The Complete Handbook of Bicycle Pedals

I manage the service department at a mid-sized shop and I have already used this book three times this week. The chapter on installation torque and washer use alone is worth the price - we had a new hire strip a crank arm last month because he followed the 'just tighten it' advice from a forum. The troubleshooting guide for seized spindles is exactly what we needed. This is going on the shelf next to the Park Tools manual.

Some good information here, but I found the tone a bit too clinical even for a reference book. The brand chapter felt like it was written from spreadsheets rather than from riding. I also wish the cleat wear section had included more specifics on how many kilometers before replacement - it gives signs to look for but leaves you to guess on timelines. That said, the torque tables and bearing adjustment procedures are solid and I will keep it around.

Decent coverage of the basics, but I felt like the section on platform pedals for commuter use was thin compared to the attention given to clipless road pedals. If you are a roadie or a mechanic, this is probably great. For someone who runs a rental fleet like me, the maintenance schedules are useful but I was hoping for more on fleet-level wear patterns and abuse tolerance. Not a bad book, just not quite the complete handbook it claims to be.

I have been riding and wrenching for about five years and thought I knew pedals well enough. This book proved me wrong in the first chapter. The explanation of how float affects knee load and why release angle matters more than most riders think was exactly what I needed for my own fitting. The installation chapter saved me from my own overconfidence, and the Q-factor discussion explained a persistent knee niggle I have had since swapping cranks. Minor gripe: the photos are not great, but the text carries it.

As someone who sells pedals at a higher-end shop, I wanted to like this more than I did. The spec tables and bearing quality breakdowns are genuinely useful for talking to customers. But the chapter on business opportunities felt superficial - it lists possibilities like 'consulting' and 'private labeling' without real numbers or logistics. I need rent, margins, and supplier lead times to act on that advice. Good reference for the technical side, weaker on the commercial side it promises.

Bought this for the troubleshooting chapter after I had a pedal seize on a client's bike and could not get the spindle out without damaging the crank. The step-by-step process for penetrating oil, heat, and careful extraction worked like a charm. The rest of the book is a lot drier than I expected - it reads like a textbook, which is fine when I am looking for something specific. I have used it as a reference twice since, so it is earning its place.

I appreciate a reference book that actually gives you torque specs and thread directions instead of vague advice. The cleat alignment procedure in Chapter 4 was clear enough that I followed it without re-reading, which is rare for me with technical manuals. I docked a star because the chapter on future trends spends a lot of time on power meters in pedals, which I think is a niche that will not matter to most riders. But the maintenance and troubleshooting chapters are genuinely excellent and I have recommended them to two other riders.