The day Lance publishes a free "wattage" calculator that is as useful as SB's gear inch calculator, I'll give a nod to him.

Lance may be funding a cure for cancer, but SB is funding a cure for ignorance.

Neither. The Iron Chef of roadkill himself: Victor Vincente.

I don't think most bikers want to run that calculator and find out what kind of wattage they're actually outputting.

That gear calculator took over my life for a several month period.

Ken Kifer for me. Thoreauvian , tour master and died with the handlebars in his hands.

I kind of lost interest with 'The Tour' after Marco. Lance may have an ego the size of a Buick, but to see him with kids with cancer shows he knows whats really important with life.

Sheldon makes me want to buy a complete set of Park tools somehow.

Ya, Ken was the man.
Years ago I emailed him soliciting some advice on building some homemade panniers.
He was more than accommodating, and seemed like as nice a guy as his website portrayed.

Sheldon is Kool.

Preach on!

Three cheers for Sheldon Brown. I would never have thought repairing and tinkering with my bike could have been so fun and easy if I hadn't stumbled across his site one day in 2003. I would never know how to unbend my chainring if Sheldon hadn't personally replied to my r.b.t post with info on how to do it. I would never have built my own fixed gear bike if Sheldon didn't have his great site on fixed gear. Despite the fact that Sheldon is a PROFESSIONAL bike mechanic and dealer, he freely gives out mechanical advice and tips on how to improvise tools and parts so that you can save money... very appreciated by us frugal grad students.

Sheldon, if we ever meet, I'm buying you a beer or ten (or whatever your drink of choice may be)! And if you're still reading this thread, do you ever have trouble coming up with nicknames to add to your posts?

PS- Why do I find so many fellow Linux geeks on BF? :D

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I just wanna mess with Sheldon's next search..... :D
He did answer my e-mail ....... Lance didn't, so I vote for Sheldon.

This is completely off-topic, but I had no idea you could put ™ or other interesting characters in your username. Cool!

Maybe I'll change mine to ɱøẋƒÿrę :)

VV of A had the facial hair thing going on before Sheldon. :p

Dumb poll. At best, I think it's crude to nickname Lance "one nut" in your poll. Both guys have done a lot for cycling, but in different ways. I respect both guys, and if you're truly a proponent of cycling in general, I don't know why you'd feel the need to disparage either one.

Who do I prefer...like, as a human being? Both are exceptional at what they do, and I respect both Sheldon and Lance for different reasons. They are both among the very best in the world in their fields, and I think I'd enjoy riding and having a post (or during) ride beer with either.

I wouldn't want to discuss politics with Sheldon though, and liberal thinking drives me insane. Doesn't mean I wouldn't enjoy his company otherwise though.

I guess I don't understand the point of the question, I certainly can't answer it.

How does anyone know what Sheldon's political beliefs are? I saw he (briefly) had a Kerry-Edwards banner on his site before the 2004 election. I voted for Kerry, and I consider myself a pretty dead-middle moderate on balance (though not on any one issue).

Apparently I've read more of his web site than you have. I don't judge him poorly for his views, he articulates them pretty well.

Edit to clarify: I have spent considerable time browsing Sheldon's journals, going back quite some time. That much thought is quite revealing, and as I said, he does tend to articulate his view clearly when he reveals them. He thinks about what he's saying, which is far more appealing to me than the regurgitation that goes on when most people address politics.

Lance used to entertain for a few days in July. Sheldon's pages are hecka useful year round, making a positive impact on people who need help. SB all the way.
-Nate 'North Road' Ted4

Lance has done a lot for bicycling.
Sheldon has done a lot for bicyclists.

That's along the lines of my thoughts on the question once I had digested it a little more, only better articulated. Lance has brought a lot of people to cycling, Sheldon has helped keep them there.

Very well put.

Massachusetts home of the true "blue" yanks. er sox. Wait a minute, that would make us red. Heaven forbid. :fight:

From his website:

Not exactly political.

I agree...you can not fairly call Lance "one nut" without first determining whether or not Sheldon has one or two. Fair is fair.

Psimet "1 lump or 2?" 2001

I may have to look at his stuff closer. In previous resding, it does not seem that he is funding a cure for cancer as much as providing support for cancer survivors.

This is a significant difference.... one I still support, but it is different.

Just playing devils advocate here... what has Lance done for cycling? Has he really brought non-cyclists into cycling?

Seems to me he spends most of his time on Livestrong and cancer related issues. I honestly have not heard him promote cycling at all.

His influence is almost surely limited to the U.S., and it would be hard to quantify exactly what influence he has in bringing people to cycling. However, his consecutive wins and being from the U.S. has surely gone a long ways toward feeding the American collective ego. Look at the Olympics. How many people that have never in their lives followed gymnastics know who Mary Lou is? Trek has certainly seen a huge increase in sales. Every redneck in the country likes to yell "hey Lance!" or something similar when they see a roadie. Lance's wins have brought us daily coverage of the Tour and his past relationship with a rock star have surely made at least a couple of people pull on Spandex.

Yup, he's definitely seen as a very American athlete outside the US. Sheldon's reach is much more international in scope. And more cross-generational, come to think of it.

I recall skimming his autobiography where he stated that he chose cycling in a very calculating manner- it was a sport where he had good chances of doing well in. So my impression is that he was more focussed on winning, and that cycling was just a convenient field for him to compete on.