Sixty Fiver

It was eight years ago today that we lost one of the greats in the history of cycling, there have been few before or since that have been able to contribute so much to the body of knowledge concerning cycling, and few ever did it so well.

He was a mentor, an inspiration and a friend and contributed so much here, as well as anywhere else a person might have been able to connect through this modern day medium as well as through print and of course, to anyone who might have been able to meet him personally.

He did not suffer fools, was extremely generous, and was funny as hell too.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldo...ycle_mechanic)

He was a good friend to many of us.

bikemig 

thank you for this post. the website is such a terrific resource; our hobby would be the poorer without it.

dr_lha

His web pages are the go to first place for me on any cycling subject. Truly a guru of the field.

HillRider

I remember him well. When I first joined this forum I was surprised and gratified to find him as a routine contributor as his expertise and no nonsense approach were very valuable resources. He is indeed missed.

davidad

We need people like him and Jobst Brandt. Our world is poorer without them.

bradtx

I first found him on the old RBR forum and it was a sad day to learn of his passing.

Brad

KenshiBiker

Never met the man. Don't remember how I first learned of him. But I do remember hearing of his passing, and being saddened by it. He was a true bicycling icon. Thanks for the reminder.

mconlonx

I corresponded with him very briefly in the few years before he died, and his gear calculator page is still one of my go to sites. RIP, Sheldon.

exmechanic89

I used his site quite a bit catching myself up after years away from riding, and still use his site now sometimes to figure things out. It's his legacy for sure.

79pmooney

He used to come to the shop I worked in as a bike racer in 1977 and hang out with our mechanic. I knew him as the guru of all things Raleigh, Sturmey-Archer and fix gear (in all possible and often inconceivable combinations). I had no idea he was going on to become famous but I knew he was a gift to the local cycling world.

Ben

70sSanO

With each passing year the knowledge he compiled becomes more and more valuable. I don't know where I would be without those crib sheets.

He was a wonderful individual.

John

arex

Me, too. His generosity with his knowledge has no equal.

rmfnla

well biked

+1. I loved it when he would post in the mechanics or c and v forum. So knowledgeable, and I always got a kick out of his sign offs, too.

Jeff Wills

Indeed. I try to emulate him although my knowledge of French bicycles and their oddballosities is somewhat limited. His site remains a wonderful resource and perhaps his greatest legacy.

Jed19

A true mensch! I first learnt about him when an old mechanic suggested his website as a reference to me. Then I wrote him a couple of times about certain specific cycling issues, and to my surprise, he responded. I'll venture to paraphrase that saying about never has so many owed so much to a single person. I really liked that he was very charitable with his knowledge, and that is rare these days. I hope he has the wind at his back wherever his spirit is.

Sixty Fiver

We have to carry that torch...

jyl

I sometimes wonder what would happen if his site somehow went away.

Bike Gremlin

Lots of respect for the man, but nothing would happen. Maybe a 0.001% of population that includes geeks like us reading BF would feel a miss, but that's it.

Recently talked to a bike mechanic friend, praising Sheldon's site and telling how I found it inspiring to make a similar thing in Serbian language - and he said Sheldon Brown's site is now getting out of date. No data on new equipment. That shocked me, so I checked - it seems to me as if it's been "a few years ago" - but it's almost a decade since Sheldon had passed away.

pocky

If the site ever were to go away (which it won't), all of its knowledge will remain replicated in archives, caches, and other places on the internet. That's the beauty of the internet -- nothing *ever* truly goes away.

I was so lucky to have known him, and sang with him and his family many times in operettas. He was the person who introduced me to the whole concept of being a bike commuter, and for that I am forever in his debt.

I mentioned something about him on Facebook and was surprised at how many people are flabbergasted to learn that I had the good fortune to know him.

Dsprok

RIP
I found Sheldons site before Bikeforums. Both are great.

Jeff Wills

Without burning our fingers...

dunelt_1954

It would be a great loss to me if the site went dark. Lots of information on Nottingham Raleighs, other European standards, and as previously noted, specs and crib sheets, doesn't go out of date. John Allen and others have, in fact, been posting some updates, too. Sheldon was a great encouragement to me when I was getting into cycling, and will always be remembered.

Sixty-fiver- thanks for the memorial thread.

dunelt_1954

Sixty Fiver; sorry I got your screen name misspelled in the above post. Incidentally, if I'm not prying, what's the origin of the name?

bikemig 

Someone on bike forum has a sheldon brown decal on his bike. I think that would be so cool; sort of like those old European bikes with decals of famous racers. I'd certainly put a decal with his pic on my commuter/beater bike since I figure that's a bike he would have approved of.