Tandem Cycling - Sheldon: RIP

Heard that Sheldon Brown has died.
He was a fountain of knowledge when it came to tandems and cycling. A legend in his own time.
While he may be gone, his spirit and wisdom is still here.
RIP . . .
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

Sheldon "......." Brown. Had the pleasure/honor to benefit from his knowledge/sense/wisdom. We will miss him dearly.

What a shock I'm very sorry to hear. An incredible contribution to cycling and someone who was always ready to help.

He will be missed. :(

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/sheldon-brown-1944-2008-14433

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/

I first learned about Sheldon from one of my various internet searches soon after purchasing our first starter tandem. We were pretty enthusiastic about it and wanted to learn all we could since we were ready to upgrade only a short time later. His website;

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

was the most comprehensive resource that I found to advance my understanding of bike mechanics, especially those related to tandems. Later on, I wandered to a few other areas of his website and learned more about a very intelligent and complex individual who generously devoted his immense talents to the relatively simple machines that we enjoy.

Thank you Sheldon, for sharing your knowledge and wisdom. May you rest in peace.

I am saddened by the news. I wish the very best to his family and loved ones who will miss him most.

It's an unfortunate truth that the most valuable and non-renewable resource we all have is time...

As each of us pass on -- which will indeed happen at some point-- it's how we used our time and to what effect for which we will be remembered.

I believe it is fair to say that Sheldon Brown made good use of his time as evidenced by the pride he had in his family that he freely shared, their love of him, and the outpouring of kind words that have always accompanied the mention of his name to anyone whom he or his knowledge ever touched.

I'm thankful that Sheldon touched my life: he was and remains my inspiration.

I never met him but personally benefitted from his knowledge 2000 miles away. Tandeming has lost one of its greatest resources.

Don't know Sheldon Brown except for having read his website, which is informative and fun to read. His collection of bicycles is a gas. Always thought I'd look him up while on a visit to Boston, but never got to it.

Great loss.

Is there anything writen on his life or does anybody who knew him want to inform us a little more?

Is there anything writen on his life or does anybody who knew him want to inform us a little more?

The following is an extract from something I posted to the Hobbes list yesterday (http://search.bikelist.org/getmsg.asp?Filename=tandem.10802.0092.eml):


I think it bears some mention to many of those whom only knew Sheldon
for his vast knowledge and wisdom on all things related to cycling,
is that Sheldon was truly a modern-day polymath (or Renaissance man
with a variety of interests, if you will) devoted husband, and father. With that
in mind, and as some search for ways to remember and perhaps honor
Sheldon, it might be worthwhile to set aside a few moments to visit
his personal Web page if you have never done so... Not the cycling
pages, but the ones he created to give others insight into what made
Sheldon Sheldon: http://sheldonbrown.com/home.html.

I think a moment spent understanding a little bit more about Sheldon
would be time far better spent than a moment of silence reflecting on
what is really only one aspect of Sheldon's legacy.

I was only somewhat mechanically inclined and experienced, growing up playing with and working on boats, but I had no clue about proper maintanence procedures for bikes until I started reading some of Sheldon's articles. I didn't even know how to clean my own chain properly until I read this one and bought one of his chain cleaning kits;

http://sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html

Hopefully, Harris Cyclery will continue to keep them in stock.

A big thank you to Sheldon for the amazing way he has contributed to "life" in so many different ways. I'm sure that just like me, many more Europeans and people from all over the world have benefited from his knowledge. His influence stretches way beyond his home USA. He was an example of what makes America great. I hope that his work/website does not get lost. It deserves to become a cyclist's classic in the form of a book. I wish his family all the strength in those hard days.
Eric from Geneva

I was only somewhat mechanically inclined and experienced, growing up playing with and working on boats, but I had no clue about proper maintanence procedures for bikes until I started reading some of Sheldon's articles. I didn't even know how to clean my own chain properly until I read this one and bought one of his chain cleaning kits;

http://sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html

Hopefully, Harris Cyclery will continue to keep them in stock.

Wonder what is going to happen to Sheldon's website?

Wonder what is going to happen to Sheldon's website?

I hope that someone will keep it maintained, if not updated, as a memorial. If that needs donations or technical help I'm sure the community will step up. I'd certainly be willing to write a check.