What's new at sheldonbrown.com
New post: the MIT aluminum bicycle project, 1974, where modern aluminum bicycle frames got their start as student Marc Rosenbaum’s thesis project. sheldonbrown.com site owner Harriet Fell built one of the original MIT aluminum bicycle frames, it came to be an exhibit in a Klein vs. Cannondale lawsuit — and she still rides it!
Technology can just get to be too much. Do you lose valuable riding time fiddling with your phone or GPS device? Bet you do. The battery will run out, sooner or later. On some unfamiliar backroad. Off-roading deep in the forest. Navigating a thicket of congested urban streets.
It’s time to get back to basics with ShelBroCo RidewithoutGPS, the Navigation System That will Never Let You Down. Buy your ShelBroCo RideWithoutGPS kit Now and never worry about getting lost again!
Update to our gear calculator. It now supports custom 12-sprocket cassettes, and has a listing for the stock SRAM 12-sprocket cassette. Not that we really think that thin sprockets, with a flimsy chain, are a good idea!
New post on bicycle chain and sprocket wear
How to expose the inner tube for patching without removing the wheel, and how to put things back together — very useful on a bicycle where removing the wheel is difficult. This article includes videos showing how to do it step by step.
New article about the Shimano Alfine 11-speed hub. Thanks to Bruce Dance for most of the text, also Aaron Goss!
Bruce Ingle customizes a fatbike —
Fatbikes are intended for use on soft, muddy, sandy, snowy surfaces but they need customization to make them truly practical for such use — in particular, fenders, wide-range gearing including ultra-low gears, and a way to carry baggage. Our new article will help you to customize a fatbike, but also gives you a look into customizing bicycles, in general.
The article is taken from a running e-mail discussion in which Bruce contemplates choices, decides on a bicycle purchase, and describes the various steps of customization and how they worked out.
A rail on your Brooks leather saddle broke? Our new page lists repair sites around the world. Your repaired saddle will be better than new, because it is broken in. Photo: Simon Firth, of Transport cycles, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, authorized Brooks repair site. Do-it-yourself repair is also sometimes possible and we tell how.
Just in time for standard-time winter commutes — an article about choosing a headlight for your bicycle!
