What's new at sheldonbrown.com
Sheldon Brown would have been 77 years old today. We miss him very much.
In this picture his big brother Richard is reading to him. And at the right is the cover of the book Richard was reading.
“Run, run
As fast as you can,
You can’t catch me,
I’m the gingerbread man.”
John added photos and a quite a lot of additional information to our page about cables, and the page got too long — so we have split it into two pages. The original cables page now includes more background information — why use cables, the different types, and a video showing how they work. The cable installation page has many new photos, added details, and tricks and tips.
Our cyclecomputer database goes deep. We have found, scanned and posted a PDF of the manual for what is probably the first cyclecomputer, the Veltec Pacer 2000. We also have manuals for early Cateye, Avocet and Vetta computers, and rare brands.
Ah, the hand-wringing. It seems to have started with someone at the road.cc blog who inquired on our Facebook page, then posted on without waiting for our response.
Harris Cyclery has closed after a 70-year run, hit hard by pandemic supply issues. Sheldonbrown.com got its start when Sheldon worked at Harris Cyclery, and we are very grateful to Harris Cyclery for its support. But, since 2010, sheldonbrown.com (except for the /harris pages) has floated its own boat, through online advertising.
We don’t know yet what other affiliation we may find, or whether we’ll go it alone, but you may rest easy. Ride your bike, and feel free to come to us for help keeping it in top shape.
We have added to our page about on-road repairs. There is now a quick list so you can check which particular tools you might need for your bicycle, and we have covered some additional tools.
The basic on-road repairs will get you home or to the next bike shop on your bike, almost every time. If you can’t find the time or inspiration to learn them yourself, you might ride with someone who did!
Introducing ShelBroCo QuadraTech Chainrings and sleeve nuts.
Throw away those obsolete chainrings! The unbearably vexing problem of sleeve-nut rotation has bedeviled generations of bicycle mechanics. Who else would you expect to come up with a solution but ShelBroCo?
We publish another paper by Osman Isvan. He uses a simplified model with only 3 degrees of freedom and simulates system frequency response under steady-state and transient conditions. He investigates the effects on vibration isolation of several key parameters including tire pressure, frame compliance and riding position. The graph below from his paper, one of several, shows results when tire pressure is changed.
Osman Isvan takes a deeper look into hills and winds.
Osman analyzes data from over 1000 of his own bicycle rides to see what they show, and describes what might be discovered by mining the huge troves of data held by Strava, RidewithGPS and other GPS-based mapping services. Osman makes a particularly trenchant suggestion for e-bike design based on his analysis, and discusses issues of data privacy. Find this along with Osman’s other articles at https://www.sheldonbrown.com/isvan.html
It is traditional for sheldonbrown.com to post an April Fool’s day page, but this year we couldn’t think of one that wasn’t either frivolous or, if it addresses the present situation, dark humor and potentially offensive to people who have lost friends. We do have this:
