How to Restore Your Collector Bicycle (Bicycle Books)

Pictures are not placed next to pertinent text and are not numbered. Therefore the text passages can't reference the related figure. The orientation of objects pictured isn't explained making it difficult to understand what the picture is illustrating in some cases. Simple line drawings might have been better used in some instances. Text is thorough and sufficient but the difficulty of syncing the pictures to the text limits the usability of both.

This book is about a special field, and William Love knows exactly what he is talking about. He covers the two main aspects of restoration - the "museum - quality" restoration and the "functional" restoration; and also touches the "upgraded and customized" classic bike (which might lose value with this procedure, though!).The mechanical aspect covers the basics with a minimum of tools. If you are already savvy in bicycle mechanics, go ahead and develop your restoration skills with help of this book. If you are new to bike mechanics you might want to get a more comprehensive book about that subject as a complementary lecture and reference. But the part about re-finishing is very comprehensive and a must to read; also the guide to other, restoration - specific procedures and techniques.I only wish that this book had photographs in color so we all could appreciate better the outstanding job that the author and his co-workers are doing! The grayscale photos are soso, therefore the 4 stars. All in all however, this is a very informative work, written with lots of insight and knowledge, not too technical for the beginner, and with some useful tips for finding those rare accessories and spare parts. Very recommended.

Good book. It confirmed some of the notions I've all ready had about vintage bicycles. Updated with better photos is a good point every is making. It was worth the $

Good book

This is just the book I needed to fix up an old Schwinn into ride-able condition. The detail is great for someone like me who knows absolutely zero about bike restoration. The only gripe I have is that the pictures aren't clear, but at least the words are. I can find a picture on the web if I absolutely need to see something. Great book!

This book will be a good companion during your trials of trying to get that old-school bike found in a pile in some some dusty garage back into working order. Read through it to get an idea of what you actually have to do and how to do it.

Great information.

The information is pretty good and covers the basic information you need to do repairs and customize your bike. My big gripe with the book is that the only color pictures found are on the front and back cover! Everything inside the book is black and white and most of those are pretty dark. I can understand that some of the pictures are old stock photos of way back when, but there should be color pics and the black and white photos need to be lightened up.

I haven't read the whole book yet so I can't comment so much on content, but what I can say is that the print quality is absolutely shocking. It looks like it's been copied on a 1990's photocopier. I bought it because using the 'search inside' Amazon feature it mentioned rod brakes and I'm needing some guidance, I've not been able (yet) to find any reference in the book and I'll be annoyed if it's not mentioned...watch this space.

A very useful book. It has given me, someone who has never been very handy with this sort of thing the confidence to get an old bike and do it up.Very reader-friendly. Two notes of caution, nearly all the bikes featured are from the USA, such as Schwinn. Hardly surprising considering the author is American. The styles of bicycle are also unfamiliar. However, the beauty of the bicycle is the simplicity of its design, so that should not be too much of a problem. The only downside of the book is the photographs, which could have been a lot better. One or two colour potographs would not have gone amiss. Overall, a very helpful, practical book which doesn't over-complicate things.

this proclaims to be about bicycle restoration. It starts with a treatise on Tertullian's 'De Baptismo', a 2000 year old text. The second half which gets around to bicycles suffers from a lack of colour photographs which would have assisted the reader greatly, the quality of the monochrome photographs is indifferent. A very disappointing book.

Very god book well pleased thank you

All that I needed and much more. Introduced to new ideas and methods of restoration. It will come in useful in my next restoration project.