The heart of a bicycle frame

Last Sunday (the 10th of Febraury) we had beutiful spring weather here in Berlin. So in the late afternoon I decided to free my Batavus Pro of the thick layer of crud (mostly salt, sand and decomposing leaves) that had built up on it since christmas.

After taking out the bottom bracket I noticed that the chainstays weren't mitered or brazed the entire length of the lug running into the shell. On closer inspection I realised that the shell had a lip stopping the chain stays from being further inserted...makes sense. That way it's very simple to get both chainstay the same length. This must be one of the best shells ever designed.
Below you can se the lengths I went mitering all the tubes going into the Long Shen BB shell of my first frame. I wish I'd had the Cinelli

Sad day for Cycling

Sheldon Brown died on February 3rd of a heart attack he will be dearly missed. His contribution to cycling was immeasureable, his influence on fixed cycling being probably the best example.
Although he was best known through his website and contributions on mailinglists his way of intelligent answers to even the most naive of queries always salted with a pinch of humour earned him much affection. His traditional 1st of April jokes are renowned.
I sincerely hope his legacy of bike articles or indeed bicycle encyclopedia can be continued on in some form. To me this is the definitive compendium of bike knowledge on the web.
My uncle Gerry Bracken from Westport, Ireland died shortly before christmas. His photography of archeological sites and life in Ireland grew thoughout his lifetime to form a valuable collection. One can only hope that it can be appropriately archived.
If future generations are to profit from the contributions of such prolific men then their works will need to be preserved, archived and made available. This is often a mammoth task however which often cannot be undertaken the families of the deceased alone.
If the Web and its communities has any benefit then it should be to preserve such heritage.

RIP Gerry and Sheldon

Image source Wikipedia