MTB Mechanics

[EggsBenedict]

Anyone got any ideas about good places to learn about bike mechanics?

Found this on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zinn-Art-Mountain-Bike-Mai...

I'm pretty handy with spanners on cars, but with bikes I'm fairly clueless - I wouldn't know how to find out if a bottom bracket fitted my chainset for example, or if I wanted to change my chainset, how I'd do that.

My Cube is brand new, so I don't "need" much on that. However, I have an Orange C16R [http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=182168] that is kind of 'roaded' (slicks, small rear gearset etc.) which is 20 years old now. I want to use it (still in its road guise), but for a start, the gears need adjusting as it doesn't work off the click as it used to.

[CoolC]

Youtube is your friend.

Everything is on there somewhere.

[brushdaft]

I agree, youtube has been a real help for me.

This site is ok too.

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help

[P-Jay]

Another vote for YT - I've read a copy of Zinn, it's a good book but static pics aren't nearly as good as a video to learn stuff - not to mention it seemed very out of touch to me - it was probably an old edition - but most of the standards didn't apply to my bike - I notice the one in your link is from 2010 - 4 years is a long time in bikes.

[Mr E]

Everything is on youtube, and it's useful.

However, I also have a Haynes "Bike Book", which is oil stained and very useful.

I second the bike stand requirement, makes jobs much easier. Aldi/Lidl sporadically sell bike stands for not much money.

[Gren]

As above. I've a chunky mountain bike maintenance book sitting on the shelf at home. Never really used it.

Park Tools and YouTube is just so much better - often specific to your actual part not a generic and often out of date set of pictures and words.

[EggsBenedict]

Cheers guys, I'll fire up the spare PC in the garage then....

Ta

[Kell]

I've got the Zinn book. Mine must be 10+ years old and it felt outdated then, so unless it's had a big update, then it can only have got more so.

However, bikes don't really change THAT much, so most of the basics apply. And the beauty of the book over and above a tablet, phone or laptop is that you don't have to keep stopping and starting it with oily hands.

As mentioned above, the Park Tools tutorials are excellent and very thorough.

I tend to use both.