Books for Bicycle Tinkerers and Armchair Mechanics

If you like to work on bikes, or just like to think about bikes, here are a few of my favorite titles that you might find interesting. I've divided the list into two rough categories, "practical" and "technical", though of course there's some overlap. A really good how-to manual will also tell you why, and sometimes a good explanation of why will make how self-evident.

For convenience, I've linked titles to Amazon.com, though if you have a good local book store I would certainly recommend keeping them in business. Book stores, like bike shops, are part of the soul of a community, usually run by underpaid devotees who find the fastest route to a small fortune is to start business with a large one. Still, Amazon is very fast, has excellent selection, and beats the pants off of chain bookstores in the mall.

Practical Bicycle Books

Technical (Impractical?) Bicycle Books