Review of The Chainbreaker Bike Book: A Rough Guide to Bicycle Maintenance

The Chainbreaker Bike Book: A Rough Guide to Bicycle Maintenance
Average Rating: 5.0 Total Reviews: 2
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Best Repair Book I've Ever Read

On: 2008-09-21

Ive read a handful of bike repair manuals, but they all seem to assume that you are mechanically-inclined and that you have a very sweet mountain or road bike. For those of us with somewhat less impressive bikes and who have a singular inability to re-assemble anything, this book is a godsend. The book is informative, truly informative, for just those kinds of readers. Where some books explanation leave me scratching my head, this book was full of "aha!" moments. Finally, I think I actually have a bit of an understanding of how my bike works.

And, on top of that, its a fun read as well! The previous reviewer compared it to Pirsigs "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," which is exactly the comparison on my mind as I read the book. I enjoyed reading this book, which makes it different from other repair books Ive read (bike, car, and home stuff). Jackson and Clark have placed a bit of their souls into this book, breathing life into what could have been "just another step-by-step guide."

This book is for people who have a bike they need to maintain, but up to this point in their life they havent had a clue as to how.

A Bike Repair Book For The Rest Of Us

On: 2008-07-24

Its not often that a guy with a daily schedule like mine drops everything to write a book review. But this simple little book on bike repair was one of those wonderful finds we come across every so often. Jackson & Clark have put together more than just a basic nuts and bolts tome of fixing a simple bike, theyve infused their book with a way of being with a bicycle. Of having a bike as a peaceful and calming element in ones life. Its a wonderful cross between Robert M. Pirsigs "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and John Muirs "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive".

Written for real folks in a personal, almost conversation way, the book has a series of fun and ecclectic hand drawn illustrations which provide a great visual reference of basic bicycle parts. The simple drawings show parts very clearly labeled and easy to understand. Upon reading through the various maintenance and repair procedures presented, numerous times I found myself thinking "Oh yeah, ok...".

An added feature is a section of the book which reprints original "Chainbreaker" pages - a bicycle zine once laid out and produced by hand by the authors prior to the writing of this book.

This is not a book for 20+ mile daily roadracers and their carbon fiber, stealth-like machines. But then again, it does not try to be. Rather it is a great read for any weekend biking enthusiast or a first time bicycle owner. Its a great little handy book to have and worth every dime for its insightful way of looking at the simple elegance of a bicycle.