Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

Posted by ostacke 6 hours ago

Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info(www.sheldonbrown.com)

239 points | 58 comments

keithjl 5 hours ago|

This website is such a treasure. When I was first getting into bicycles in 2013, it was a mix of Sheldon Brown and the local volunteer-run co-op that taught me everything I need to know. He is himself a generous spirit, advocating for DIY tooling, repair, and reuse.

I would highly recommend anyone into bicycles to try building their own wheel using his article.

klum 3 hours ago||

This is my favorite kind of website. An individual going into depth on a topic they're passionate (in the true sense of the word) about. Another example is Dan's Motorcycle Repair Web page [1]. A collection of such websites would be awesome.

[1] http://dansmc.com/

marttt 3 hours ago|||

Here's another, ultimate bike derailleur geekery -- Disraeli Gears: https://www.disraeligears.co.uk/site/home.html

zampano 2 hours ago|||

Me too! I'm a big fan of Rob Robinette's guitar amp page [1] for similar reasons

[1] https://robrobinette.com/Amp_Stuff.htm

marttt 3 hours ago|||

Yeah. There's probably tens of thousands of internet users worldwide with that same story. Myself included: when I was fixing my Bianchi retro road bike's derailleur etc some 20 years ago as a univesity freshman, this site was a definite gold mine, immensely helpful, and taught me a ton. One of my favorite procrastination rabbit holes as well back then. :) And -- a prime example of 1990s era internet and information freedom and layman-level enthusiasm -- selfless sharing of knowledge (and, I wonder if he also used Notepad to write the HTML :). Thanks, Mr Brown, for everything, all the way from Estonia!

PS, interesting to note that Mr Brown seemed to be quite a fan of sci-fi books: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/org/books.html

fyrabanks 4 hours ago||

Same. I built my first wheel according to his specs. His whole website is so helpful and thoughtfully written. RIP.

rsingel 4 hours ago||

R.I.P. Sheldon

https://www.wired.com/2008/02/sheldon-brown-w/

kccqzy 1 hour ago||

Ah that’s the reason why reading several articles on the site it felt out of date. For example the website states “Disc brakes have become increasingly popular on mountain bikes and are gaining some popularity for other bicycles” whereas in my experience disc brakes are popular for all kinds of bicycles.

bsimpson 2 hours ago|||

That's actually more recently than I would have guessed. He had already departed by the time I discovered bike building in the early 2010s.

Time is strange.

hinkley 1 hour ago|||

I’m a little surprised to learn that Jobst Brandt outlived Sheldon Brown. He was 9 years older than him and Brown died at 63.

jmclnx 4 hours ago||

Came to say the same, I meet him once in his shop, what a great person he was. His wife also has a great amount of bicycle knowledge from what I heard.

cbm-vic-20 59 minutes ago||

And the shop itself closed in 2021 after being open for nearly 70 years. I purchased my Brompton there.

luqtas 14 minutes ago||

i built a set of wheels following his instructions, using my brake pads as the reference for centering and truing, rode dozen of thousands kilometers on them, daily, part of my courier job. all the wheels i had after that old Mongoose were also built the same way. i cycle a 1997 Trek 430 as my main transportation and i freaking love it. soldered a custom rack for panniers after its geometry. farewell Sheldon, i literally read your entire blog, at least twice

if i had found a cycling crazie to date back in the days, i would certainly use "building a tandem" section of that blog for suuuure

jacquesm 4 hours ago||

I wished more of the web was like this.

if you like this you may also like:

https://outspokencyclist.com/tag/harriet-fell/

hackingonempty 4 hours ago||

The old Web... Thanks to Sheldon for teaching me how to fix my bike, how to launch from a stop, and how to April Fools.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/real-man.html

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tork-grip.html

czscout 4 hours ago||

Sheldon's website is such an awesome relic of the internet we all miss. It still has a ton of relevant information if you ever find yourself dealing with obscure wheel sizes or something like that. Love it. RIP.

LTL_FTC 54 minutes ago||

This is such a great website. I have enjoyed reading the articles in the past. It was the final push that inspired me to build my own wheel set instead of buying a complete when I was building my new mountain bike piece by piece. The art and zen (and frustration of trying to feed a shift/brake line through a frame), I tell ya.

manithree 1 hour ago||

I lost my "Clear Creek Bike Book" in the 1980's but eventually Sheldon made me not miss it at all.

It's not as comprehensive, and more corporate than Sheldon's site, but I currently love Park Tool's youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@parktool). They shamelessly mention their tools, but they frequently give alternatives like, you can get this park tool for pushing your disc brake pads back into place, or you can just use a plastic tire tool.

foco_tubi 4 hours ago||

Sheldon was a wealth of information when I first started tinkering on my vintage 3-speed back in 2007. I would pore over these simple pages for hours in my dorm at college instead of studying. That led to dropping out and working in the bike industry for almost 10 years. It was a great preparation in problem solving and systems-oriented thinking before I got into programming.

ho_schi 56 minutes ago|

I’ve learned about that website only four years ago. It is still helpful, teaches me how to install front derailleurs properly (as deep and far to the front as possible, better chain line with less trimming and better shifting).

The German Wikipedalia tries to safe some stuff.

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