Nina bought me my beloved Merino zip-up hooded vest as a gift well over a decade ago. I mean, up until the near future, it was (is?) a long-sleeved hoodie, but despite the patches-on-patches, both elbows have exploded again, and its destiny is clear. I did think for a moment about first cutting in with it as a short-sleeve piece, but in the immortal words of Hulklyn Jeffrey, “F*ck Sleeves!” And if you’re thinking “Drew-Bob, what does this have to do with Zinn & The Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance?” I’m getting there. Sheesh. Whatever happened to a little goodwill towards holiday rambling?
Anywho, the thing about the best gifts is that they typically don’t register as such in the moment. I mean, a good gift is a good gift whether you’re proffering or possessing. The greatest presents somehow get better with time. Sometimes, long past their physical presence.
Such is the nature of my first copy of Zinn & The Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance (Z&TAoMBM), gifted to me by my parents as a teenager. I couldn’t tell you if it’s something I asked for, or if the combination of exploded drawings and being about mountain bikes made it a rare sure thing in a world of adolescent affinity.
In either event, it encouraged and assisted me in taking on more of my bike maintenance and provided the knowledge foundation, beyond my experience, to score my first job in a shop.
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*. 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.
*{Drewitor’s note: Or younger, or older. That just had a nice ring to it.}
So Leonard Zinn has been wrenching on bikes longer than I’ve been alive and writing about them since before I started mountain biking. Z&TAoMBM is now in its 6th Edition but charmingly it’s an evolutionary project. For example, when it comes time to set up a pair of cantilever brakes, the methodology and diagrams haven’t changed. They just share a volume with newer information about disk brakes and suspension products.
This latest edition is notably missing direct references to a few common componentry changes that I’m sure will be updated down the trail. The most glaring absence – direct mount chainrings – is fairly easily extrapolated from the ’96-’02 XTR FC-M950/M952 crankset exploded diagram on page 242. That’s bicycles for you. Oh, AXS/T-Type is missing too and I’ll be looking forward to seeing how Mr. Zinn manages that in the future.
Oh, and 12-4.4 (Installing The Handlebar) needs a reference added for zero-gap stems. Although, those stems almost (almost) always have an obvious marking that says “No Gap.” Folks talk about how print is dead as a technical medium because it can’t keep up with the constant changes. But the best learning resources are truly helping us develop our ability to figure out new things from what we’ve learned in the past.
Seeing is believing so next time you’re by a bookstore (don’t laugh – I love bookstores) head to the reference section (ISBN 9781937715472) and give it a flip through. Combined I’ve probably read the various Zinnditions cover-to-cover a hundred times and I still become trapped when I’m flipping through. Just today I spent the better part of an hour in section 5-51 ‘Precise Chainline Measurement.’
But don’t be overwhelmed, the book is easy to navigate and there is something for everyone. You never know when you’ll end up owning (ruining) Steve’s 1981 Talbot and 12-19 ‘Overhauling a Threaded Headset’ will be a relevant read. There are basic+ tasks, like installing your own star nut. Learn about four-piston hydraulic brake calipers and installing a saddle in the same guide.
Likewise, Zinn was my introduction to truing and lacing my own wheels. I still remember my first hoop – round, true, and dished waaaaaaaaaaay to the left.
I have to laugh a bit that there’s still an exploded diagram for an elastomer-sprung Onza H.O. clip-in pedal. They were awful when they were current and I haven’t seen a set in over twenty years. But, there in image 16.12 is an opportunity to enter the rabbit hole of pressurizing the ball-needle valve of the first RockShox Mag air forks.
I’m glad that stuff, and a long section on how to set up cantilever brakes, is still in the book. Yes, much, much more likely to be setting up the cantis but it’s nice that it’s part how-to and part history book and it’s so well constructed one doesn’t detract from the useability or enjoyment of the other.
I gave or lent someone my first copy of Zinn & The Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance years ago, and I’ve gifted a few generations of the book to folks since then. I’ve yet to meet anyone in the bike industry who was as influenced by this guide as I was, but I can’t be the only person who was inspired to do more on my own bike, and later other folks’ bikes, by its pages.
I’m going to leave it there for now, but I am certain that Z&TAoMBM will be popping up in a few teardown features on MEATengines this year.
If you would like to grab or gift a copy, I always recommend supporting your local bookstore; you can also order directly from Zinn Cycles if that’s your preference.
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