For Bikies: Sheldon Brown, RIP

Rick Denney · Post by **Rick Denney** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 6:35 pm

I know of several serious bicycle enthusiasts who read Tubenet, and I just heard that Sheldon Brown, who has developed the most comprehensive bike encyclopedia on the web and who has been a leading translator of science to common bikies for many years, passed away. He was a friend, and I will miss him. I don't know any details, other than:

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/index.html

Rick "saddened" Denney

tofu · Post by **tofu** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 4:57 pm

rusty · Post by **rusty** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 6:20 am

this is sad news. i learned how to convert my first FG from reading the articles and instructions on his site.

The Big Ben · Post by **The Big Ben** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 8:36 am

He had a different point of view about cycling from the 'lightest, fastest, made from carbon fiber and unobtanium' writer common to the bike scene. I enjoyed the fixed gear stuff on his website and the multi-gear rear hub information that is really appealing to a person like myself who lives in a wet environment.

Sheldon will be missed.

Rick Denney · Post by **Rick Denney** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 1:05 pm

The Big Ben wrote:He had a different point of view about cycling from the 'lightest, fastest, made from carbon fiber and unobtanium' writer common to the bike scene.

Yes, but not because he was opposed to those things. After all, he gladly hosted Damon Rinard's articles after Damon stopped doing so, including his articles on building your own carbon composite bike frame.

He was opposed to the general recommendation of bicycles and cycling practices designed for competition use for general bike riders and commuters. The articles I wrote were for Triathlete magazine, and could maintain that focus. But he resolutely defended the 8-year-old riding along her street, the commuter, and family out for a cruise on functional and comfortable bikes just for the fun of it. And he really hated the notion that bicycles were out-of-date because they were old. One reason he ended up at Harris Cyclery instead of continuing as a race-team mechanic was that he valued casual cycling more than competition and was willing to live up (or down) to that value.

More than that, though, he maintained perspective and civility in the midst of hopeless flaming and bickering on several of the bike forums, even on those occasions when he joined the fray (usually under the pseudonym Carapace Completed Umber). I didn't agree with him all that often on his non-bicycle views, but the discussions (offline) we had on those topics forced me to present my views clearly and with equanimity. It was a good lesson for me, and I've tried not to forget it.

It was he who persuaded me, during a visit to him at his shop in Boston, to put up a web page. "Are you on the web?" "Why not?" That nobody might be interested in what I might publish there was of no account to him. He said that he published his web stuff for himself, not for his readers. It sure gave him one avenue to explore his mind beyond what he could do as a bike mechanic.

Rick "who knew Sheldon from several different directions" Denney