Bicycle!: A Repair & Maintenance Manifesto

by Sam Tracy

At their finest hours, bikes exist on a level above mere machines, and there’s no reason the joy should end when the ride is over. Bicycle! , written by a working bicycle mechanic, covers -everything you need to know to feed and care for your own swank, two-wheeled ride. This book cuts through the obtuse techno-speak and delivers maintenance clarity with a touch of humor and radicalism while categorically denying mechanics’ supposed dreariness. Bicycle! is about encouraging society to learn for themselves how to make their bikes work, not because they have to, but because they want to. With detailed descriptions of all maintenance tasks and repair situations, clearly illustrated with photographs and drawings, this guide will serve the need for a serious rider’s manual. Professional bicycle workers—messengers, mechanics, pedicab drivers—as well as bicycle commuters have been waiting for this book. Sam Tracy writes about bikes from a practiced Midwestern perspective. He began producing the ’zine Biker Pride at some point in the early 1990s, after being fired from the college newspaper for violating its objectivity rules, and this project was later broadened just enough to become the urban cycling-focused Multiplier ’zine. Having biked through the last 15 snowy winters in Minneapolis, including five as a messenger, Tracy is currently enjoying the warmer weather while wrenching on bikes in San Francisco.

Genres: Cycling, Nonfiction, How To, Sports, Reference, Bicycles

300 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Sam Tracy began producing the zine Biker Pride in the early 1990s, and the project later broadened just enough to become the urban cycling-focused Multiplier. He is the author of Bicycle!: A Repair and Maintenance Manifesto (Speck) and How to Rock and Roll. Having toiled as a bicycle mechanic and messenger for more than a decade, Tracy is now taking a break from the industry to serve as the office manager for a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending homelessness. He lives in Roxbury, Massachusetts, with his wife, Kerri, and their intrepid cat, Kozmo.

Reviews

[Matt Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seems like a nice fella, knows bikes well but this is just a long-winded way of explaining what a bike is without really touching on how to fix the bloody thing. Not really a repair and maintenance manual, nor really a manifesto as it doesn't call for anything. It should really be called "Bicycle: a definition (300 pages)"

[Mark]

Began reading and then looked over the rest of a copy Sara got from the public library. I like it. Not really a repair manual though. As someone on here wrote, "It helps you understand your bike."

[Jaymi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical AND hilarious manual for how to DIY your bike maintenance.

[S̶e̶a̶n̶ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Before purchasing this book, note that this is called a manifesto and not a guide or manual. If you want to read Tracy spouting off about his knowledge of bikes, then this is the book for you. If you want to learn how to maintain and repair your bicycle, look for something labeled as a guide or manual, something with lots of pictures and step-by-step instructions. I recommend this book for most general maintenance and repair, although you might want to get the newest edition if your bike has disc brakes and/or a suspension fork. I wouldn't know about that crap because I don't buy new bikes. Otherwise, not much has changed with the bicycle in at least the last 30 years, which is part of its beauty.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

YES. is really my response to anything simultaneously crying the glory of MPLS and Bicycles. While not exactly the best book for a beginner in bike mechanics, it does much to help you "understand" your bike. Also, many great tips on how to ride and many other topics surrounding the revolutionary cycle of things...

[Markus · Rating 5 out of 5]

You ever see a dude on a fixy, full sleeve, keys on a caribeener and wonder- what if that guy wrote a book? Here ya go.

But to be fair, Tracy knows his shit. This book is about real world repairs, not the shop manual. I wish there were more pics and diagrams but I'll take it.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love everything about bikes, especially the minutiae, this a mechanics dream. Written in a down to earth, engaging style.

[Melanie]

Bikes rule.