Zinn’s Cycling Primer
The “Primer” in “Zinn's Cycling Primer” is the main reason this book caught my eye. I come from a very limited cycling background, not having done much between riding my beloved purple banana seat bike around my childhood neighborhood and deciding that triathlon would be my next adventure. Even now, in what will be my sixth season in triathlon, reaching for my water bottle is an adventure; riding in aero is an extraordinary circumstance. “Primer” is right up my alley.
One front cover picture shows a man I presume to be Zinn in a cluttered bike shop, with rows of wrenches, an air compressor, and other tools in the background. I'm already intimidated. But skimming through the Table of Contents, I recognize nearly every word in there from Slowtwitch, except maybe “countersteering.” Flipping through the book, I see topics organized into easy-to-digest chunks, supplemented with pictures and charts.
OK, Mr. Zinn: Teach me something about cycling.
The book jumps out of the gate with “saddle height.” This seems like an odd place to start; shouldn't we be talking about what kind of bike to buy, first? But, OK, we'll give it a shot: Sit on the seat and pedal, adjusting the seat until your leg is straight at the bottom of the stroke. Or, measure your inseam and use math. To adjust the saddle, there's a suggestion to use a plumb bob. That seems a little MacGyver-y to me, but I'm sure everyone has a string and something semi-heavy around the house.
Next is handlebar reach, which suggests using the Pythagorean theorem to calculate how far the saddle should be from the bar. If I need to know the Pythagorean theorem to do triathlon, I need to find a different sport. But Zinn walks you through the formula. Honestly, I'm pretty disenchanted by this point. Plumb bobs and the Pythagorean theorem? I just want to learn how to be a better cyclist. But Zinn also offers a few dumbed-down methods, such as moving the bar within 1-2 inches of your knees. A chapter on handlebar height and tilt follows the same pattern.
Next comes a few sections I find more useful: setting up your bike for time trialing or triathlon, with tips on factors such as how to set up your elbow pads; why clip-in shoes are important; and orthotics. I'm a bit lost again during the section on determining your crank length. I feel a simple chart of which part was called what would have been helpful, and there's more math involved to determine ideal crank length, which I found off-putting. At the end of this is a section on determining frame size. Shouldn't this have been addressed first?
Part-1 ends with an alternative setup method that involves plywood, cinderblocks, a phone book, a mirror, wood blocks… Honestly, there is just no way I am going to do this in my garage. As mentioned previously, MacGyver I am not. Throughout Part-1 there are a few references to Lance Armstrong, so be warned if you're not a fan. Also, I noticed a few typos, which were a bit distracting but didn't take away from the tone.
Part-2: Fine-Tuning Your Body is where I felt the book started to get interesting. Bonking, carb-loading, watching portions — it's probably nothing you haven't heard already, but the info here is simple and easy to understand. Part-2 gets more into the weeds with body fat and basal metabolic rate, and moves into lactate threshold, cycling economy, training with a power meter, and periodization. One note: Why tell your readers to “consult a chart” and not include one? Overall, these tidbits are all presented in digestible chunks, but if you really want to learn about these topics in more detail you'll have to find another source.
In “Fine-Tuning Your Body” the author also discusses back pain, massage, stretching and core strengthening. It's probably nothing new to any regular reader of Slowtwitch, but it's a good place to get the basic info and maybe pick up a few techniques to try. I also would have liked to see some strength or weight-lifting exercises recommended beyond the few injury-prevention and core moves he does discuss.
Part-3 is Road Bike Skills. As a new cyclist, jumping right into it with “Cornering, Descending and Countersteering” was a big bite to chew. I need to learn how to handle my bike at slower speeds before I try to take on “curving descents at high speeds,” which Zinn refers to in the first paragraph. He also discusses how to use air resistance to reduce speed to your advantage and a weight-shifting technique, which I found helpful. Next is a section on how to be a better climber — which I most certainly am not — and the power-to-weight ratio, bike adjustments, cadence, and other factors that can make a difference in a climb. He also offers some suggestions to accommodate changing weather, one of which, using a shower cap as a helmet cover, I found hilarious. Do serious cyclists actually do that?
I have even less ability to mountain bike than road bike, so I glossed over Part-4: Mountain Bike Skills. I was impressed that the tips Zinn offered were gleaned from his years of teaching a mountain bike class at a local middle school. Why couldn't I have gone to THAT middle school? Among them: How to coast, how to descend, where to put your weight and how to climb. He includes some tips for tricks like popping a wheelie and doing a bunny hop, which… I don't ever think I'll have to do a wheelie at my local state park triathlon.
Part-5: Road Bike Maintenance and Tuning was much more helpful to me. It discusses the benefits of different cranksets, tubular tires, lever upgrades (although the levers discussed in the book are probably obsolete by now) and more. I felt like the book should have opened with this chapter; the discussion of a bike's major components would have been helpful to better understand the rest of the book.
The subject is further expanded in Part-6: Road and Mountain Bike Maintenance and Tuning. This chapter offers some tips for fixing common cyclist problems and then gets into frame geometry and bike stability — again, something I felt should be placed earlier in the book for us very-newbies. Then are very detailed instructions on how to change a flat tire, tighten bolts, and extend the life of your chain.
Part-7 is Mountain Bike Maintenance and Tuning, which, again, I have no real use for. Tubeless tires, setting up levers, upgrading brakes, and more are discussed.
And then, the book ends abruptly with a glossary, gear chart and index. No wrap-up, no inspiring message to get out there and get riding, nothing. There is at least one joke I spotted in the glossary, so we know the author has a sense of humor. I would have liked to finish the book with some kind of denouement.
Overall: If you're a new cyclist, there is a lot of good information in here. If you're a very new cyclist, this book still might be a little too advanced for you (guilty as charged), but there will still be a lot of good information in here.
I felt like this book could have been much better organized so the more elementary stuff was at the beginning. Also, something Zinn did that I found distracting was quote bike experts, rather than synthesize knowledge and compile it into a bibliography or end notes later. At times, it felt like he was just name-dropping all the amazing cyclists he knows so we, his readers, would take him more seriously as an author.
Still, there's a lot of good in this book, and it's worth the time and investment as a cycling resource.
Zinn's Cycling Primer: Maintenance Tips and Skill Building for Cyclists. Paperback: 7″ x 10″, 232 pp., $24.95 Publisher: VeloPress (June 16, 2004)
