Roadside Bicycle Repair
A Pocket Manifesto

By Sam Tracy

Price: $12

Bicycles
8-6
7.5" x 4.5", 120 pages, paperback

Sam Tracy, a radical-minded bike aficionado with a 90-pound toolbox, distills his breadth of knowledge into this handy, pocket-sized repair credo, organized by the major bike componentswheels, seats, stems/handlebars, brakes, and drivetrains. With the mindset of a stranded rider, Tracy efficiently chases down the sources of mechanical woes and describes how best to tackle these repairs in a time-conscious fashion to get riders speedily back up on their bikes. Those planning longer journeys are encouraged to peruse this guide prior to departure both to understand the range of potential repair scenarios and ensure that all the right tools make it into the repair kit. With Roadside Bicycle Repair, Tracy talks repair first, bike politics secondthough there’s always room for a little social agenda. This is the book for bicyclists on the move.

Sam Tracy began producing the zine Biker Pride in the early 1990s, and the project later broadened just enough to become the urban cyclingfocused Multiplier. He is the author of Bicycle!: A Repair and Maintenance Manifesto and How to Rock and Roll. Having toiled as a bicycle mechanic and messenger for more than a decade, Tracy is now taking a break from the industry to serve as the office manager for a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending homelessness. He lives in Roxbury, Massachusetts, with his wife, Kerri, and their intrepid cat, Kozmo.