Charles Elliott

As a new owner of an e-bike and one who for years thought that Zinn & and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was a misspelling of Zen and a treatise on improving one's psychedelic life, I must write that Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance is a wonderfully useful set of guidelines for performing DIY maintenance tasks from the simple and mundane (e.g., oiling the chain) to the more complex (e.g., derailleur adjustment). Each chapter contains guidelines for the repair and maintenance of a different part of a bicycle, begins with a list of tools needed, and may contain extra suggestions or tips. The guidelines are written to make the tasks seem simple. The appendices cover such topics as: troubleshooting, gears, selecting and sizing a bicycle, glossary of bike technical terminology, and tightening (torque) specifications of most bike bolts. I used the guidelines in two of the chapters to fix a flat tire and to adjust the shifter with some success, and the bike runs well. Chapters or sections are needed on topics specific to electric bikes, on basic riding safety rules and tips (at minimum, a good bibliography), and on loss prevention. A mention of bicycle insurance could not hurt. Many thanks to Lennard Zinn and VeloPress for making bike riding simpler and less expensive.