A MEATengines Christmas Gift Guide {HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…*}

Zinn It to Win It!

Very few things grind my gears, bash my pedals, dent my rims, lacerate my levers, or warp my rotors like Christmas crap hitting the shelves at the same time as Remembrance Day. Is nothing sacred? Not to mention that near-instant change over in the stores, when Jolly Old Saint Nic spends a few days standing next to a twenty foot tall plastic skeleton. Thanksoweenmas? Chill your roll!

And let’s be honest, there are ‘things’ in the world of mountain bicycles, like through-the-headset-cable-tourism, component-feature-subscription-pricing, and the years-later shift to Super Boost 157 spacing, where it does not make sense to be first. If dumping gift guides before the trees of the PSW** drop their leaves was a good idea, anyone with an actual gig writing about rigs, digs, and twigs would be doing it.

But, Claire and I were flipping through our copy of Zinn & The Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance, more than 500 pages and 750 hand-drawn illustrations, talking about what a great resource it is, and, well, a couple of things came up on why, any edition of this book, is one of the best bicycling gifts to give and receive. For any occasion, from birthdays to bridal showers. In any season, from riding-every-day-spot-repairs to chasing-that-creak-from-three-months-ago.

With, surprisingly, no local stockists, at least here in the Shore-to-Sky corridor, it can take a bit of time to chase a copy down. Especially for bargain hunters looking to pick up a used one, or anyone wanting to buy in without contributing directly to the divergent robber-baronage. Say, procuring a copy straight from Zinn.Bike or ordering one through the nice folks at your preferred local bicycle shop.

*{MEATengines V2 super-friend Geof didn’t put any limits on the length of titles?! What was he thinking?! I can’t be trusted with this level of responsibility.}
**{Pacific South-West, a Canadian perspective.}

{Chez MEAT we’re flipping through the 6th Edition. All photos by me unless noted.}

{Every edition is ‘current’ but the 7th Edition is most up-to-date with the performance mountain bicycles sitting on shop floors today. Photo by Lennard Zinn.}

Any Edition

The 7th edition of Z&TAoMBM adds some important information in tackling repairs of the latest and greatest mountain bicycles, with information about UDH derailleur hanger installation, SRAM Transmission drivetrain setup*, chain waxing {so trendy}, and tubeless tire repair. But, that said, one of the coolest things about any edition of these books is that the information within doesn’t expire.

I mean, you can’t buy a dinosaur book and be sure that the current skin covering considerations – scales, feathers, hide, chainmail, purple velour, etc. – will be in the conversation next year. But, if you buy a 1st edition Zinn then you’ll be prepared for cantilever brake setup and adjusting derailleur b-tension, same as it ever was.

I just took a comedy break to categorize some of my regular riding friends by what edition of Z&TAoMBM they, and their bikes, best correspond to. In thirty years, to the best of my recollection, there’s not been any specific single-speed-setup information, but with the glacially growing popularity of 50,000:1 club, maybe we’ll see a guide to just-right chain adjustment and different tensioning systems being added in some future edition {hahaha}.

*{I don’t know if it includes illustrations or information on the best techniques for standing on one’s derailleur.}

{Timeless advice.}

{Whilst every edition covers the new-new, the classic components remain.}

{Some repairs and installations never change.}

{Even if you’re not planning to tackle certain jobs, it’s good to know the basics of how things work.}

30th Anniversary

More than the drawings or any technical information within, Claire enjoys the pull quotes, both anonymous and attributed. For me it’s the whole package which is decidedly human-made from the illustrations to the writing and whit, and also from the ‘show your work’ perspective of, by my math, thirty years of evolution come last April.

For a number of reasons, I use the book much differently than when I received my first copy as a teenager. And no doubt, some of the value I put in the collected concepts is down to how that book influenced my life. To quote myself in conclusion:

“With all my biases on the table, I still don’t think there’s a better starting point as a resource for understanding your mountain bicycle, working on your own rig, or as a first point of education for working in a bike shop. That’s whether you‘re fifteen or fifty-nine {Or younger, or older. That just had a nice ring to it}. Excellent exploded diagrams, well laid out information, and even where it may not be the tool to performing a service – in the age of how-to videos – it still provides a strong foundation for using other resources.“

Yeah, so. A one item gift guide in September is maybe a bit silly, but in a world where they don’t ask how, they ask how many, I’m sure I’ll be back to this a dozen times between now and December 24th.

If you’re interested in supporting the MEATengines community there are multiple ways to help out. You can submit an About a Single Speed or Bicycle Valentines piece, or fire me an e-mail if there’s some other ATB or mountain bicycling topic you’re passionate to write about. I’m interested. You can engage with a comment below, join the crew at r/MEATengines, or, if you have a couple spare bucks {ha!}, you can always buy me a coffee. Thank you.

{Who doesn’t love a fluffernutter?}