Sheldon Brown (bicycle mechanic)

Brown's website, developed with Harris Cyclery, includes a deeply knowledgeable and accessible database of technical bicycle information. In particular a wide selection of knowledge of common bicycles from the second half of the 20th century that use non-standard parts. The site remains current as of 2021; the commercial pages are maintained and updated by Harris Cyclery employees, and the informational pages by his widow, Harriet Fell, and his friend John Allen, "a nationally recognized bicycling expert who helped found the Cambridge Bicycle Committee." Brown maintained the site's glossary of bicycling terminology, online guide to wheelbuilding, as well as the mirror sites of the technical work of Damon Rinard, Jobst Brandt, and others. Brown had also participated in online cycling forums such as rec.bicycles.tech newsgroup and bikeforums.net.

After developing nerve deterioration over the last years of his life, Brown lost his ability to ride an upright bicycle and continued riding with a recumbent tricycle. In August 2007, Brown was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis. He died on February 4, 2008, in Newton, Massachusetts, after a heart attack.

In October 2003, Brown was awarded a certificate of commendation for his contribution to cycling by the UK's Cyclists' Touring Club (CTC). Brown received the Classic Rendezvous Vintage Bicycle Award in 2005. MassBike presented Brown the Influence Pedaler Award posthumously in 2008.

Brown was a contributing writer for Bike World magazine (USA) and for Bicycling magazine (USA), and then for the trade magazine American Bicyclist. Brown wrote the "Mechanical Advantage" column for Adventure Cyclist, the magazine of the Adventure Cycling Association, "from 1997 through 2007."

Sheldon Brown (July 14, 1944 – February 4, 2008) was an American bicycle mechanic, technical expert and author. He contributed to print and online sources related to bicycling and bicycle mechanics, in particular the web site Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info. His knowledge of bicycles was described as "encyclopaedic" by The Times of London.