Monday, February 04, 2008

Wishing Sheldon Long, Rolling, Sun-drenched Rides



It is with great sadness that we all just learned about the passing of a bike industry icon, Sheldon Brown (via Cyclelicious). He passed last night of a massive heart attack, after his last journal post, amazingly.

Although I'd never met Sheldon, I couldn't help but know about a fraction of his expertise - after all, every time I get on a forum and someone asks about proper lock up techniques the answer is hardly, "ask Kryptonite" or even "ask Kryptonite competitor Y". No, it is nearly always, "use the Sheldon Brown method" or, "read Sheldon's method" or "visit Sheldon's site to get the proper method". Either that, or it was Sheldon himself replying to the person with the question. And...they were right...in most cases, Sheldon has the correct method.

I'd been saddened to learn that he'd been diagnosed with MS last year and couldn't ride as he'd like to any longer. Like many of the amazing people with MS he adapted to this situation and rode anyway.

On this sad day, we all hope Sheldon is riding exactly as he'd like on sun-drenched roads with the wind at his back.

To his family and his family at Harris Cyclery, please accept the sympathies of us all here at Kryptonite.



In addition to Cyclelicious the tributes are starting to roll in:
Bike Radar
BikeBiz

UPDATE (2/8):

Ross Kerber isn't just a Boston Globe reporter, he's also a cyclist. He's written a nice article, complete with a thoughtful photo, on Sheldon Brown and his family today. It also gives memorial service information.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Having known Sheldon since 1971 there are many stories I might tell of him but I thought I would tell your readers of a connection to Kryptonite that not many might know. When the first Kryptonite lock was developed by Stanley Kaplan in the back of a small bike shop in Cambridge MA. it was Sheldon that worked with him to develop the lock. Together they measured and tested many size variations. The task was to make the lock only as big as it needed to be but as small as it could be and still effectively secure ones cycle. Ironically (or maybe not so) the inside dimension they derived is the same as todays Kryptonite "Mini".

Just one more reasen to thank Sheldon. He will be missed.

Chris Fallon

Donna T. said...

Chris - thanks for sharing that story with us all. Now I know why Sheldon was so passionate about teaching people the proper way to lock a bike, with the mini in particular! :)

He will certainly be missed.

gwadzilla said...

yes

sheldon will live on in all the lives that he inspired

rest in peace sheldon
rest in peace
and
if there is such a chance in a afterlife that may or may not be there
ride in peace