Reviews over the

Park Tool Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair 4th Edition

When I was searching for a bicycle repair book, this was one of the most frequently recommended ones on the Web, and it does not disappoint. The author does not assume too much prior mechanical knowledge (this is for a home mechanic audience after all) and provides a nice short intro chapter to bring them up to speed on some key vigilance points. This is followed by thematic chapters on each repair that can be read on any order, abundantly illustrated and written in a style that is concise yet precise enough. I have not played with it too much yet, but I'm confident I'm going to learn quite a lot from this book, hopefully to the intended point of depending less on the few and not-so-great mechanics from my area. I have also appreciated the appendixes on torque recommendations and bike parts naming. Little extras which I would like to see in a future edition include... - Bigger print margins and heavier duty paper. Given that it is intended to be used in an agressive workshop environment, this book does surprisingly little to protect itself from external agressions. I suspect I'll need to be extra careful to keep it in good condition. I don't mind if the book ends up slightly heavier/thicker/more expensive as a result of extra protection, I'm not carrying it on my back every day... - A list of common tool requirements at the beginning of each repair guide or chapter. Home mechanics rarely buy a complete toolset in one go due to the high upfront cost, so it's useful to be able to quickly figure out what repairs you can do with the tools you have, and what should be your next tool purchases. I feel the single tool list as an appendix is a bit too coarse-grained/overwhelming, and would be nicely complemented/replaced with a per-chapter tool list. - It's a bit of a shame that Park Tool, who also have a good library of repair videos and blog posts, do not link back to it from the book. This would be useful when a video is clearer than still pictures. A couple strategically placed QR codes could do the trick.

Pros & Cons

The videos explaining maintenance and tinkering with your bike from ParkTool on YouTube are good and clear. If you do not yet know exactly what info you are looking for, it is very helpful to read/scan the book in advance, and then grab the videos. Very happy with it.

Pros & Cons

Everything you need to get started with bike repair

Pros & Cons

Comprehensive info, simply described, good instruction.