Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

#1

Post by ostacke » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 3:40 PM UTC

Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info
sheldonbrown.com

Re: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

#2

Post by carabiner » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 5:26 PM UTC

Random tidbit, his daughter is a researcher/mathematician at OpenAI.

Re: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

#3

Post by hackingonempty » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 5:32 PM UTC

carabiner wrote: post #2

Random tidbit, his daughter is a researcher/mathematician at OpenAI.

...and his widow, Harriet Fell, is a CS Professor (emerita) at Northeastern[0], and an accomplished cyclist who completed Paris-Brest-Paris (a 1200km ride and to qualify you have to complete 200km, 300km, 400km, and 600km rides in the 8 months leading up to it.)

0: https://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/fell/

Re: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

#4

Post by keithjl » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 5:32 PM UTC

This website is such a treasure. When I was first getting into bicycles in 2013, it was a mix of Sheldon Brown and the local volunteer-run co-op that taught me everything I need to know. He is himself a generous spirit, advocating for DIY tooling, repair, and reuse.

I would highly recommend anyone into bicycles to try building their own wheel using his article.

Re: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

#5

Post by simlevesque » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 5:34 PM UTC

RIP to this legendary hacker.

Re: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

#6

Post by cos2pi » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 5:36 PM UTC

A wealth of knowledge here, especially helpful for wheelbuilding and checking the compatibility of archaic sizing systems. Lennard Zinn is another great reference in bike maintenance: https://lennardzinn.substack.com/

Re: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

#7

Post by hackingonempty » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 5:37 PM UTC

The old Web... Thanks to Sheldon for teaching me how to fix my bike, how to launch from a stop, and how to April Fools.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/real-man.html

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tork-grip.html

Re: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

#8

Post by diggyhole » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 5:45 PM UTC

Thank you for sharing. This is wholesome as f*ck.

Re: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

#9

Post by foco_tubi » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 5:47 PM UTC

hackingonempty wrote: post #3

carabiner wrote: post #2

Random tidbit, his daughter is a researcher/mathematician at OpenAI.

...and his widow, Harriet Fell, is a CS Professor (emerita) at Northeastern[0], and an accomplished cyclist who completed Paris-Brest-Paris (a 1200km ride and to qualify you have to complete 200km, 300km, 400km, and 600km rides in the 8 months leading up to it.) 0: https://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/fell/

For PBP2027 you have all of 2026, as well as 2027 leading up to registration, to complete the required BRMs.

I'm riding my qualifying 300k tomorrow!

Re: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

#10

Post by foco_tubi » Fri, Feb 06, 2026, 5:51 PM UTC

Sheldon was a wealth of information when I first started tinkering on my vintage 3-speed back in 2007. I would pore over these simple pages for hours in my dorm at college instead of studying. That led to dropping out and working in the bike industry for almost 10 years. It was a great preparation in problem solving and systems-oriented thinking before I got into programming.