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Home > The Chainbreaker Bike Book: A Rough Guide to Bicycle Maintenance
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The Chainbreaker Bike Book: A Rough Guide to Bicycle Maintenance
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By Shelly Lynn Jackson and Ethan Clark
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 (12 Reviews)
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List Price: $15.00
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Availability:
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Usually ships in 1 to 3 weeks
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Publisher:
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Microcosm Publishing
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Edition:
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Second Edition, Second edition
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Published:
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December 31, 1969 |
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Binding:
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Paperback
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Pages:
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256
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Here's a hand-illustrated and accesible introduction to the world of bike repair. Through working at both Plan B Bike Project and French Quarter Bicycles in New Orleans, our co-authors have gathered a wealth of experience to share with would-be mechanics. The first half of this book is a complete repair manual to get you started on choosing, fixing, and riding your bike. The second half reprints all four issues of Chainbreaker zine, whose originals were destroyed in Hurricane Katrina.
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Customer Reviews:
Add Your Own Review |
 Best Repair Book I've Ever Read, September 21, 2008
By Michael Reid
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I've 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, it's a fun read as well! The previous reviewer compared it to Pirsig's "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 I've 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 haven't had a clue as to how.
16 of 17 people found the above review helpful.
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A Bike Repair Book For The Rest Of Us, July 24, 2008
By S. SARINANA-LAMPSON (Los Angeles, CA)
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It's 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, they've infused their book with a way of being with a bicycle. Of having a bike as a peaceful and calming element in one's life. It's a wonderful cross between Robert M. Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and John Muir's "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. It's a great little handy book to have and worth every dime for it's insightful way of looking at the simple elegance of a bicycle.
10 of 10 people found the above review helpful.
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 it's alright, February 27, 2010
By brinkman
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this book is pretty decent, but it's a little too biased to the authors views. the illustrations are cool and there is some good info on maintenance, but half the book is from the authors old zine, which may be a selling point for some, but not for me. most of all though, the authors only mention track or fixed bikes a few times, and each time they rip on them or the riders of them. i can understand that it has gone the way of the hipster lately, but come on, there is a whole other side to real track cycling, and it could have deserved some attention; especially for someone like me, who rides only track bikes. keep the biased opinions to your zine, not your tech book. i noticed most of the drawings however were single speed bikes, most likely because they're easier to draw.
5 of 5 people found the above review helpful.
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Good but with Limitations, March 26, 2009
By Royal :0) (L.A.)
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I enjoyed reading this book. Pretty good for learning basic bicycle mechanics. A heart-warming story. Nice cartoons ... a little short on illustrative photos. Plain talk is fine, but due to F-Words, talk of naked women, strippers, and lesbianism ... I will not give this book to my grandchildren to learn how to fix their bicycles. :-|
4 of 5 people found the above review helpful.
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 Really not impressed, April 3, 2009
By Book buyer (Nowhere)
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If you have an el cheapo street bike then maybe this book will be useful. Maybe. It will not be useful if you have anything decent which the authors seem to be proud of saying that modern road bikes and mountain bikes are wasteful. They also appear to be proud of being obnoxious detailing stunts such as riding drunk and knocking mirrors off car doors. The "zine" is half the book and is jsut boring and stupid. using the old courier typewriter font for the entire book has been done to death. By the end of the book I started actively disliking the authors who are all wrapped up in their definition of whats cool while denigrating everyone else. I suggest you look at the book before buying.
4 of 11 people found the above review helpful.
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intercourse the system, March 3, 2010
By Jackflapsplikkitysplat (USA)
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I was eating a tofu pita wrap at the co-op when Sunshine brought this manual over and said to stop driving cars. I looked at her (feeling shame that I have male genitals) and we fought the SYSTEM by riding bikes around gas stations, I yanked a dude out of a car and cut his face up because he was killing black babies in Africa with his corporate greed, he bled devils blood and it made me greedy by just getting it on me. I bought a coke riding back because of its powers of possession. This book will make you save the whales.
3 of 7 people found the above review helpful.
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Great Activist Overview of Bike Maintenance and Repair, March 31, 2009
By Daniel Lobo (Washington, DC More often than not.)
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This is a great overview of basic bike maintenance, and cycling culture attitudes with an emphasis on self-empowering and community action.
Written in a nice colloquial style the volume goes sequentially over the procedures to understand, and care for most bikes, helping you to define your own chosen limits in its maintenance. While it might be a bit too basic for seasoned bikers and mechanics, it not only offers great entry point recommendations, but throws a nugget of wisdom here and there that will also help those most knowledgeable. For instance, I've considered myself a relatively decent bike aficionado and control well quite a few of the areas covered, and yet even in those I felt there were details and recommendations from the seasoned authors that were very useful and insightful. One sometimes may take certain basics for granted and it is nice to go over those, and contrast it with the way one has been doing bike maintenance for years. I found it also helpful to understand and broaden some of the lingo, not necessarily because I suffer from esl, but it also helps in that department.
An important aspect of the volume it actually how the authors tell part of their stories, and their involvement in what they are covering. The second part offers reprints of Chainbreaker zine, which was lost after Katrina in New Orleans. It nicely recuperates a history and narrative of organization, and activism around bikes that goes well beyond maintenance and adds an important perspective to the book.
This one is sitting next to my tools and helmets...
2 of 2 people found the above review helpful.
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 Not perfect, but very good. You can learn a lot with this book., March 27, 2009
By V8 (Hill Country, Edwards Plateau, Texas)
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The book is written in a casual style, and 'Type'set in a bold typewriter typeface,which is not the best for reading or alternatively, hand written/printed,and illustrated with drawings. The overall impression is one of a collection of newsletters, simply photocopied to make a book. I found myself longing for good photos of the parts in question, this may be the single weakest point of the book. Some parts were difficult to read, and all of it was harder to read than the typical novel, or bike repair manual. For goodness sake, print it in a PROFESSIONAL TYPEFACE! My eyes which once qualified as bad, are now much worse, and the extra pain is egregious, just to maintain a bit of "homespun" appeal. (Yes, I am 55 years old, and entitled to be a grouch, okay? From the day I got my first junk mail from AARP, I've been inclined to be a grouch, and as I get older, I grow into the role.)
It has complete instructions, logically sequenced, so you can maintain your bike with a minimum of effort (no need to turn your bike over multiple times). One of the co-authors is a woman, and she expounds on her theories of bicycle repair as an empowering experience for women. It MAY BE empowering, and women may need encouragement to remove the chain for service, or to replace a headset bearing, I do not know. She could have saved the ink, for all it concerns me. (NO points removed for the 'feminist' slant, if you don't like it skip that page.)
All in all, a creditable attempt at a bike repair manual that is, for all its faults, the equal of more expensive manuals, and a lot less pretentious than most.
2 of 2 people found the above review helpful.
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A great book about bikes., May 4, 2010
By Molly Millions (Detroit, MI)
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Ok, there's a couple things one needs to know about this book right away... It's not the best repair manual out there, but it is a fantastic book about bikes and a very fun read. Other reviewers may dock points because it's not a comprehensive guide to bicycle mechanics, I chose not to, because I read the description before I bought it and didn't have those expectations ;)
SO, what is this book, and why is it awesome?
This book will be best for people who love bikes, but are not snobby jerks and don't need a comprehensive course in all aspects of bike repair. For someone with no knowledge whatsoever about bicycle repair, the first part of the book is actually a nice primer on bike components and mechanics. Not a guide to repairing your bike, per se (though there are many good tips), but a guide to learning what parts are called and how everything works together. Intermediate and advanced mechanics will not get a ton out of the first half, but should check out the book anyway 'cause it's a fun read and a great testament to bike and DIY culture.
This book is not for performance cyclists, and the authors' attitude toward rich cycle-chic riders is not that welcoming. Please don't act all suprised when it arrives. As a punk kid who rides every day on a variety of Frankenstein junk bikes, I appreciate this; I don't care about reducing weight by a few grams with carbon fiber parts, I care about overhauling the bottom bracket on my 1977 Schwinn beater. Some of us can't afford that yuppie crap, or just ride too hard for flimsy, feather-light racing rims and frames that bend from launching off a curb.
People offended by the idea of women fixing things (or voting, or working, and so on) will be offended. Personally, I don't care. To expect objectivity from an author is moronic, especially when the book advertises itself as a punk/DIY/zine-based manual. Furthermore, the "feminist" idea that women can make excellent mechanics and have traditionally been disallowed the joy of fixing stuff is not really feminist and is a stupid thing to find challenging or offensive. It's just true.
The latter half of the book (the 'zine part) is awesome. Zine culture has been transformed in recent years by the 'net, some will say it's lost something important... But, like old bikes, old zines are still great things to have around. They look cool, they are informative, they remind us constantly that we should be less prudish, elitist, and stuck-up.
There's a story about riding around drunk and kicking off car mirrors... so what? If you didn't do equally stupid and destructive things when you were young, then I can't help you.
1 of 1 people found the above review helpful.
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gritty, real world bike repair., August 11, 2009
By Sesshomaru (Va. USA)
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This volume covers a variety of maintenance and repair issues, and a bunch of copies from their old zine.
It's printed on paper that is very durable and is meant to put up with greasy fingers turning pages, and being propped open with bike tools or spare parts.
Over the course of the book you get personal insight into Shelley and Ethan's lives, and a window into bike culture in the cities they've traveled.
This is not a no-nonsense, comprehensive, full color photo textbook - leave that flavorless instruction manual format for automobiles! Bikes are supposed to be fun. Bike repair is fun too!
Printed in the zines that comprise the latter portion of the book you receive some enjoyable bicycle history, personal tales of adventure, and an occasional poem.
If you want bike repair instruction from people that are passionate about bikes - get this book.
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maybe it should be called "bike maintenance for cool dummies", December 1, 2011
By D. Ryan
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I really like this book. Fun to read. Easy to follow. LOTS of great info if you are a beginner cyclist (or returning to cycling after taking a break since childhood)
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Great guide to the basics, October 11, 2011
By Bob (Fernley, NV)
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If you are new to the "bike wrenching" game, this is the book for you. It takes you through all the basics, with enough detail to give you the confidence to do it. However, if you are an "old pro", who has been working on bicycles for years, this book will not provide any new knowledge to you. In addition, it is written in a breezy style that makes it an easy read.
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