In case some of you have not read the comments to the previous post, Sheldon Brown passed away on Sunday. Sheldon was a fountain of bike-related knowledge, one of the best and best known bike mechanics, and an all around nice guy. He also wrote and maintained an incredible bike related web site.
He will be missed by many in the bike community.
Sorrow. He was such a nice guy, and the embodiment of the world of bicycling that many of us grew up in.
ReplyDeleteSad.
Having seen Sheldon's passing noted far and wide, I think it's amazing how one person could link so many disparate parts of the cycling community. I think that says as much about his life - and his legacy - as anything could.
ReplyDeleteI never met Sheldon, yet he has helped me out of many a pickle. Thank you Sheldon, you will be missed by more people than you probably ever would have imagined.
ReplyDeleteI think my favourite response to his passing was on the Bikesnob NYC site--some anon poster wrote only 'he took the Patriots loss pretty hard.'
ReplyDeleteMy guess Captbike would have liked that line...
M Burdge
He was my first and greatest inspiration for vintage bike building. His knowledge on the histories and traditions in cycling kept me sane in a sometimes insane world. I truly regret that I'd never met him, but I'll always imagine that he had an amazing laugh...LEFT SIDE DRIVE TRAINS FOR ALL!!!
ReplyDeletein tribute some folks are posting his gag-products from ShelBroCo on local craigslist bike sections - Sheldon was known to try his ads out on cycling lists etc - see http://www.sheldonbrown.com/humor/
ReplyDeleteI posted this on the Classic Rendezvous list today after Lou's comment. And posted it on Serotta Forum also.
ReplyDeleteLou knew Sheldon had been diagnosed with ms...
snipped
>Sheldon received the Classic Rendezvous Vintage Bicycle Award a few years
>ago, I believe 2005. On the way to the car after the banquet, he fell
>while
>carrying the trophy. Tailwinds my friend. Lou Deeter, Orlando FL
Lou and all,
It was 2005, Sheldon rode to and from the banquet with john, Richard and
myself.
On the way out to the car while carrying his trophy Sheldon stepped off the
curb, and we thought caught his sandle on the cars tire as he went past it,
he went down hard!
We helped him get up,, he was still holding onto his trophy which had a base
with the awards inscription written on it, and a chainring sticking up for
decoration.
He was shaken, had cut himself a little, but said he was alright. We got
into the car, all feeling bad for him and he was embarresed.
There was an akward silence,,, I broke the ice with hey, its a bio-pace
chain ring trophy now! Sheldon laughed, so we knew we could to, and drove off towards the Battle Ground Inn.
He was a good sport, and as Lou said, probably knew it was more than just
tripping on his sandal but he never mentioned it to us.
Thats how I will remember Sheldon, clutching his trophy, which he so rightly
deserved.
peter weigle
lyme, ct.
Thanks for the story on the bent crank, how perfect.
ReplyDeleteSheldon: "Don't get me wrong, I am not anti-French."
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." G.B. Shaw
Thank you Sheldon for the progress you laid.
Jack
Having only known him via phone for years, I went out to meet him briefly at his shop in Newton once when I was in Boston. What a consummate human being.
ReplyDeleteQuelle triste! My contacts with Sheldon were via the telephone and e-mail. However, I always felt as if I were speaking with an ideal friend: He understood more than me but was never condescending. More than a bike enthusiast, Sheldon was a fine human being. Sheldon, je suis desolee; nous te manquons deja. Mais, nous serons reunis sur la grande piste cyclable du ciel.
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