The Road Racing BicycleAuthor

Nigel Whittaker

An illustrated book on the modern road racing bicycle

370 pages and over 650 photographs and illustrations

Available in print and as a flipbook / eBook on DVD

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This book is not just another service manual …..

Nor is this book just another a coffee table or display book ……

What this book is and what this book is not ……

This book is a technical book providing a cleaver combination of both the above, providingkey information, facts, a little history and a well set out bike assembly guide which can also be used for upgrading, replacement of components, frames and or forks.

This book also provides a complete self help guide to finding out what size of frame you should be riding, what your positioning on the bicycle should be and what tools are required when working on the different parts of ones road racing bicycle

Overview

• An introduction to the road racing bicycle, providing an overview of the different types of road racing events the bicycle was originally created for.

• Terminology used when describing the different parts and what they consist of.

• An brief history of mainstream groupset manufacturers of the past and a closer look at the “big” 3 major groupset manufacturers of today and how their shift lever sets have evolved over the years since their inception.

• A technical overview of the remaining components, including handlebars, stems, saddles and pedals.

• On overview of various different types of wheels and how they perform.

• An indepth look at the different types of “tyre’s” available for road racing bicycles which includes their construction and how they are mounted to the bicycles rims. The different “tyres” discussed includes the standard clincher tyre, tubular clinchers, tubulars and tubeless tyres

A technical book which provides both interesting reading and high technical content.Included in this book is,

• An indepth look at the different types of “tyre’s” available for road racing bicycles which includes their construction and how they are mounted to the bicycles rims. The different “tyres” discussed includes the standard clincher tyre, tubular clinchers, tubulars and tubeless tyres

• Provides gear ratio’s charts for those looking at increasing performance, upgrading and or replacing cassettes and chainsets.

• Offers a brief look at the different types of pants and tops used for road cycling

• Provides information on typical road cycling shoe construction and some of the different fastening systems

• A brief look at the different types of hydration containers and their carriers typically used by road cyclists.

• Rider reference sheet – included to enable the reader to log his or her current positioning on their bikes, including cassette ratios and chainringsizes. Important for those travelling, or when bikes are stripped down for full servicing as well as for those DIY enthusiasts when upgrading and or replacing parts like saddles, stems, bars, pedals, cranksets / chainsets etc

Overview – continued 1

Overview – continued 2

– Coloured face page which separate each of the steps, these face pages includes, tooling requirements, special notes and warnings

– A well scripted guide describing the necessary actions to be taken in each step. – High level of illustration to visually assist in each action.– Separately blocked and or coloured text where special attention and or warnings need

to be adhered to.– Each step includes building with various different components, for example bottom

brackets include both threaded and press fit bottom brackets, mechanical shift levers include Campagnolo Shimano and SRAM.

– Separate steps for the installation of Campagnolo’s EPS and Shimano’s Di2 electromechanical / electronic gear shift systems

– Individually numbered actions for fine tuning the different mechanical gearing systems.– A guide to bleeding the different hydraulic brake systems, including SRAM’s HydroR rim

brake callipers

• Tooling – a listing of tools required to work on a modern road racing bicycle, includes tool reference numbers as well as pictures of many of the different tool s to visually associate these with each of the tasks within each step of the bicycle assembly guide.

• Wheel building – a guide to building wheels using straight and three (3) cross lacing of spokes.

• A complete step by step guide to assembling a modern road racing bicycle which includes

Front & Back covers – Print edition

Print Edition ISBN 09780955383205 / eBook Edition eISBN 09780955383212

Table of Contents

A full and comprehensive “Table of Contents” is set out and positioned at the front of the book.

Reference Index

A quick “Reference Index” has been included at the rear of the book to support and compliment the “Table of Contents”, providing quick and easy access to specific points of interest.

Photographs and illustrations

This book includes both colour and greyscalePhotographs and Illustrations.

Greyscale often provides more clarity and depth, especially in technical illustrations and or photographs

Acquisition of knowledge

From the onset thisbook sets out to provide the reader with clarity on the different parts of the road racing bicycle,enabling the reader to utilise this knowledgethroughout the remainingpages of the book.

Frameset construction and materials

Includes an overview offrame construction from the early days of “lugged” frames to today’s use of composite materials.

Understanding the difference in fork’s steerer tube sizes.

Also offering advice on frame materials and what can be expected performance wise.

Background information

Providing both historic and background informationon past as well as currentgroupset and groupsetcomponent Manufacturers,including both mechanical andelectromechanical / electroniccontrolled gear shifting systems.

Mechanical shifting systems

Providing historic information on Campagnolo, Shimano andSRAM shift levers leading up through the years, from inception of their different shift leversetsthrough to their current offerings.

Providing an operational overview on SRAM, Shimano and Campagnolo’s shift levers with clear illustrations enabling the reader to quickly grasp how thedifferent shift levers operate boththeir front and rear derailleur in changing the bicycle’s gears.

Creating awareness of the different components

Provides a greater understanding of the different components fitted to modern road racing bicycles which will assist the reader in understanding which components may or may not be fitted to their own road racing bicycle.

Provides technical information including difference in sizes and types of installation

Tyres & TubesProvides an overview of the Different types of “tyres” Available including clincher, tubular clinchers, tubularsAnd tubeless tyres.

Includes information onTyre construction, compounds,Tread patterns and weightsAnd how these affect a riders Performance.

Tubes – sizing, construction and valve types.

Cables and their fittings

Provides an overview of the different cables including the differences in the cables “heads” and the different cable housings.

Explains how the difference in the cable fittings and to what purpose they serve.

ToolsA listing of tools required for any bike assembly, repair and or servicing has been included.

Along with the tool listing are a short description, a tool reference number and corresponding picture of the tools.

The tools required for each phase of the build are listed on the face page of each step as illustrated here. Within specific steps pictures of the tools have been included to visually assist. Tool reference numbers have also been included within the build sequences where necessary.

Assembling a road racing bicycleA step by step guide has been included to assist a DIY enthusiast in assembling a complete bike from scratch using any one of the three main stream mechanical groupsets and a variety of components, including mechanical and or hydraulic braking systems.

Provides a sequence of actions within each step, including how to set-up and fine tune the different mechanical gearing systems.

Assembling a road racing bicycle - continuedIncludes a the installation of electromechanical / electronic shifting systems produced by Campagnolo and Shimano, namely the EPS and Di2 systems.

A sequence of actions explains exactly how to wire, connect and set-up both the front and rear derailleur's.

To illustrate both internal routing and external routing installations and example of each has been provided.

Illustrations have been used to provide clear visual recognition of each sequenced action.

Frame sizing and rider set-upAn alternative to having to pay for one of the many computerised systems to produce similar results, a tried and tested procedure formerly used by many Tour de France contenders and at least one 3 time winner in establishing the correct frame size and positioning on the bike has been included. As with results generated by any computerised system the final fine tuning to a riders positioning can only be achieved when riding the bike on the road.

To circumvent some lengthily processes quick frame size reference charts for compact frames using rider’s heights and inseam measurements have been included.

Establishing the correct frame size is a priority as both comfort and performance can only be achieved once using the correct size of frame