Something I'd like to do every once in a while is review websites. Good ones, bad ones, weird ones.
Here's one that is near and dear to my heart: Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Encyclopedia.
As a young man I was an aggressive cyclist -- I also had a passion for cobbling bicycles together out of spare parts. One day in 2009, I stumbled across Sheldon Brown's gold mine of bicycle information. He had an answer for everything:
Q: Why can't I screw this component into that one?
A: Ah, it is french-threaded
Q: Why are my rude bits numb after a long ride?
A: Ah, I was crushing a taint artery
Q: Can I build a wheel that is inherently faster than other wheels?
A: Ah, no, and I never wondered about this, but my man has a (facetious) article about it
On dropping into the site, visitors are immersed in Web 1.0: table elements reign supreme, styling is ultra-minimal, and poorly placed/formatted ads abound.
Personally, I'm a sucker for this old-school, utility-first design -- though I don't remember the site being so ad-laden. You gotta do what you gotta do, I guess.
As I mentioned earlier, the content on the site has helped me across a variety of subjects, including but not limited to:
In addition to being diverse, this material is frequently decorated with diagrams, photos, or other illustrations, as well as jokes (only when the humor doesn't get in the way of the technical information). For me, reading a Sheldon Brown article is reminiscent of watching a Bob Ross video -- I just feel good afterwards.
The site is also massive -- he detailed his own bicycle fleet, maintained a journal, and provided advice on locking your bike up, among many, many other subjects.
Aside from design, content, and UX, the story of the site is just really fun: Sheldon Brown, a bicycle mechanic/collector with website-building chops, unites his passions into a functional work of art, inspiring and enabling who-knows-how-many cyclists, mechanics, and web developers!
I've never met a fellow bicycle mechanic who was unfamiliar with Sheldon Brown. His work and legacy continue to inspire me, and his site is still one of my favorite places on the internet.
Sadly, The Bicycle Messiah passed away in 2008 (before I even discovered his website). In his later years, he was diagnosed with MS (but never lost his sense of humor!). Having lost the ability to ride on two wheels due to his condition, he switched to a recumbent tricycle. His devotion to his passions was unshakeable -- another feature of his life that continues to inspire me today.
RIP Sheldon Brown; long live the Sheldon Brown Bicycle Encyclopedia!
(end-of-first-website-review)
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