Barnett's Manual: Analysis and Procedures for Bicycle Mechanics (4 Vol. Set) | 
 enlarge | Author: John Barnett
Publisher: VeloPress
Category: Book
This item is no longer available
Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 535981
Media: Paperback
Edition: 5th
Number Of Items: 4
Pages: 1080
Shipping Weight (lbs): 5
Dimensions (in): 11.2 x 8.3 x 2
ISBN: 1931382298
Dewey Decimal Number: 629.28772
EAN: 9781931382298
ASIN: 1931382298
Publication Date: October 14, 2003
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Product Description
Barnett's Manual has become the industry standard, demystifying every aspect of bicycle repair by emphasizing detail, logic, and measurement. The manual, published in four volumes and printed on perforated, grease-resistant paper, can be used by both bike mechanics and the serious DIY-er. Each chapter is structured logically for maximum use: terminology, reasons for service, prerequisites, tool choices, anticipation of complications, fits and dimensions, service procedures, and troubleshooting. Extensive reference information minimizes the need to cross-reference to other sources when solving a repair problem, and the drawings on nearly every page help explain each procedure. This new, updated edition of the bible of bicycle repair also includes more than 1,000 clear and detailed drawings illustrating each procedure.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Extraordinarily thorough but not without gaps June 15, 2008
Barnett's is easy to love. Its beautiful, elaborate technical line drawings on every page elevate the manual nearly to coffee table status and reflect a deep love of the bicycle. Its extremely thorough step-by-step instructions leave nothing to chance. It presents interesting, sometimes nonstandard service or assembly procedures that work well. The philosophy of detail, logic, measurement, and consistent methods in my view go to the heart of effective bicycle service and bring rigor and professionalism to the bicycle mechanic's trade. Honestly, there are few things I'd rather do on a weekend afternoon than sit down and rebuild a brake caliper or hub or other bike part, Simple Green and clean grease and paper towels everywhere, with a volume of Barnett's on the floor opened to the correct grease-resistant page.
But the style can be a bit much. Barnett's is written in an almost robotic style that can get difficult to read. The formal structure - the vocabulary grouped all at the beginning of each section, many procedures broken into over fifty steps - at times seems suited more for computer than human being. For example, Barnett's lengthy and technical wheelbuilding instructions verge on incomprehensible, whereas Sheldon Brown's free online instructions are shorter, more heuristic and colloquial, and ultimately far easier to use. The irony is that Barnett's best explanations, buried in these huge checklists and stilted subsections, are often just as colloquial as anything in the literature.
A more serious complaint is Barnett's incomplete selection of topics. One expects a modicum of completeness from an expensive four-volume set aimed at professional shop mechanics. Several reviewers have complained that Barnett's is out-of-date in its lack of treatment of low-spoke-count wheels and other new technologies. As a bit of a retro grouch, the lack of the newest fads doesn't bother me much. But I would argue that backwards compatibility is at least as important and is sorely neglected here. The 212-page thirty-eighth chapter on overhauling suspension forks and rear shocks consumes most of the fourth volume even though not all bikes - not even all mountain bikes - have suspensions. After admirably concise distillations of diverse service prodcedures in the previous chapters, that chapter miserably misses the forest for the trees. And after that expenditure of paper, not even a page is dedicated to overhauling internal-gear hubs or working on fixed-gear drivetrains even though such bicycles have a large place in the cycling landscape.
At the end, though, I'm thankful for my copy. Barnett's has details and mundane procedures not covered elsewhere, and it is much easier to get out one's wrenches and get greasy with Barnett's than with a computer screen. At the time of this review, it's hard to find a hard copy of Barnett's; I can only hope that the book returns to print soon.
 The only professional quality bicycle repair manual May 17, 2008
No other bicycle repair manual goes into the level of detail that the Barnett Manuel does. The manual provides trouble shooting tips, torque specifications, exploded diagrams and tool recommendations for every repair possible on a bicycle. The target audience for this manual is the bike shop or the enthusiast that wants to do everything on a bike themselves.
The manual consists of four volumes:
Volume 1
Introduction
Frames
Forks
Bearings
Volume 2
Wheels
Tires
Drive trains
Volume 3
Handlebars
Seats
Shifting systems
Brakes
Volume 4
Suspension
Appendix
The 5th Edition is the last printed version. This edition will provide everything you need to repair any bicycle except for some of the newer technologies such as the 2007 and newer Campagnolo Ultra Torque crank sets and some of the newest mountain bike suspensions. These newer technologies are covered in the CD version of the manual. The CD also has more photos but only of the newer technologies. All of the other photos and line drawings in the CD are the same as the print version.
Highly recommended if you want do all everything on the bike yourself.
Excellent book for the bicycle mechanic, pro or not. February 9, 2008
I became a professional bicycle mechanic myself after I readed this book! I owned an bike shop for two years and it became very valued for the service quality in which I applied Barnett's techinics.
This is a great book! It goes into deep explanations of how every little part of the bicycle work, with the all the bell & whistles theories, then it explains with an great language what is to be done!
I used to think that I knew how to setup an derailleur, but after reading the book, I just learned that I knew very little about it! Read it well and practice it well. You'll find that your adjustments will last much longer and tune-up will be less frequent.
Recommended for both the pro or wanna-be mechanic. It is so complete that it even explain basic tools usage (hammers, screwdrivers, open-end wrenchs, etc).
The last edition I have (5th) was pretty updated back then and there's the digital DX update available.
Go ahead and forget about every other bicycle maintance book you ever readed!
As advertised, but reality was less than expectations. October 19, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It's what I expected, but not what I had hoped it would be. If you never worked with a bicycle before, and want to be a good bicycle mechanic, it's well worth it. If you have some experience with bike repair over the years, it may just reinforce what you already know in many areas. But it is the bible of bike repair.
Excellent Manual September 12, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This guide covers all the basic and most advanced bicycle repair procedures. Graphics are instructive and clear. As opposed to other manuals it includes good trouble shooting and diagnostic sections. It includes indications, symptoms, maintenance cycles, tools, tool usage, complications, checklists, different types of parts--their specification and dimensions--and it goes on. The only irksome aspect is that after buying the latest print edition I was prompted to buy, at a similar price, the expanded DVD with the latest components. This is not fair.
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