Complete Bike Maintenance

Rating:
Summary: Better than Zinn for most
Review: While I think that the Zinn book (Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance) is pretty good, for most people this book will be much better. It is concise yet thorough, with plenty of detail, but not overly technical. And the book is filled with excellent color photographs -- hundreds of them.

I took a couple of bicycle repair classes last winter at a local bike shop. Then, many months later, I decided to put what I had learned to good use by adjusting my derailleurs. I grabbed the Zinn book I had purchased last year for a quick reminder of how to make that adjustment. It didn't make any sense. His procedure was too complicated, his description confusing, and he didn't even talk about the obvious trick to setting the low gear position on the rear derailleur. I set the book aside and fumbled my way through the procedure from what I could remember from the class. I was not satisfied with my results.

Then, while at a local bookstore recently, I saw "Complete Bike Maintenance" by Fred Milson sitting on the shelf. I took a gander to see if it had a better explanation of the adjustment procedure. As soon as I opened the book, I was grabbed by the beautiful color photography. I located the sections on adjusting derailleurs. Mr. Milson has described the adjustment in a few simple steps, and his description was very similar to what I remember from the class.

I immediately bought the book and readjusted my gears the following weekend. They came out great! My only complaint is that there should have been one more photograph for the rear derailleur setup -- one showing a view from the rear with the two jockey wheels lined up with the smallest sprocket. The written description gets you there just fine, but there was room on the page for one more picture.

All of the other chapters appear to be just as good -- great pictures, easy to understand text. I can't believe I'm the first person to write a review for this excellent repair manual.

I'll hang on the the Zinn book for reference (you can't own too many reference books), but Complete Bike Maintenance will be the first book I will grab when heading out to work on my bike.