Knowing just how to keep your bike in tip top condition is absolutely essential to happy riding, but knowing where to start can sometimes be a daunting task. What you need is a clearly illustrated and easy-to-use guide covering all the basic and the more complex maintenance tasks, just as the Road Bike Maintenance book does, in fact.

The book is 199 pages of essential road bike maintenance, with a focus on clear design and easy to follow instructions. The book first takes the reader through the basics of road bike designs, before delving into such basics as kitting out your home workshop, setting up your position, saddle height, stem length etc and how to dismantle your bicycle for transporting.

Then it’s into more complex jobs, such as truing wheels, fork installation, indexing gears, setting up brakes, sorting your contact points, fitting cranks, replacing bottom brackets and just about everything else you’ll ever need to know for keeping your bike running smoothly.

The book, written by Guy Andrews (editor of Rouler) is thoughtfully written and aims to appeal to all levels of experience. There’s plenty of tips along the way, and an interesting chapter about the work of a former pro-team mechanic. The spiral-bound design is especially suited to working on your bike while following the instructions.

Available from all good book shops for £16.99.