Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

sheldonbrown.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–117 of 117 posts

Re: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

#111

Post by analog31 »

haritha-j wrote: post #105

Today I learnt that you're supposed to favour the front brake, and I cycle every single day as my primary means of transport. Thank you.

Since I’ve worked on a lot of bikes for friends and family members, the condition of the front and rear brake pads tells me that many casual cyclists are afraid of their front brakes. The rear pads will be totally worn down and the fronts practically new. The advice I give people is: Don’t be afraid of your front brake, but learn to use two-wheel braking effectively, and find a safe place to practice it if necessary.

Re: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

#112

Post by marttt »

ak217 wrote: post #68

If you liked Sheldon Brown (who was a treasure but the content is out of date now), definitely check out the Park Tool videos on YouTube. Calvin Jones, their director of education, recently retired after building an incredible library of instructional videos. As an amateur bike mechanic, I wouldn't have been able to build or maintain my bikes without Calvin's videos.

+1. I would add RJ The Bike Guy's youtube channel -- straightforward, down-to-earth, no-nonsense videos, may prove immensely useful if you have simple, traditional, cheaper-end bicycles at home, and only a basic set of tools. Excellent explainer; has similar "vibe" to Sheldon Brown's site IMO: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaAK2FaxQ2xiBbAUVZsvDYQ

Re: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

#113

Post by prmoustache »

gashad wrote: post #43
FpUser wrote: post #34

Used to be my worship place along with the crazyguyonabike and Ken Kifer

Ken Kifer wrote a bunch of amazing bicycle content! Here's a mirror of his pages: https://www.phred.org/~alex/kenkifer/www.kenkifer.com/

Thanks for mirroring this. Love this page, such a throwback: https://www.phred.org/~alex/kenkifer/www.kenkifer.com/progra...

Re: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

#114

Post by timonoko »

Hey Gemini, can you describe the imperial bicycle tire sizes compared to ISO in concise and preferably comical way?

Trying to understand imperial bicycle tire sizing is like trying to learn a language where the grammar rules change based on how the speaker feels that morning. It’s a chaotic legacy of Victorian engineering and regional stubbornness.

Here is the breakdown of the "Imperial Nonsense" vs. the "ISO Sanity.... etc etc

Re: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

#115

Post by timonoko »

timonoko wrote: post #114

Hey Gemini, can you describe the imperial bicycle tire sizes compared to ISO in concise and preferably comical way? Trying to understand imperial bicycle tire sizing is like trying to learn a language where the grammar rules change based on how the speaker feels that morning. It’s a chaotic legacy of Victorian engineering and regional stubbornness. Here is the breakdown of the "Imperial Nonsense" vs. the "ISO Sanity.…

One ISO mishap I had recently. I tried to fit fat 47-622 to narrow 23-622 rim. Looked I ok, but when I raised pressure the rim cracked length-wise along the spoke-holes. Never heard this happening to anybody.

Re: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

#116

Post by dlenski »

keithjl wrote: post #4

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.

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

Hear, hear. It's an incredible resource.

I got into building and fixing bikes around 2004, and built a couple of fixed-gear bikes on a shoestring budget using parts from Nashbar.com, and Sheldon Brown's wheelbuilding guide.

I also corresponded with Sheldon a few times via email, and created the Wikipedia article about him. He contributed to it a few times himself, before his untimely death in 2008. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Brown_(bicycle_mechani...

Re: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

#117

Post by keithjl »

dlenski wrote: post #116
keithjl wrote: post #4

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.

> I would highly recommend anyone into bicycles to try building their own wheel using his article. Hear, hear. It's an incredible resource. I got into building and fixing bikes around 2004, and built a couple of fixed-gear bikes on a shoestring budget using parts from Nashbar.com, and Sheldon Brown's wheelbuilding guide. I also corresponded with Sheldon a few times via email, and created the Wikipedia article about h…

I caught on near the tail end of the fixie craze, and my first build was a classic ten speed conversion with diagonal dropouts.

Imagine my heartbreak when I didn't tighten the lockring enough and stripped the threads the first time I tried to skid stop :')

Post reply on HN