general

Don't waste your money on those paperbacks that clutter the sports sections of Barnes & Noble and Borders.
The Nashbar & Performance Bike offerings are just as inadequate.
By the time you've spent $10-$20 each on 2 or 3 of those anecdotal "manuals" with their "fits all" diagrams,
you can almost pay
the Amazon discounted price for this...........
.........THE REAL THING.

I haven't seen any bicycle maintenance books that come close to providing the kind of detail that Barnett's Manual does - detail in such areas as exact measurement and classification of parts and threads, tool part numbers for many manufacturers, and elaborate torque specifications. The Manual actually consists of four volumes with vol 4 consisting of material extracted from the previous three for easy access. The repairs and adjustments are conducted via written step-by-step procedures. Many of the adjustments utilize self-adhesive markings that are put on the bike for the purpose of exactly increasing or decreasing the tightness of bearing adjustments. Proper torquing is always specified. The Manual attempts to be comprehensive covering both road and mountain bikes and all sorts of groupos. Some of these are covered better than others. The manuals also deal with frame preparation using facing and threading tools. In some ways the manuals are a little dated. For example the wheel building and truing sections use traditioanl rims and spokes, not to mention traditional hubs. But modern wheels are using vastly reduced spoke counts, exotic spoke materials and shapes, and cartridge type hubs. The translation from the old to the new is hardly discussed, if at all. Cartridge hubs in particular are given insufficient weight. On the other hand the adjustment of newer STI derailleur systems is superb, not to mention threadless headsets, V-brakes, etc. The author probably would contend that his manuals facilitate learning the principles of bicycle repair and maintenance and that dealing with new technologies would follow the same guide lines. And there is of course some truth in that. However, a purchaser of these manuals could be disappointed if he or she expects every bicycle part to be covered in detail, becasue they are not.

This book is a weath of knowledge and experence. It covers items that I never have know about and am able to do more work on my bike than ever before. It has detail explinations about how to perform repairs and maintance and will tell you if you need to start with another procdure first before starting the procedure you are about to work on.