Barnett manual- more mechanical information than you will ever need

the bicycle repair bible online pdf...

http://www.esense.be/bike/Barnettmanual.pdf

That's pretty cool, thanks for sharing. Saved a copy to my desktop ready to print one quiet evening at work!

no problem, I was pretty surprised how good it is. Not heard of it before but will definitely be reading through it, and trying to take it all in.

The other standard is Sutherlands... Between the two Sutherlands is the gold standard...

ah interesting, don't know how I've never heard of these!.... I'm a bike mechanic but I've never been informed of them. For me it highlights the fact that most bike mechanics are self taught or learn from shared knowledge of their coworkers. It would be interesting to know how many professional mechanics even have any formal training.

Here's a link to a sutherlands I just found online.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7893416/Sutherlands-Handbook-For-Bicycle-Mechanics-6th-ed-20th-Anniversary"]Sutherland's Handbook For Bicycle Mechanics 6th ed 20th Anniversary

It's the bible that says fuck you to anything designed post 1990

ah interesting, don't know how I've never heard of these!.... I'm a bike mechanic but I've never been informed of them. For me it highlights the fact that most bike mechanics are self taught or learn from shared knowledge of their coworkers. It would be interesting to know how many professional mechanics even have any formal training.

Here's a link to a sutherlands I just found online.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7893416/Sutherlands-Handbook-For-Bicycle-Mechanics-6th-ed-20th-Anniversary"]Sutherland's Handbook For Bicycle Mechanics 6th ed 20th Anniversary

Back in the old days in California all the "pro-shops" had a copy of Sutherlands--- even in later years when the mechanics could not read English.

Don't know about "self-taught". Many of those Mexican mechanics had done long apprenticeships and were far from self-taught. I also knew a few Americans that went to trade school to learn metal working and bicycle mechanics. I knew some that crossed over from art.. and at almost every tech shool I attended--- and I'm talking about some of the most highly regarded institutes on the planet--- there was always a core learning to build bicycles. I also knew a few aerospace engineers that crossed over after their layoffs. In Europe bicycle mechanic was long a guilded trade. Even in Holland today you still, I think, need a "master trade letter" to open a shop.

When I said it highlighted that most mechanics are "self-taught", I suppose I was speaking from my experience and those that I've worked with here in the UK. For me, being a bicycle mechanic was something I never really worked towards but ended up doing due to my interest in bikes and compulsion to take things apart. Many of those I've worked with seem to do it for similar reasons but the amount of working mechanics with formal training actually seems low to me. Maybe I'm wrong?. I know that to be a well rounded and informed mechanic that training is very important but it never guarantees a good mechanic which is evident when you let somebody loose in a workshop for the first time after they've told you how much they know. Not sure where I'm going with this. Sounds like you've been in the business a while EdwardZ?

Back in the old days in California all the "pro-shops" had a copy of Sutherlands--- even in later years when the mechanics could not read English.

Don't know about "self-taught". Many of those Mexican mechanics had done long apprenticeships and were far from self-taught. I also knew a few Americans that went to trade school to learn metal working and bicycle mechanics. I knew some that crossed over from art.. and at almost every tech shool I attended--- and I'm talking about some of the most highly regarded institutes on the planet--- there was always a core learning to build bicycles. I also knew a few aerospace engineers that crossed over after their layoffs. In Europe bicycle mechanic was long a guilded trade. Even in Holland today you still, I think, need a "master trade letter" to open a shop.

#csb

Please stop quoting him