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Old 11-20-09, 10:41 AM
  #9  
helicomatic
nice idea, poor execution
 
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There are two main reasons there are so many resources on bike repair that are "incomplete". The first is the reason operator cited, that there will always be conflicting ideas based on different authors' experiences that are not reconcilable. I might not grease a square taper spindle, you might, Sheldon didn't grease tapers at first, then did later, etc.

The second reason, is there is too much to cover to reasonably assemble a "complete" guide to bicycle maintenance. A bike came into the shop this week that has rod-actuated Sturmey Archer drum brake hubs. Are there enough of those bikes around to justify inclusion in any guide to bicycle maintenance? Is anything "complete" if you omit anything no matter how rare it is?

It's not a bad idea to put together a bicycle wiki, and I'd gladly contribute, but from what usually happens on rec.bicycles.tech, and this forum, there are sure to be endless edit wars and "request for deletion: not notable" sort of problems. If anyone sets up a wiki and publicizes it, I'm sure there will be no shortage of contributors at least.
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