The Ur-article would begin with a link to sheldonbrown.com. The problem, as far as helping people out, is that their questions often devolve to something particular and arcane; that would not be part of a general knowledge base anyway. 9/10 of the questions from one-timers are "what's my bike worth," and that sort of information has a rather short shelf life. Every problem deserves some research, and the gratification is often not instant. For grazing the surface, Wikipedia is good, but when I need an answer, I generally begin with Sheldon, then here, then elsewhere on the Web. Seldom Wikipedia -- and there are bicycle tech articles there, by the way, for both mechanical issues and manufacturer histories.