Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Sheldon/Paul/Larry and Dave-4 sages

I see a lot of references to sheldon brown on this forum, and wanted to give respect where it is due.
Sheldon is a nice guy and knowledgeable but the main thing that distinguishes him is his media exposure. His website is accessible and often cited. (for example the persistent use of "gear inches" an anachronistic and baffling system that even he has recommended moving on from).

But he is not alone.
I think other bike devotees of similar caliber deserve recognition. Though they do not have websites or there sites are les well known in amateur ciircles.

Dave perry runs bikeworks in NYC, he is the author of bike cult and husband to Taliah Lempert, the famous bicycle portraitist.

Paul Reigart is a frame builder, bicycle archivist and mechanic here in Washington DC. He was at school with Miyazaki and knows endless amounts of trivia about the industry.

Larry black is the proprieter of Mt. Airy cycles and along time bike advocate, archivist, and businessman in the washington area.

Add your own sages.

http://www.cnn.com/FOOD/resources/food.for.thought/herbs/herb.images/sage.jpg

Lennard Zinn, Jobst Brandt, etc.

Ha, I happen to know the three you mentioned, perhaps I don't know the first two as personally as you do(perhaps you even know Larry very well too?). I bought my Guerc off of Dave, and Paul works at city bikes.

Larry Black is also the proprieter of College Park Bikes, he is an incredibly nice person, he was doing bicycle valet at green festival in DC last weekend. He is a very helpful person and is very excited to find youth that are excited about cycling and collecting bicycles. He is a friendly man and is willing to trust people, which is great to find. Larry is one of my favorites, an all time great.

larry, if you're reading this, i could really use a sweet deal on some campy parts.

:)

Don't forget Peter White. His web site (http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/) has sage advice and he builds/carries some cool stuff.

Dave Moulton, ex-framebuilder.

Richard Sachs

Sydney (RIP)

CEYA/ [165]/ dolface will be in the future.

sloppy robot

Grant Peterson. I don't agree with a lot of his opinions, but I usually learn something when I read something he's written.

Most of people who have devoted a good deal of their lives to bicycling and/or working on or with bikes have a great deal of wisdom and knowledge on the subject. If you know one of these people, it behooves you to take advantage of their wisdom, and listen intently when they speak. For years my dad was that man for me. Now largely thanks to Sheldon Brown, but also in large part to the collective knowledge on Bike Forums and other places I've become that man for him.

There are lots of bike gurus in the world. Maybe you know one, if you take the time, you can probably find one in your town. What makes Sheldon different is that he has found a way to share his knowledge with a vast number of people, and he apparently put a lot of effort and time into that task. As a result the fruit of his knowledge, expertise, is readily available to anyone with access to a web browser. It's not as though he just had a better PR man. He built arguably the most useful bicycle site on the web.

Joel Metz has lent a large part of his life to cycling, cycling education & history. He began messengers.org & ran it for 9 years singlehandedly. His own site blackbirdsf.org is chock full of interesting & useful stuff. He was/is/will be instrumental in the formation of the IFBMA / in many of the largest messenger races over the years & has traveled very extensively while living his dream.

Joel Metz has lent a large part of his life to cycling, cycling education & history. He began messengers.org & ran it for 9 years singlehandedly. His own site blackbirdsf.org is chock full of interesting & useful stuff. He was/is/will be instrumental in the formation of the IFBMA / in many of the largest messenger races over the years & has traveled very extensively while living his dream.
seconded!

and Marcus at Yojimbo's. Wealth of knowledge. Honest. ANd he really does give to the community BEYOND financial support. Meaning he gets out and is involved with as much as he can be for one person running a shop. Anyone can write a check and shake a hand. Marcus' contributions to Chicago cycling culture(s) is above a dollar value. I am very thankful for this.

11.4 !

larry, if you're reading this, i could really use a sweet deal on some campy parts.
:)

larry dont read the boards fool.

"I wish I could but I'm too busy."

ps- i love you photons.

DiMartini = Bike Mechanic and Advocate. helped chain reaction a local co-op quite a bit and does a lot to organize riders here in DC.

165 = Track racer. Done a lot in Chicago and here in SS/FG to promote track racing.

The good thing about this topic is that anyone willing to learn about all aspects of cycling, including industry, racing, advocacy, education and all of the minutae that come with it can become one of these people. Wisdom, it's contagious!

11.4 !


seconded. I cannot think of another person who has contributed more knowledge on a post vs. post basis.

i never knew dave an taliah were married.

evan what bike do you ride? i'm wondering if i have seen you in/around carroll gardens area. i commute to red hook everyday from bed stuy, and see some of the same people floating around. feel free to reply in a pm. -dan.

I like this topic, but I can't help but think -judging by the sound of their first names- that the "Four Sages" Shel, Paul, Larry, and Dave are distantly related to the "Three Stooges" Moe, Larry, Curly...and Shemp.

evan what bike do you ride? i'm wondering if i have seen you in/around carroll gardens area. i commute to red hook everyday from bed stuy, and see some of the same people floating around. feel free to reply in a pm. -dan.

my main ride is an orangish yellow (no one but me thinks it's orange at all though) Circle A:
http://velospace.org/files/circlea6.jpg

what do you ride and what do ya do in red hook?

I can't believe no one has mentioned our very own don walker.

I can't believe no one has mentioned our very own don walker.

He's too young. Give the man a chance for his legend to grow...

how old is 11.4? i suspect hes just an info bot that taps a bike database to make this place seem halfway intelligent

Cudak888 and Mswantak from Cranky and Vintage on this board (there are others there too). Norris Lockley, Hilary Stone and Nigel Land from the Classicrendezvous list.

i'd also like to give props to Tink20seven for resurrecting an official Bicycle Polo Team in the nations capitol and drinking most of you under the table.

http://static.flickr.com/35/71619418_7daa75ba49_m.jpghttp://static.flickr.com/20/71620743_d22e9bef5f_m.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/33/64577931_efa18a7f6a_m.jpghttp://static.flickr.com/29/63356031_6ba4197d4d_m.jpg

if we are talking about youngens that we know, i'd say spud gets a gold star for starting dc fixed.

oh, and for being a sarcastic ******* that drinks everybody under the table.
(i mean sarcastic ******* with love, spud. don't you worry)

evan- used to work at lenell's on van brunt street. as of today i have to move back to the midwest for some family stuff, so no longer. i ride an unknown late 1950s (painted) french bike. drilled ta cranks, shellaced moustache bars. it's baby pink with a cream headtube/seattube and luglining. no pics, unfortunately (no digital camera). if you see it around, (in the next two days or so) holla.

Lennard Zinn, Jobst Brandt, etc.
Da Bomb!

(There's lots of cats that know their fashizzle most of the top named ones just beat everybody to the internet.) I'll still take the old quiet guys lurking in the back of bike shops, in bike shops, at races, swap meets, etc, over Net Guru's anyday!

Chris Wallace. The best there is, right here in Chicago. Tireless teacher, ridiculously good wrench, framebuilder, silversmith, and social activist in the tradition of those that actually act rather than sitting around preaching to the choir or tilting at windmills.