Bicycle Mechanics - Thank Heavens for St. Sheldon - Will his legacy last???

I've just sorted a perplexing problem with an old (1960's) Sturmey-Archer 3 speed hub gear by reference to Sheldon Brown's excellent web site. By using his advice, what I had envisaged as a complete strip down of the hub (daunting prospect!) turned out to be a 4 minute adjustment.

Since the great man sadly passed to a better place, his legacy lives on in his web site to help us all. My concern is - will it last for ever? Is there anyone with a similar depth and breadth of knowledge to either continue Sheldon's great work, or indeed start their own? Will that be the mission of Bike Forums? As technology moves on, will anyone be able to post advice on (for example) Campag and Shimano electronic shifters - or even Mavic ones, come to that!

Has anyone any ideas? Regrettably my own knowledge, although based on experience, is nowhere near up to the job, otherwise I'd volunteer. Should there be a thread for anyone with expert knowledge of any area of bike mechanics to post detailed info in the same way as Sheldon did on his web site?

Ideas and views please???

It wasn't his depth and breadth of knowledge - while very impressive, there are others with similar experience. However, too many of the 'experts' in the cycling community seem to lack a little bit in the personality department on occasion.

What distinguished Sheldon was his humility and his willingness to help people of all ability levels. He also had the ability to make complicated mechanical issues clearly understandable, which few have.

We could certainly use more people like Sheldon.

What distinguished Sheldon was his humility and his willingness to help people of all ability levels. He also had the ability to make complicated mechanical issues clearly understandable, which few have.


Well, some of us try to emulate Sheldon. But since I'm encumbered by a "real life", I can't be here for you.

What distinguishes Sheldon from the other veterans of bike-shops is that he's put his knowledge online. If you've got a problem that's not easily solved, there's a guy somewhere in one of your local shops with the solution. Trick is, finding that guy. And as mentioned, he may not be as social or able to articulate in layman's terms like Sheldon. YMMV. :)

Sheldon's bicycle technical and general information articles on his website are by used by people in all corners of the globe. You would be amazed at how widely known his website is outside the USA. One reason is that his technical articles are loaded with key words and phrases that pop up on the first page of most search engine results. Also many of his articles have translations in other languages, most in French, and many in Russian. About a year ago, I went into a bike shop in Leipzig (Germany) that has a photo of Sheldon on the wall featuring his trademark "Igor" helmet eagle!

Since the great man sadly passed to a better place, his legacy lives on in his web site to help us all. My concern is - will it last for ever?
Probably not. Someone has to pay to host & maintain the site, who even knows what the Intarwebs will be like in 10 or 15 years. It'll be around for awhile, but "all things must pass."



Will that be the mission of Bike Forums?
I thought the mission of BF is to waste as much time as possible discussing bikes. :D

I think Sheldon Brown will live forever on the Internet.

Check out this website

http://www.kenkifer.com/

Mr. Kifer is still going strong on the web....and he's nowhere near as well known as Sheldon Brown. With a lot of love and little money, these gentlemen cyclists never vanish from the Internet.