On 21 Apr 2004 09:37:34 -0700, (Bob
Sims Lie Detector) may have said:

Hi, I'm new to biking and am looking for a decent Repair/Advice Manual
for my city/road bike, so I don't have to keep going to the bike shop
when the thing breaks down. I've read reviews on Amazon of authors
like Leonard Zinn, etc, but there seems to be a lot of choice.. anyone
got any recommendations to make?

The Zinn book is a very good place to start, but might I suggest
checking to see if it's in your public library? Checking it out and
reading it may help you decide whether it's worth buying a copy.
They'll probably have some of the others available as well.

Don't expect any book to be right up to the minute on bleeding-edge
high-performance gear, but don't bother with a book that's so obsolete
that it doesn't recognize the existence of stuff that's common today
like brifters, 8- and 9-speed cassettes, etc.

Oh, and if you have a mountain bike with a suspension fork, bear in
mind that the fork's servicing procedures are unlikely to be in any
book. There are enough different fork designs to fill a good-sized
book without ever mentioning the rest of the bike.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.