Sheldon Brown

[Tazio]

I'm sure I'm not the only person to use this guys amazingly useful website for reference on nearly everything related to bike technical issues.

I was looking some stuff up earlier on and suddenly realised I didn't know much about the man himself. So I did a search on Wikipedia and was amazed to discover that sadly he died a couple of years ago.

His name should be a byword for good unbiased information and information and knowledge sharing.

 

[xerxes]

Same here, whenever you search for bicycle related information, his site pops up and although the site isn't particularly easy to find your way around, the the amount and depth of bicycle related information is probably unsurpassed anywhere else in print, let alone on the web.

I've been finding things on his site for a few years and like you, only discovered that he'd died a few months ago. Very sad indeed.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/

The guy is such a legend that he even has his own Wikepidia page, but for some weird reason, my whole post shows blank if I include a link. :?

 

[jax13]

as tragic as it is to any sport / activity / interest when a known & respected member of its community is lost, the vital thing is that the knowledge they chose to share doesn't fall into obscurity.

that said, along with the fact that i have used the site a few times myself for various things over the past couple of weeks, does anyone know who is going to be maintaining & paying for the upkeep of the site?

if it was lost due to unpaid hosting fees it would be like losing a haynes manual that went one step beyond the diagrams.

 

[lewis1641]

I was led to believe his family maintain the site

 

[velomaniac]

I also believe that Harris Cyclery the shop he worked for helps maintain the site also.

He also liked Brit and French bikes too so he was a friend to us Europeans and thus not too USA centric

 

[Steve Kish]

Great site but since SB's death, it seems to have fallen back a bit with newer stuff.

Still my No. 1 'Bike Bible', though!

 

[Dead Rats]

I have the SB homepage permanently open as one of my tabs (alongside Gmail, Facebook, eBay, RB, CTC, Gumtree and STW)

 

[DM]

He was a legend.

In the last couple of years before his death, he suffered from various inter-related health problems, but still seemed very positive in his blog entries.

He was so well-regarded for his web resources and enormous knowledge that his reputation even reached The Times obituary column.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3469993.ece

I still use his website very regularly. It would be a real shame if it's not kept up-to-date - But, realistically, who could fill Sheldon's shoes?