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Chainbreaker Bike Book: A Rough Guide to Bicycle Maintenance
Meant to be a friendly gateway into the world of fixing your not-so-brand-new commuter bike, this bicycle repair manual is hand illustrated and conversationally toned. It also reprints the original four issues of the Chainbreaker zines, whose masters were destroyed in Hurricane Katrina flooding.
224 pages, Paperback
First published November 21, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 24, 2023
This was the first repair manual I bought back when I was just a baby bike-punk, and it's how I learned to change my brake pads, replace my cassette (the stack of spiky pancake cogs on the back wheel), and clean my wheel hubs.
Two of those tasks were made pretty obvious from the book's illustrations, and one I had to piece together from a solid page of text. Obviously, that route's not for everyone; if you find YouTube demonstration videos useful teaching tools, this is not the manual for you. But it's a good manual for me, even if I'm still not sure how to adjust the headset.
But the manual's only half the story.
The other half of this book is a reprint of the collection of Shelley Lynn Jackson's long-running and well-loved Chainbreaker zines: clip art and musings on the way bikes have affected intersectional change, as well as safety tips for riding, and what it's like to courier food deliveries to strip clubs in New Orleans. A treasure trove of creative bike art and stories from the early 2000s.
Jackson lost all the original copies of the zines, along with her typewriter, desk, and home in Hurricane Katrina. All of it, gone when the levee broke. We're incredibly lucky these four issues of the zine survived to be collected in this book. And as Jackson puts it, "After this, I think we're finally going to put them to rest -- so enjoy!"
And enjoy I did. Now I'm off to see if I can finally figure out how to raise my handlebars a little...
Two of those tasks were made pretty obvious from the book's illustrations, and one I had to piece together from a solid page of text. Obviously, that route's not for everyone; if you find YouTube demonstration videos useful teaching tools, this is not the manual for you. But it's a good manual for me, even if I'm still not sure how to adjust the headset.
But the manual's only half the story.
The other half of this book is a reprint of the collection of Shelley Lynn Jackson's long-running and well-loved Chainbreaker zines: clip art and musings on the way bikes have affected intersectional change, as well as safety tips for riding, and what it's like to courier food deliveries to strip clubs in New Orleans. A treasure trove of creative bike art and stories from the early 2000s.
Jackson lost all the original copies of the zines, along with her typewriter, desk, and home in Hurricane Katrina. All of it, gone when the levee broke. We're incredibly lucky these four issues of the zine survived to be collected in this book. And as Jackson puts it, "After this, I think we're finally going to put them to rest -- so enjoy!"
And enjoy I did. Now I'm off to see if I can finally figure out how to raise my handlebars a little...
December 13, 2007
Chainbreaker zine reprints + really detailed bike maintenance section + guide to bike co-ops in the U.S. *Swoon*
October 3, 2020
I really liked this one. I think I’ll buy it. The first half is bicycle maintenance and it seems like a good reference with nice illustrations. I’d love to take a bicycle apart and put it back together for a tune up as described in the book.
The second half is photocopies of the Chainbreaker zine, which is just lovely to read and a treat to look at. It’s the sort of book that, if left around the house, I would have picked up as a teen to read while eating breakfast or whatever. And I’d like to have it around for my own kids to pick up and read. It is worth at least opening up and looking at it if you come across it. You’ll want to look at more.
The second half is photocopies of the Chainbreaker zine, which is just lovely to read and a treat to look at. It’s the sort of book that, if left around the house, I would have picked up as a teen to read while eating breakfast or whatever. And I’d like to have it around for my own kids to pick up and read. It is worth at least opening up and looking at it if you come across it. You’ll want to look at more.
January 27, 2020
Good bike repair manual coupled with reprints of a 'zine from pre-hurricane New Orleans. Lots of encouragement for anyone new to fixing or riding and especially anyone not in the typical bike riding demographic.
June 15, 2022
the zinester tone grates on me but theres some incredibly powerful stories in here
April 25, 2008
I was given this book so I could review it for the Feminist Review blog.
I haven't even finished reading it yet, but I can already tell that it's absolutely AWESOME! Once I write the for-real review, I will post it here.
Here's the review that I wrote for the Feminist Review blog:
This “rough guide to bicycle maintenance” is really two books in one.
The first half is a bike repair manual, with which the authors strive to “serve many people, from the very beginner to a decent mechanic who just likes to geek out...” I found the how-to instructions accessible, written in a way that is easy to understand, not in “high tech or cool dude language.” Although both authors have been professional bike mechanics and stalwart volunteers at the New Orleans Community Bike Project, they come across as real people who just want to help other real people repair and maintain bicycles—no bike snobs here!
The illustrations—by Ethan, Shelley, and Happy, the title page proclaims—are really awesome. They are simple but informative, slightly cartoonish, but factual. For folks who need to know what different styles of bikes or different kinds of tools look like, there are pictures here to help. There are also drawings to assist with adjusting breaks, truing wheels, and replacing cables, as well as other repair and maintenance projects.
The manual ends with two appendices. The first is a directory of community bike programs in the United States and abroad, followed by a helpful glossary of bike terms.
The second half of the book consists of reprints from past issues of the Chainbreaker zine. Shelley Lynn Jackson edited and self-published Chainbreaker from 2001-2005, but was unable to continue after losing her typewriter, clip art, desk, drawing supplies, and home to flooding following Hurricane Katrina. Lucky for readers, she was able to collect some of her favorite parts of the old zines in this compilation.
Shelley’s excitement about bicycles shows in the articles she wrote and collected for her zine. In her introduction to the very first issue of Chainbreaker, in a love letter to bikes aptly called “For the Love of a Bicycle,” she details all that bikes have to offer. “…[T]he bicycle shows a person that their [sic] are options, that there are other ways of living, new horizons undiscovered.” Romantic? Yes. True? Definitely.
Chainbreaker contains not only Shelley’s voice, but includes the art and writing of other folks too. There are instructions for making a bike tube belt from Spitshine the Eye zine, directions for constructing bucket paniers [sic] from Joe Biel of Microcosm, and art and words from long time zinester Icky Apparatus. Andalusia contributes an account of volunteering at Maya Pedal, a bicycle-recycling center in Guatemala, and Happy explains bicycle delivery New Orleans style. Co-author Ethan Clark has participated in the project from nearly the beginning as a contributor of stories and images to the zine,
This bike repair manual doesn’t just show how to fix things; it provides a lot of encouragement and inspiration as well. Shelley gives several pep talks to women throughout the book, cheering us on to…”stand up and be heard…get to know the tools and language…ask questions and look for guidance, but look to your own sense of logic as well.” That’s good advice, not just for bike repair, but for everything we do in life.
I haven't even finished reading it yet, but I can already tell that it's absolutely AWESOME! Once I write the for-real review, I will post it here.
Here's the review that I wrote for the Feminist Review blog:
This “rough guide to bicycle maintenance” is really two books in one.
The first half is a bike repair manual, with which the authors strive to “serve many people, from the very beginner to a decent mechanic who just likes to geek out...” I found the how-to instructions accessible, written in a way that is easy to understand, not in “high tech or cool dude language.” Although both authors have been professional bike mechanics and stalwart volunteers at the New Orleans Community Bike Project, they come across as real people who just want to help other real people repair and maintain bicycles—no bike snobs here!
The illustrations—by Ethan, Shelley, and Happy, the title page proclaims—are really awesome. They are simple but informative, slightly cartoonish, but factual. For folks who need to know what different styles of bikes or different kinds of tools look like, there are pictures here to help. There are also drawings to assist with adjusting breaks, truing wheels, and replacing cables, as well as other repair and maintenance projects.
The manual ends with two appendices. The first is a directory of community bike programs in the United States and abroad, followed by a helpful glossary of bike terms.
The second half of the book consists of reprints from past issues of the Chainbreaker zine. Shelley Lynn Jackson edited and self-published Chainbreaker from 2001-2005, but was unable to continue after losing her typewriter, clip art, desk, drawing supplies, and home to flooding following Hurricane Katrina. Lucky for readers, she was able to collect some of her favorite parts of the old zines in this compilation.
Shelley’s excitement about bicycles shows in the articles she wrote and collected for her zine. In her introduction to the very first issue of Chainbreaker, in a love letter to bikes aptly called “For the Love of a Bicycle,” she details all that bikes have to offer. “…[T]he bicycle shows a person that their [sic] are options, that there are other ways of living, new horizons undiscovered.” Romantic? Yes. True? Definitely.
Chainbreaker contains not only Shelley’s voice, but includes the art and writing of other folks too. There are instructions for making a bike tube belt from Spitshine the Eye zine, directions for constructing bucket paniers [sic] from Joe Biel of Microcosm, and art and words from long time zinester Icky Apparatus. Andalusia contributes an account of volunteering at Maya Pedal, a bicycle-recycling center in Guatemala, and Happy explains bicycle delivery New Orleans style. Co-author Ethan Clark has participated in the project from nearly the beginning as a contributor of stories and images to the zine,
This bike repair manual doesn’t just show how to fix things; it provides a lot of encouragement and inspiration as well. Shelley gives several pep talks to women throughout the book, cheering us on to…”stand up and be heard…get to know the tools and language…ask questions and look for guidance, but look to your own sense of logic as well.” That’s good advice, not just for bike repair, but for everything we do in life.
December 28, 2008
It's the science of bike maintainence and repair. A hand-drawn illustrated bike repair manual. Like with any instruction manual, it depends on the reader's abilities, personality, experience, and methods of learning best. If words and jiggly-lined drawings work for you or if you like to learn hands on and figure it out, then good. If you need help, a mentor, or a friend to bounce things off, then I don't think this book will be that helpful.
The second half of the book consists of re=prints of Shelley's zine of the same name. It is a pretty good personal zine focused on cycling, New Orleans, and related stuff.
The second half of the book consists of re=prints of Shelley's zine of the same name. It is a pretty good personal zine focused on cycling, New Orleans, and related stuff.
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April 20, 2012This is a book about how to repair bicycles, interspersed with biographical material about two former bicycle mechanics from New Orleans. It is a great book for the novice bike "wrencher" and is well enough written to keep your interest, even while dicussing 3 piece vs 1 piece cranksets.
July 6, 2015
Perfect and super approachable. Have fixed various things on my bike from the book with virtually no experience. Gets into the philosophy of bikes and bike repair as empowerment and the zines are pretty sweet too. If I could only own one book about bikes it would be this one.
August 28, 2010
Hey! I did some drawings for this book!
March 6, 2010
best bike book ever. speaks my language. hip, informative, good ills. a perfect book.
September 24, 2010
By a glorious generalist.
September 28, 2014
This book rules. Bike maintenance books can be so pretentious, but this one is both informative and fun to read. You don't need to have a $3000 carbon frame bike to enjoy this!
May 1, 2013
Excellent book for the bike novice, 'zines in the back for the pros
February 4, 2008
Really awesome bike book!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews