Cycling UK Forum

I need to purchase a good book on Cycle Maintenance for home use. Can you recommend a good one for home use.

The Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair by Park.

Mine is the first edition, it's now on on its 3rd think.

Very unflashy but very down to earth.

Still no colour pics I think but lots of business-like illustrations and B&W pics.

It will pay for itself on the first job beyond pumping a tube.

park tools website works pretty well too. I prefer books myself, but if you have a computer handy....

cheers

Sweep wrote:The Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair by Park. Still no colour pics I think but lots of business-like illustrations and B&W pics.

I've got the second edition and it does have colour pictures. It is very good.

If I had to choose a book I'd buy the Park book, but if you want to know how to maintain your bike I'd recommend going to YouTube - there are lots of how-to videos. (OK I appreciate that YouTube might not be a useful as something you can put on the garage floor and refer to as you work).

Haynes do quite a good general bike maintenance book. Can't remember the exact title but a quick web search will tell you.

I would also recommend Park Tools Big Blue - now on edition 3 about £16 mail order.
Lots of pictures and easy to follow.
Each section, brakes, gears or whatever starts with an overview explaining the different types of design commonly found on most bikes. From there you can either service or buy spares with confidence that you know what you are doing.

I recommend the Park book; it is comprehensive and clear. I had an old mountain bike that was pretty much done for and practiced on that first to give me confidence.

If you happen to live somewhere in the Midlands, you might be interested in the free cycle maintenance classes currently available. They are run by Bikeright, who seem to have secured funding from Network West Midlands. I have attended two modules (morning - gears; afternoon - brakes) and both were useful. Some courses are on a Saturday, others are evenings. Only myself and one other person on the courses I attended so it was close to having a personal tutor. Oh, and I was also given a free set of lights. Best bargain of 2013.

Do you actually need a book now?

There is so much information on the net and youtube videos for most repairs I think everything is covered. Most of the manufacturers have PDF downloads of maintenance schedules and products.