smd4

Please tell us all about your encyclopedic knowledge of bike mechanics, Uncle Kontact!

rosefarts

At this point, I’d rather read Bike Gremlin telling me to clean my bike with a saltwater soak than Kontact tell me that I should put tires on my wheels before I ride it.

Like an unwashed chamois, too crusty for me.

kcjc

I just did a quick look at the website, Kontact is not being unreasonable. I'm wondering if those jumping on his case ever wrenched. The Bicycle Groupset article, for example, is sophomoric at best. For example, the bottom bracket may be bundled together for sale but it's not part of the crankset. Having wrenched through college, I hate dealing with customers with bad information as opposed to incomplete or none. I can just see it: someone arguing at the shop that the bottom bracket should be free because some dumb website said it's part of the crankset.

Bike Gremlin

Didn't get any support regarding mobile advert density/number.
But, I managed to solve this by completely disabling in-article ads on mobile.
Not an ideal solution, but the least bad of the available ones.

Fair point.
My logic was (still is) that the cranks won't "move" without a BB, that BB choice depends on the cranks type, and so it should logically be included as an integral and important part of it.
Will consider noting that explicitly, still not 100% sure.

Is this the article you are referring to?
https://bike.bikegremlin.com/501/bicycle-groupset/

Though I'm very curious to hear mechanics' feedback about the scenario you described (yet to experience that, and I've seen a lot and worked with all kinds of customers).

Relja

bboy314

The customer described in this scenario will surely be a PITA no matter what they’ve read on the internet

kcjc

cyccommute 

There is nothing wrong with your group set page. It is fairly clear. I read the “consists of bearings (called bottom bracket, or BB), axle, crank arms, on which pedals and chainrings are attached” part of the page to be a good explanation of what a crankset is. I might reword it slight to note that the “bottom bracket” is the bears and axle but that brings up an issue with external bearing sets in which the axle is attached to the crank.

The articles I’ve seen contain good general information which I would expect for the “wide brush approach” you have taken. You aren’t providing an “end all, be all” bicycle website but a more general approach. The rivet counters might not be satisfied with what you have but they would never be satisfied with anything. Of course they will never produce anything even remotely like what you have produced but they will complain a whole lot because you don’t have the specific number of rivets. Best to consider the source and just ignore it.

Kontact 

No, I'm not. You'll find that BikeGremlin just brought spindles up to somehow discredit me. But the fact is that this is yet another example of how he doesn't know why he recommends thing and will switch to the opposite idea at the drop of a hat.

Kontact 

I'd rather you put me on ignore than publicly insult me.

smd4

People who live in glass bike shops…

kcjc

Except that's not what the industry's definition of a groupset through the ages. Back in the mid-80s and early '90s, a groupset included the hubs, BB, seatpost, and headset. I had a complete DA 7400 groupset on my Trek 660 and a C Record/Chorus mix on my Eddy Merckx Corsa. Incidentally, that shifter identified as friction looks like a Dura Ace 7900, which was primarily used as an index shifter (Shimano Index Shifting or SIS for short) with the option to be used in friction mode. Accuracy and nuance matters. If the word "drivetrain" was used, it wouldn't matter. Is "bears" short for bearing and the cup or shell (whether it's built into the frame or installed)?

rosefarts

I’m (mostly) not trying to give you a hard time.

Gremlin has been more than gracious, he genuinely wants to correct his mistakes and improve the information he’s put out. You seem hell bent on ripping into the guy. There’s nothing that he can do that would make you feel good about him. It’s a one sided and unyielding bashing, not a conversation, not an educational moment.

So why are you doing it?

Because he’s got some inaccurate info about high end vintage bikes, that might affect as many as one person per year?

A wise man once told me, “if you meet three *******s in a day, you’re the *******”.

My evaluation of his site is that it’s super basic info that I wouldn’t bother to look up. I’m bored to tears with it, I wouldn’t spend any more time looking at it. So why do you?

Homebrew01

Ok everyone, let's stay on topic.

Kontact 

There has been more backstory than what is on this thread, which is not me being vindictive, but saying simply that his behavior has not always been so gracious. But I have stuck to the content of the website and where it comes from, rather than engaging in any sort of personal stuff - which can't be said for an awful lot of the posters on this thread.

I genuinely believe that BikeGremlin.com in indicative of an approach to bike knowledge that is destructive to people struggling to understand the complexities of repair and compatibility. The main reason I post on BF is to help people on the mechanics subforum. I am not going to sit down and write a novel about bike care, but I can at least help people get the hard stuff right as it comes up. And I spend way too much of my time simply combating the dumb guesses and misinformation that already subtle complexities get buried in.

cyccommute 

The definition of group set has changed through that time. Shimano, for example, no longer even makes a headset nor seatpost. If the Bike Gremlin’s page were from the 80s or 90s, you might have a valid point. But the page is from 2023 which doesn’t include those items in group sets. Hubs would be dicey to include in a group set now days.

Bike Gremlin’s information may not satisfy every nuance but it doesn’t need to.

kcjc

And yet he throws in friction shifters. When was the last time you see it for offer as a groupset? What you cite actually supports my observations that he's mixing terminology and throws he's own definition here and there (his reply above for what constitute a crankset). When was the last time you hear cassette cogs referred as sprockets in a bike shop or anywhere around the sport. Technically it's the right usage but just an odd application at least in the West Coast of the US. It could be regional like turbo in UK for trainer however given the number of discrepancies on that one page alone, it makes one wonder. And yes, I did look at other pages and it just got worse. It reminds me of the Oswald Bates character in the show, In Living Color. I can just see him praising the wonder of Shimano's new 24 speed drivetrain.

Bike Gremlin

Thank you for the (very kind) feedback.

The site is basically a one-man operation.
There have been perhaps a handful of "guest posts" over the years, but for now, 99% of the articles (and mistakes ) are mine.
I still haven't finished "covering" all the basics (hitting the high points as the Americans say).

Once that is done, my plan (priority) is to do shorter versions of most articles (especially the most frequently asked questions).
The main reason for not having done that first is because that's what most "normal" websites do only, while the nuances and details are (what I find to be) often lacking.
Still, I understand that most "normal" people don't have the time or the will to read through pages of text (skippable table-of-contents help to a degree, but not completely) - as rosefarts clearly noted.

Only after that's fnished, if I'm still alive ("the power of negative thinking" is how I joke about it - might publish a self-help book on that some day LOL ), I'll get down to the even more in detail stuff.

Another "problem" is that I work with "computers" a lot (quotations are because it's a very broad term but I'm trying to keep this post below 10,000 words ), and I write about that too.
Almost forgot:
Povided we all live that long, just wait 'till the "where-did-you-acquire-your-knowledge" folks read what I have to say about steel and knife building and sharpening (that's somewhere mid-queue on the to-write list).

Relja

cyccommute 

Friction shifters have more of a place than seat posts or headsets as part of a “group”. A crankset does include the bottom bracket. Without a bottom bracket, the crank is just a fairly boring wall hanging.

Finally, the OP and yourself seem to say that Bike Gremlin should do better. Why don’t you do “better” by starting your own website. I’m sure you and the OP could bang one out in a day or two…considering his encyclopedic knowledge. Quite complaining unless you are going to do something about it.

JoeTBM 

Well said, thank you

Bike Gremlin

I understand and appreciate the gist (and agree with you).
But, since I don't like injustice, I must comment on this.

Note, since I'm blunt enough to highly prefer analogies when stuff is explained to me, I'll use the same method to try and explain my point (not trying to be sarcastic or insult anyone, in case that's not clear):

Both myself and people I've helped have had a lot of problems with EIG-owned web hosting providers.
It is the one exception where I bothered and went out of my way to describe how bad that is in that article (I generally try to stick to just praising the good and ignoring the ton of garbage - saves energy).
No, I do not plan to start a web-hosting company to prove them wrong, or show them how it's done.
That takes a lot of time, effort, and it's not in my business or career plan.
Does that make my (I like to think quite objective) criticism wrong?
I don't think so (though everyone can judge and decide for themselves).
What I did was go and find a better hosting provider.

MDDHosting is my current provider of choice that I can't give enough praise to.
...and I've alredy informed them of this thread should they receive a website takedown request by the esteemed member LOL
They actually came on my shortlist of trustworthy providers to consider after they had made a big blunder in 2018 - when I saw how they owned it and handled it.

The same goes for criticizing my work (or my English ).
One needn't be a pro mechanic, or build a better site to point out any errors, discrepancies etc. (whether that's correct and justified is a different matter).

As I said at the start, I agree with the gist of your post.
It is a lot easier to tear things down than it is to build them.
It's easier to point any imperfection, than it is to make improvements.
Or, as a Serbian saying goes: "Dust rises after good horses."

Nonetheless, I have not disregarded the "negative feedback" I got over the years on the grounds that its authors haven't built anything better (some of it has been spot on and I've implemented all the corrections/complaints that I saw as, well, correct).
No.
The feedback I've disregarded was disregarded for other reasons.
I even wrote an article on this topic, but briefly put, it boils down to the feedback not being relevant, nitpicking, "corrections" being actually incorrect and similar.
At least in my opinion (which is based on my education, knowledge and experience) - everyone else will use their own head, and form their own opinion (different people have different experiences and hence, often have different opinions too, that's normal, that's good).

Relja

Kontact 

By that logic and crankset includes a frame.

Writing down a bunch of stuff extemporaneously is not nearly has hard as getting your facts right and verified.

smd4

Then perhaps you should take a break? Wouldn't want you to get too tired.

Kontact 

Why don't you write an article about riding around on 140psi tires? Or any of the other ridiculous recommendations you've made over the years.

Or why don't you add your belief that GRX cranks are for 73mm BBs to this thread:
https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-m...i-spacers.html

Seems like your speed.

smd4

Crying about personal insults, and then slinging them around. Can't say that's not like you!

I'm not the one complaining about websites, and doing absolutely nothing about it except whine. You don't like riding on 140 PSI tires? Fine! Clearly this is an opinionyou don't share. So why would I write an article about it? I'm not trying to convince anyone.

smd4

I personally take great pleasure when those who claim "encyclopedic" knowledge make mistakes, unlike us mere mortals:

I take it back: Please don't make a bike information website. I'm afraid it might have too many mistakes.

(Man, I gotta say, in reviewing all of your posts, now I understand why so many folks here have you on ignore! That was grueling!)