What's new at sheldonbrown.com
We have a new article which describes how the spokes transmit pedaling and braking torque between the hub and rim. The spokes do it by changes in tension — but how much does the tension change? The article explains the drawing below.
A brake quick release lets you remove and replace a wheel without deflating the tire. Our new video shows how a brake quick release works. The video appears in our article about flat tires, and the glossary.
Our page listing internal-gear-hub cable pulls lengths is now updated to cover the new Sturmey-Archer rotary (pulley) shifting 3-speeds.
Damon Rinard, who now works for Cannondale, had to turn his Web pages about bicycling over to Sheldon Brown back in 2001 when hired by an earlier employer. Rinard’s pages contain a wealth of information on bicycle design, and the renowned Spocalc bicycle spoke length calculator. Rinard even describes how to build a carbon fiber bicycle frame at home, and it’s easier than working with steel. His pages on improving aerodynamics are a real eye-opener. We have improved the translations of several articles originally written in German, checked links and reformatted the pages to make them easier to read in a modern browser.
Information has been added to the Creaks, Clicks and Clunks page to help you diagnose several more problems. The page now covers more types of cranks, the noiseless lurches and bumps which occur due to tire damage, chain too wide for the sprockets, worn-out bottom bracket bearings, chain rub on front derailer…
We do minor updates on an ongoing basis and often don’t announce them. Latest is to the cribsheet on cable-pull adapters.
The headsets page has been updated with much more information on threadless headsets, a description of the Standardized Headset Identification System, advice on mixing and matching headset types, and more!
Our Sturmey-Archer 4, 5 and 7-speed hub page has been updated with links to newly-available information on recent 5-speed hubs.
Major update of the 10-speed cassette page — covers new models and an additional brand.
An air bag bicycle helmet has been in the news lately, and there is an evaluation of it online, if you care for the details. However, years ago, Sheldon posted a scan of a poster for another air bag helmet on the site. Unfortunately, he had only a rather worn copy to scan from. We’ve now had the loan of a copy in fine condition and had it professionally scanned. A small copy of it is below but you may view it in its full glory elsewhere on the site.
