Back in the day, when not everyone felt the need yet to be on the world wide web, I knew at least a couple of mechanics and builders who would explain they'd heard of this Sheldon Brown guy and ... could I please print out some stuff from him like gear ratio tables or spoke length calculations or lacing patterns? :-) Simpler times. RIP Sheldon.
Aw shoot! Back in the early 1990s when I got on the Internet I also got back into biking. Sheldon's site seems like something 20-something me would really have liked.
Sheldon's site was hugely influential back in the day. Maybe even more so than the Park blue book.
You could find answers you didn't know to questions you didn't know to ask for hours and hours. And then some tangent about French derailleurs, besides.
As a former pro bike mechanic I have never used the park blue book, I cannot count the number of times after he created the site that I leaned on Sheldon. I still use his wisdom and knowledge even having not professionally serviced bikes for 10 years. My retirement plan is to become wealthy enough to afford working in a bike shop again.
I really wish they would give up the ads and ask the community for support, I find it difficult to believe that they could not find funding for the site with all the various organizations out there in the bike community who just throw money at such things. A few years ago I could not take the ads on the site any longer and had to enable the ad block, quick look at a random page on the site (canti brake geometry) and ad block reports 30 ads blocked, a little ridiculous. I would pay for an ad free option. Perhaps they will start seeking alternative means now that Harris has closed down. Fantastic site and an invaluable resource to me over the years.
Wow, the ads are new. Back when I used this site it was a delightfully clunky 1990s hyperlink encyclopaedia. I learned an incredible amount about threading sizes
The bottom of each page has a "Last updated" timestamp (recent) by Harriet Fell. I think this is she: https://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/fell . Perhaps Sheldon's surviving spouse?
Yeah the ads have gotten insane. The site didn’t used to be like this. Now I get dedicated ad-pages when I click a link, and I have to click through to continue to the page I was trying to get to. That’s… excessive.
A banner ad at the top of each page should be more than enough to fund a static site like this (with extra for the authors efforts).
Use web.archive.org to find a version of this site from before Sheldon Brown died circa 2009. The new guy seems pleasant, but he doesn’t know his shit the way Mr Brown did
> Learning to build wheels is an important milestone in the education of an apprentice mechanic. A "mechanic" who has not mastered this basic skill cannot be considered to be a fully-qualified professional, and will always feel inferior to those who can list wheelbuilding among their skills.
Another great resource for that is "The Bicycle Wheel" by Jobst Brandt. Oops. I guess it's out of print as copies on Amazon are going for $35 and up. My local library should have a copy as I managed to buy two and IIRC I donated one.
Not to take anything away from Sheldon Brown. I've spent plenty of time on his site. And of course Brown has a page about Brandt: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/
I love this website - such a great repository of knowledge that presumably would've been lost to time otherwise. Although I don't remember there being so many ads last time I visited the site.
His wife, Harriet Fell, was one of my Computer Science professors at Northeastern. I really regret that I never took the time to talk to her about Sheldon. It always crossed my mind but never seemed like the right time.
Indeed, the tables of dimensions has been super valuable for maintaining bikes assembled from older parts. And the freely shared copies of Sutherland's manuals on internal gear hubs.
Sheldon Brown was a huge inspiration for me in life and work, despite not being a bike mechanic myself. I love his iconoclastic courage, humor, depth, and meticulousness, as well as the grace and humor he had about his old age and poor health.
Not many people realize how controversial much of his advice and ideas were when he wrote these. He was such a big influence that his once controversial ideas on things like safe (vehicular) cycling technique, tire tread, fixed gear bikes, cadence, and chain lubrication were one heresy- just suggesting these things to other cyclists could inspire intense rage, but everyone pretty much accepts them now.
He is responsible for getting me interested in track/fixed gear bikes and using them as daily beaters years ago, very minimal maintenance. I still ride road and cross on the weekends, though.
What a wonderful and pure example of the early web! Brown just put this stuff out there because it was helpful to people, and the web made that easy to do.
Got a lot of use out of his site over the years. What's nice about it is that he's so friendly. I get mixed vibes from various bike communities though.
I always enjoy the folks in bike shops in the cities I live in. I'm definitely not in their 'scene,' but they're super passionate about bikes and cycling as a primary mode of transportation and really want to get as many people on board as possible. I've heard people accuse them of being elitist or whatever, but even in the most notoriously hipster spots, I've always found them just as happy to fix up some kid's beat up used Walmart Schwinn as they are troubleshooting some alignment problem on someone's custom fixie.
That's feels very different to me than the parts of the more "serious" long-distance/touring/sports cyclist crowd I've been exposed to. The folks I've known in person that don lycra and speed down pretty country roads didn't seem unusual, but in groups, they seem like one of the most gatekeep-y, Mean Girls crowds I've encountered. Better have the 'approved' goals, gear, practices and perspectives if you want to sit with them at lunch. Practical transportation cyclists should keep walking, unless they're doing it in full racing gear with clips, wrap-around shades and a helmet that looks like a heavier duty version of what they wore in tron. If you're not cycling hard enough to need a shower once you get to work, you're not really cycling.
Maybe it's a tiny vocal minority? Maybe they're people that are "online only" enthusiasts trying to be cool? I dunno... but it just seems very punitively conformist.
I was just on this this weekend (reading up of disc breaks). Obviously, the content can be out-dated, but that's not why I keep coming back. Something about the clarity of Sheldon's writing :) plus a lot of the content provide foundational information.
Anyway, I was also thinking perhaps I could help modernize the website itself in my spare time. If anyone is interested dm me.
[+] [-] emptybits|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dghughes|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kemitchell|2 years ago|reply
You could find answers you didn't know to questions you didn't know to ask for hours and hours. And then some tangent about French derailleurs, besides.
I still have tools color-coded Sheldon's way.
[+] [-] rhombocombus|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nablaone|2 years ago|reply
That's great idea.
[+] [-] jona-f|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ofalkaed|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tetris11|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 2bluesc|2 years ago|reply
This should be cheap and easy to host behind a CDN like Cloudflare.
[+] [-] dtgriscom|2 years ago|reply
The bottom of each page has a "Last updated" timestamp (recent) by Harriet Fell. I think this is she: https://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/fell . Perhaps Sheldon's surviving spouse?
[+] [-] sen|2 years ago|reply
A banner ad at the top of each page should be more than enough to fund a static site like this (with extra for the authors efforts).
[+] [-] bacon_waffle|2 years ago|reply
Surely just a small handful of folks donating a few bucks through patreon or whatever, could keep the site ticking over with no ads.
[+] [-] hans_castorp|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] skhr0680|2 years ago|reply
Edit:
https://web.archive.org/web/20080913084945/http://www.sheldo...
[+] [-] flowingfocus|2 years ago|reply
> Learning to build wheels is an important milestone in the education of an apprentice mechanic. A "mechanic" who has not mastered this basic skill cannot be considered to be a fully-qualified professional, and will always feel inferior to those who can list wheelbuilding among their skills.
[+] [-] HankB99|2 years ago|reply
Not to take anything away from Sheldon Brown. I've spent plenty of time on his site. And of course Brown has a page about Brandt: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/
[+] [-] harha|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mathieuh|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] twic|2 years ago|reply
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/power-wheel.html
[+] [-] ndsipa_pomu|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] LanceH|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] igpay|2 years ago|reply
His wife, Harriet Fell, was one of my Computer Science professors at Northeastern. I really regret that I never took the time to talk to her about Sheldon. It always crossed my mind but never seemed like the right time.
[+] [-] askvictor|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] topaz0|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] analog31|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] comprev|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] UniverseHacker|2 years ago|reply
Not many people realize how controversial much of his advice and ideas were when he wrote these. He was such a big influence that his once controversial ideas on things like safe (vehicular) cycling technique, tire tread, fixed gear bikes, cadence, and chain lubrication were one heresy- just suggesting these things to other cyclists could inspire intense rage, but everyone pretty much accepts them now.
[+] [-] alxjsn|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jamil7|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ubermonkey|2 years ago|reply
I miss that version of the Internet.
[+] [-] ElemenoPicuares|2 years ago|reply
I always enjoy the folks in bike shops in the cities I live in. I'm definitely not in their 'scene,' but they're super passionate about bikes and cycling as a primary mode of transportation and really want to get as many people on board as possible. I've heard people accuse them of being elitist or whatever, but even in the most notoriously hipster spots, I've always found them just as happy to fix up some kid's beat up used Walmart Schwinn as they are troubleshooting some alignment problem on someone's custom fixie.
That's feels very different to me than the parts of the more "serious" long-distance/touring/sports cyclist crowd I've been exposed to. The folks I've known in person that don lycra and speed down pretty country roads didn't seem unusual, but in groups, they seem like one of the most gatekeep-y, Mean Girls crowds I've encountered. Better have the 'approved' goals, gear, practices and perspectives if you want to sit with them at lunch. Practical transportation cyclists should keep walking, unless they're doing it in full racing gear with clips, wrap-around shades and a helmet that looks like a heavier duty version of what they wore in tron. If you're not cycling hard enough to need a shower once you get to work, you're not really cycling.
Maybe it's a tiny vocal minority? Maybe they're people that are "online only" enthusiasts trying to be cool? I dunno... but it just seems very punitively conformist.
[+] [-] johnnyAghands|2 years ago|reply
Anyway, I was also thinking perhaps I could help modernize the website itself in my spare time. If anyone is interested dm me.
[+] [-] jacquesm|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xtiansimon|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] AndrewVos|2 years ago|reply
I’m more of a runner nowadays, and this site is like Sheldon’s but for runners https://fellrnr.com/wiki/Main_Page
[+] [-] MezzoDelCammin|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tokai|2 years ago|reply