you both get this book and try doing some of the maintenance. If you enjoy this, it could become a very satisfying hobby. You could also do maintenance for other people to help cover the cost of the tools. I suspect that less than 1 bike in 50 is properly maintained.

If you have children who like to learn to fix and maintain things, this could be a fun family activity. My dad was very good at such things when I was a wee lad, so good that I never learned how to fix anything. Be sure to pass along what you know and learn instead.

But whatever you do, be sure you get out and enjoy biking with loved ones! That's the ultimate payoff.

A brilliant little book that I never want to be parted from., 06 May 2004
The minute I got this book I used it to adjust my gears and clean my headset. I do lots of cycling but I'm not too good at some of the more complex repairs - this book is 10 times better than any other bike maintenance book I've seen. It contains everything you need to know, whether you are an occasional weekend cyclist or a hardened racer. It covers all types of bikes from road bikes to mountain bikes and children's bmx's. It is packed with easy to read information on how all the parts of a bike work, how to clean, maintain and repair them. Every page contains easy to follow explanations - all accompanied by very clear pictures. It covers every level of expertise from fixing a puncture and changing a brake cable to truing a wheel and repairing suspension forks. I cannot imagine how I ever lived without it.

too high-level for its intended use, 10 Dec 2001
It's small, you can carry it around with you, it's got loads of nice colour photos, but unfortunately it doesn't have sufficient detail to really explain how to do much maintenance or repair at all!! I needed a real "how-to" kind of book and this is not it

A good book but at times boring, 21 Apr 2008
I like this book. It covers most aspects of bicycle maintenance. The troubleshooting sections were helpful. I liked the full page colour photographs of bikes in action. I think it would have been better to have used colour photographs to accompany the step by step instructions. There is a lot of text in this book, which at times I found dull and boring. I prefer The Bike Book which is a British book published by Haynes whereas this book is American.

Big, comprehensive but definitely a book for hobbyists, 02 Jun 2007
This book reminds me a lot of the old Haynes car manuals that were based the stripping-down and reassembling of a car. But it's equally frustrating in a way because it doesn't focus on problem solving. Yes, there are problem-solving sections, but I would have liked to see each of the illustrated guides showing how to solve a particular problem, rather than being based on simply taking something apart and reassembling it. After all, why else would I be reading a book on bike maintenance if it wasn't to fix something?

In a way, this is a good indication of who this bike is aimed at: Hobbyists. It's for people who enjoy tinkering with bikes. That's not to say it won't be useful for more casual or commuting cyclists, but you'll have to wade through a lot of sometimes patronising waffle to find what you need.

That said, the book has formed a handy reference for me, even if it isn't the first book I turn to. Everything is covered and although the book is specifically aimed at higher-end mountain and racing bikes, everything inbetween is covered provided you apply common sense. There's enough info here to cover all aspects of my cheap £150 hybrid bike, for example.

In addition to the guides, there are full descriptions of each bike component, and Q&A troubleshooting sections. There's also a strong intro section on basic maintenance technique and tools.

Good introduction but for practical advice forget it, 02 Jul 2004
If you've never owned a bike before then this is a good book from which to get a basic knowledge, what the various bits are called and what they do etc.
However, the servicing information it contains lacks any practical advice and if you follow it you'll get nowhere in my experience. They show nice photos of a clean brand new bike (with parts removed for clarity) which just doesn't map across to the real world. And what happens when you follow their instructions but it still doesn't work: well, you're left with a bike in a worse condition then when you started. If you want hands on, real world, practical advice on how to maintain your bike you are better searching the web where you will find excellent articles with more explanation and more 'if that doesn't work, then do this' kind of advice.

Not bad... if you own a mountain bike, 15 May 2002
I'm somewhat disappointed by this book as it spends WAY too much time discussing mountain bikes.

I own a Bianchi city bike (a hybrid, but hardly from an unknown brand) and it's hard to find pictures of ANYTHING that looks like my bicycle. Maybe the pictures just aren't clear enough or maybe I'm just obtuse but I DO find this book rather confusing.

There's a LOT of space (pages and pages, actually) devoted to giving free and shameless plugs to ANYTHING made by Avenir. I find that tacky. A second line of attack seems to be to talk you into spending lots and lots and LOTS of money on weird and wonderful tools. A lot of space is wasted on pictures of tools, but with very little space devoted to how to USE the blessed things.

Finally, as far as the "housewife from Bolton"'s review for this book goes, you can find the exact same review (verbatim!) on the page for Fred Milson's "The Bike Book". I can only presume it was placed here by some zealous sales type.

Maybe if I owned a mountain bike I'd get more out of this book, as it is it's been a waste of money. Ask the guys at the shop to show you how they fix things.

Excellent book for beginners., 23 Jun 2000
I am a housewife who does a lot of her shopping by bicycle, but was rather ignorant about cycle technicalities. But no longer, as with the help of this excellent book I have now successfully repaired and serviced my three current bikes: a small folding bike, a racing bike and a ladies shopper bike. The pictures and text are very clear, it just takes a little more time to grasp all the new jargon if you are a complete beginner.

An Essential Manual for Enthusiastic Bikers, 26 Oct 1999
This is an excellent and well-illustrated guide to DIY bike maintenance. It describes all that a non-pro will need to know ... as well as most of what a pro ought to know. Pity it has not been updated ... it is now starting to get out-dated, but nevertheless strongly recommended. Very easy to follow instructions.

Four crowns not five only because it has been published almost five years ago.

Excellent Basic Knowledge, 23 Apr 1999
This book provides an excellent introduction to how to maintain your bike. It has good clear pictures with easy to read and understandable text. I managed to not feel scared in taking apart my headset and get it back together so that it still worked. Not so good for top end bikes as the bits become less standard

Brilliant!, 09 Sep 2007
This book is perfect for beginner to advanced users. It is perfect for on the trail/workshop repairs, and has instilled a real interest in my bike and how it works.

If you want to save some mechanics fees, get this book, it uses such an easy to understand format which is so hard to find on any technical manual.

Very Useful, for basics and beyond., 11 Aug 2006
Yes I liked this book very much. Its my first book on bike maintenance, so I am a complete novice.

But I find it clear and concise. It translates the bike langauage to something I can understand.

I dont claim to understand all in this book, and there are certainly many repairs etc explained that I could not do, due to inexperience, or lack of tools. But at least I understand what they are trying to achieve.

I am now ok at most of the rescue repairs, puncture, new inner tube, broken chain, even adjusting the gears.

I also found the regular checks very informative. Before I just checked my tyre pressure, now I check other things such as brakes and lubricants, and I always clean the bike now after use.

The book itself is small and has a plastic cover to keep it dry if you need to carry it with you.

Its excatly what I wanted, something to explain the basics, and something for me to learn more in the future when I get more acclimatised to cycling.

If you are interested in advanced engine assembly, read this, 16 Mar 1998
This one book has all advanced assembly methods known to all racing shops. Although a few of the methods listed are out dated, if still is one of the best books I have read on Engine Rebuilding. Blueprinting an engine, is an involved process and this book outlines this process in grate detail.

Pretty good basis, 05 Feb 2005
This book is a good basis if, like me, you have no idea what screw or bolt does what when you look at your bike. It runs through the basics of adjusting the mechs, brakes, and all other parts of the bike with plenty of accurate pics. Could be a bit larger, but its is a very tidy sized book.

It didn't cover every bolt on my bike, thats why the 4 stars. but for a basic get to grips its perfect - especially for the price!

a really useful guide, 22 Feb 2008
Having both a hybrid and a road bike i needed a book for general maintenance that would cover the essentials for both types. This book does that. It covers the steps for various brakes, wheels and gear adjustment as well as other stuff like a bottom bracket and even adjusting a seat post.

What you can't see on the internet is the size of this book - it's only about 12cm tall and so is a real pocket size which could be easily fitted in a pannier if you tour or commute.

The pages of the book which i was particuarly looking for were the maintenance schedules - weekly, monthly and yearly. Each shows what you should do in simple steps to keep your bike running well.

Highly recommended, particularly for beginners

Concise and excellent, 02 Jun 2007
This is a concise book that covers the essentials, yet is written for beginners. It's a book you need if you're not necessarily a bike hobbyist but are a casual or commuting cyclist who simply needs to know what's what.

Everything you need to know is covered. Brakes, wheels, cranks, gears... In each case, a brief outline is given of how things work, and then a brief step-by-step maintenance guide is provided. Note the word 'brief' there. This is far from an encyclopaedic book, but that's part of its appeal.

What I liked most is that this is a guide for those of us with ordinary bikes that cost under £300, rather than the expensive and complicated road or mountain bike. However, more complex components such as suspension forks and disc brakes are covered too.

Comprehensive, straightforward and well illustrated., 26 Oct 2007
Having looked at a number of cycle repair manuals I liked this one the most. The layout of the book is clear and easy to follow. Instructions are very clearly explained and excellently illustrated with photographs and diagrams. It covers in plenty of detail everything I ever want to know about cycle repair and maintenance and is far easier to understand and work from than some other manuals e.g. the Haynes cycle manual.



Couldn't get home without it, 03 Jan 2005
Full of practical advice, clearly presented and above all memorable. Got stuck out on the trail recently, but remembered some of the tips gleaned from this book, and ended up being able to contunue back home. Invaluable!

Bolt the what on where?, 29 Sep 2004
Spectacularly unhelpful maintenance manual. Inadequate textual deacription....pictures too small or unhelpful....terms and parts not described or explained....too much assumed knowledge....omits several important basic tasks. Surprising but sadly true as Sidwell's "Bike Book" is great.

Essential Information for Greater Biking Enjoyment!, 14 May 2004
Reading this book made me want to go out and buy new bikes for the whole family!

There's nothing quite like the pleasure of riding out of a beautiful bike showroom on a great bicycle! Yet within months, I always noticed that the feel was gone. Pretty soon, I wasn't riding as much.

Now from reading this book, I know that all bikes need regular maintenance to keep that top-performance feeling. And I know what to do. It's a wonder that my bikes and my children's bikes ran at all before reading this book!

My idea of bike repair was to patch a puncture, adjust the seat and handle bars, and get a new chain if it broke. That's about 3 percent of what you really need to know.

The book is also useful as a guide to what type of bike to buy in the first place. The pros and cons of various types of materials and structures are well developed.

For those who enjoy mastering physical tasks, this book also offers much potential pleasure. "Keeping your bike in tip-top shape is very satisfying -- and makes riding more enjoyable."

Although I am far from being a mechanical person, I could clearly do everything in the book. But I do need different tools. No problem! The book shows you just what to buy, with many choices (more kinds of bike stands than you ever knew existed, as an example). Not only that, it tells you which ones to take with you on a long touring ride. If you don't have the right tool, it shows you how to improvise with materials usually found along the side of any road. This was fascinating! In fact, the paperback is just the right size to take along on a ride, so you can figure out what to do if you bend a rim.

One of the real insights for me was to realize that all of the bearings are meant to be rebuilt once a year. And there are a lot of bearings on any bike.

Where a bike might have different types of equipment (such as for brakes and transmissions), you get descriptions of what to do with all the major types.

Many pictures show you what each part looks like, and the steps to go through for maintenance. This is the main drawback of such a compact book. Some of the images can be a little small. But I see no way around that if you are to have a truly portable guide to repair and maintenance.

Most people will decide to still get some maintenance and repair at the local bike shop. But this book can show you what's involved so you can figure out what it might cost in time and money to do the work yourself.

One of my favorite parts of the book was the Troubleshooting Chart to give you an idea from the symptom you have observed what is a likely cause, the solution, and where the information is found to implement that solution.

I suggest that you both get this book and try doing some of the maintenance. If you enjoy this, it could become a very satisfying hobby. You could also do maintenance for other people to help cover the cost of the tools. I suspect that less than 1 bike in 50 is properly maintained.

If you have children who like to learn to fix and maintain things, this could be a fun family activity. My dad was very good at such things when I was a wee lad, so good that I never learned how to fix anything. Be sure to pass along what you know and learn instead.

But whatever you do, be sure you get out and enjoy biking with loved ones! That's the ultimate payoff.

A brilliant little book that I never want to be parted from., 06 May 2004
The minute I got this book I used it to adjust my gears and clean my headset. I do lots of cycling but I'm not too good at some of the more complex repairs - this book is 10 times better than any other bike maintenance book I've seen. It contains everything you need to know, whether you are an occasional weekend cyclist or a hardened racer. It covers all types of bikes from road bikes to mountain bikes and children's bmx's. It is packed with easy to read information on how all the parts of a bike work, how to clean, maintain and repair them. Every page contains easy to follow explanations - all accompanied by very clear pictures. It covers every level of expertise from fixing a puncture and changing a brake cable to truing a wheel and repairing suspension forks. I cannot imagine how I ever lived without it.

too high-level for its intended use, 10 Dec 2001
It's small, you can carry it around with you, it's got loads of nice colour photos, but unfortunately it doesn't have sufficient detail to really explain how to do much maintenance or repair at all!! I needed a real "how-to" kind of book and this is not it

A good book but at times boring, 21 Apr 2008
I like this book. It covers most aspects of bicycle maintenance. The troubleshooting sections were helpful. I liked the full page colour photographs of bikes in action. I think it would have been better to have used colour photographs to accompany the step by step instructions. There is a lot of text in this book, which at times I found dull and boring. I prefer The Bike Book which is a British book published by Haynes whereas this book is American.

Big, comprehensive but definitely a book for hobbyists, 02 Jun 2007
This book reminds me a lot of the old Haynes car manuals that were based the stripping-down and reassembling of a car. But it's equally frustrating in a way because it doesn't focus on problem solving. Yes, there are problem-solving sections, but I would have liked to see each of the illustrated guides showing how to solve a particular problem, rather than being based on simply taking something apart and reassembling it. After all, why else would I be r