 | By: Chris Sidwells Binding: Paperback Publisher: DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley) ISBN: 0756602955 ISBN-13: 9780756602956 Released: 01 Feb 2004 RRP: Average Rating:  |
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 alll bikes need regular maintenance to keep that top-performance feeling. And I know what to do. It's a wonder that my bikes & my children's bikes ran at alll before reading this book!
My idea of bike repair was to patch a puncture, adjust the seat & handle bars, & get a new chain if it broke. That's about 3 percent of what you reallly need to know.
The book is also useful as a guide to what type of bike to buy in the first place. The pros & cons of various types of materials & 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 -- & 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 usuallly 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 alll 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 & transmissions), you get descriptions of what to do with alll the major types.
Many pictures show you what each part looks like, & 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 smalll. But I see no way around that if you are to have a truly portable guide to repair & maintenance.
Most people will decide to still get some maintenance & 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 & 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, & where the information is found to implement that solution.
I suggest that you both get this book & 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 & 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 & learn instead.
But whatever you do, be sure you get out & enjoy biking with loved ones! That's the ultimate payoff.
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