Summary: With tons of full color, detailed photos and information on a wide variety of components, Complete Bike Maintenance by Fred Mislon makes a good repair and maintenance manual for both the novice looking to learn to wrench and the seasoned hand who needs a refresher on less common parts.

Rating: 4/5

Price: $21.99

This spring, MVP Books sent us a review copy of the new expanded edition of Complete Bike Maintenance by Fred Mislon, a British published bike maintenance text now available in the states. At just 185 pages, the book covers 98% of what you will see on a bike with plain, clear instructions and high quality color photos.

Some guide books give you a little more than just the facts. Leonard Zinn’s books are very conversational and include some bike industry history and asides while others add a twist of counter culture politics like Bicycle!: A Repair & Maintenance Manifesto. There is none of that with Complete Bike Maintenance. Just the facts, ma’am. The pages only make good bed time reading if you have insomnia. On the other hand, the book is well thought out and conveys the necessary information without being verbose, a very good reference guide.

The book is logically laid out by each part of the bike. One really nice aspect of the book is how comprehensive it is at covering almost all possible components you will encounter. This is the only maintenance book I’ve seen that covers internal hubs in detail with every design and includes info on serving less common parts like cottered cranks and BMX brakes.

Each page is loaded with quality color pictures and concise instruction.

My only gripe is in the first section of the book on choosing a bike, specifically transportation bikes. Taking the North American bike industry bias, they call a mountain bike with slick tires (but obviously missing fenders, racks or lights) the ideal city bike. They only mention Dutch bikes as “women specific” as if half the population in places like The Netherlands and Copenhagen have an identity crisis instead of riding bikes that make sense. The bike sizing and positioning section is also pretty rudimentary so don’t expect more than what you get from bike shop staff when you buy a bike (go see a professional fitter or look at a custom bike if this is an issue). Chances are that if you are interested in this book, you already know a bit about the bike you ride so just skip over this first section.

While not for casual reading, the concise, encyclopedic approach of Complete Bike Maintenance makes it an excellent reference to have on the self when you are getting ready to try something new or need a refresher.