# Looking for a good, basic but comprehensive, bike repair manual? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 9, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-basic-but-comprehensive-bike-repair-manual/278964 "2004-12-09T18:17:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-basic-but-comprehensive-bike-repair-manual/278964/1 "2004-12-09T18:17:26Z")
I know very little about bike repair (I can change a flat, and after an incident last month I know more than I care to about my brakes, but other than that I got nothing). I bike a lot (commute to work far away), though, and ever since last week there have been suspicious sounds coming from the gears. So a little present to myself is in order. I am currently pretty much a beginner, so I want something that starts with the basics, but I don’t want to have to go and buy a new book once I’ve mastered those basics. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-basic-but-comprehensive-bike-repair-manual/278964/2 "2004-12-09T18:34:04Z")
… grumble grumble … so _that’s_ where that extra question mark got to … ---
**Author:** ![carterba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85e7bf/32.png) [@carterba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carterba)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-basic-but-comprehensive-bike-repair-manual/278964/3 "2004-12-09T19:19:30Z")
I have Bicycling Magazine’s Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair. It’s OK; it has pictures and step-by-step directions. It taught me how to change a tire. I’ve heard _Zinn and the Art of Bicycle Maintenance_ by Leonard Zinn is the best. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-basic-but-comprehensive-bike-repair-manual/278964/4 "2004-12-09T19:26:02Z")
I have _Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance_. I have no frame of reference for comparison, but I think it’s good. He always talks about what to do if you have Shimano, or Campy or whatever. If there are 2 common types of technology (e.g. threadless vs. threaded headsets) he tells you about both of them. But, it’s just for Road Bikes. He has one called _Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance_ too. If you have a hybrid or a MTB, that’s probably what you want. [www.sheldonbrown.com](http://www.sheldonbrown.com) for some on-line information. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-basic-but-comprehensive-bike-repair-manual/278964/5 "2004-12-09T19:37:07Z")
Also in the Zinn books, everything is always “Level 1”, “Level 2” or “Level 3”. The “Level 1” stuff might just take an allen wrench and phillips head. The “Level 3” usually involves specialized tools. You can use it for adjusting your brakes, or a complete headset overhaul. It’s not ALWAYS easy to follow, but something like that never is out of a book. Here is a good place online for questions [http://forums.bicycling.com/forum.jspa?forumID=2](http://forums.bicycling.com/forum.jspa?forumID=2) (warning: there are pricks there who will give people shit. Try to have a well-defined question, not just “there are suspicious sounds coming from the gears.”) That could mean anything. Is is your rear cassette (the set of cogs in the back?) Is it your front derailleur? Is it your rear derailleur? Is is coming from your gear-shift levers? Just to try to trouble-shoot, a common problem is your chain might be rubbing on the front derailleur (the little rectangle thing the chain goes through when it exits the front ring). Make sure you’re not in the big ring in the front and little ring in the rear, or vice-versa. THat’s called “cross chaining” and it’s just your chain rubbing on your derailleur from going front-to-rear at too sharp an angle. If you’re not, then you need to turn the adjustment screws on your derailler. There’s too many ways the adjustment might have to be made for me to try to describe it to you here. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-basic-but-comprehensive-bike-repair-manual/278964/6 "2004-12-09T20:17:20Z")
The sounds are suspicious, I tells ya! Suspicious ! Isn’t that enough for a diagnosis? Thanks for the tips, folks. I’m sure my bike will thank you too. Gears: I’ve actually narrowed it down to the “you need to turn the adjustment screws on your derailleur” - I was hoping the book would help me figure out how to do it because I’m rather timid (although the brake experiment went well through trial and error, I don’t want that to become a guiding strategy.) The most critical part is that it now often changes gears at it’s own discretion rather than mine, and call me a control freak but I like to do these kinds of things myself. It’s been happening since my foul landlords manhandled my bike when they re-tiled the area I keep it in overnight. Something probably got kicked or rubbed the wrong way. But in general, I’d just like to know how to fix her so I don’t have to panic and become immobilized every time something stops working properly. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-basic-but-comprehensive-bike-repair-manual/278964/7 "2004-12-09T22:13:49Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > I have _Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance_. > > He has one called _Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance_ too. If you have a hybrid or a MTB, that’s probably what you want. I have this one (the MTB one), and it’s great. Like **Trunk** says, it has Level 1, 2 and 3 tasks, good layman’s explanations, and spiffy line drawings of things. I picked up all the bike repair stuff I ever needed to know from that book, and I built myself a bike- well, I didn’t install my own headset/forks (no headset press), but I did the rest myself. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-basic-but-comprehensive-bike-repair-manual/278964/8 "2004-12-10T01:17:15Z")
I’ve got [The Haynes Bicycle Book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1563924285/qid=1102641448/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-2494321-0494244?v=glance&s=books&n=507846). It’s got lots of photos, which was a must for me. It gets rather detailed (the most in depth repair I did was a pedal bearing overhaul). It also has good recommendations for routine maintenance. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-basic-but-comprehensive-bike-repair-manual/278964/9 "2004-12-10T13:16:24Z")
> [@cowgirl](#): > > Gears: I’ve actually narrowed it down to the “you need to turn the adjustment screws on your derailleur” - I was hoping the book would help me figure out how to do it because I’m rather timid (although the brake experiment went well through trial and error, I don’t want that to become a guiding strategy.) The most critical part is that it now often changes gears at it’s own discretion rather than mine, and call me a control freak but I like to do these kinds of things myself. That’s not uncommon. a simple adjustment should help. This page might help. It has big pictures, but no WAV files of suspicious sounds. [http://www.sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html](http://www.sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html) ---
**Author:** ![pipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pipper)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-basic-but-comprehensive-bike-repair-manual/278964/10 "2004-12-10T15:12:49Z")
The Sheldon Brown site that Trunk links to give a pretty good explanation of derailleur operatrion and maintenance. If your gears are changing by themselves (does this usually happen when you apply more pressure to the pedals- such as when you start on an uphill?) you probably need to adjust the cable tension by using the “indexing adjustment barrel”. Section 3 of the linked page talks about how to do that. Leave the limit stop screws alone for now… ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-good-basic-but-comprehensive-bike-repair-manual/278964/11 "2004-12-10T18:52:41Z")
Thanks, **Trunk** , great site! except for > [@](#): > > … but no WAV files of suspicious sounds. they sure don’t make this easy, do they?! 😉 Is this Zinn fellow the same one who wrote [A People’s History of the United States](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060528370/002-1603112-7904848?v=glance)?