Links

Technical Information

Manuals and Technical Documents

• Independent:
  • Sheldon Brown: incredibly detailed site full of technical information on bicycles, especially vintage bicycles. French readers will be particularly interested in the articles on old French standards as well as his “France page”. Inspiration for this website.
  • Roger Musson a.k.a. Wheelpro: Fantastic resource for wheelbuilding. “The most comprehensive guide to wheelbuilding” available for purchase as well as a renowned spoke length calculator (The Spoke Length Project)
• Brands:
  • Shimano Manuals & Technical Documents: All of Shimano’s modern Dealer’s Manuals, Service Manuals, etc. Also some very handy compatibility charts. Not to be confused with Shimano T.E.C. which has online training programs for professional mechanics.
  • SRAM Manuals & Documents: Unfortunately not as well organised as Shimano’s website, but everything is here.
  • Magura Service Instructions: Magura’s official website with instructions, manuals and videos. Beware, sometimes their products change after the manual is written and not every manual is available here. For Magura HS brakes (hydraulic rim brakes): the manual is here (for now).
  • Hope Technology news: Please do let me know if there is a website similar to Shimano and SRAMs’. In the mean time here are some useful articles from Hope’s difficult to navigate news site: The Hope Tech Complete Guide to Braking, Front & Rear Axles Fitment charts. See below for Hope Brake Tech Book.
  • Chris King Support: Chris King manuals and specifications.

Useful PDFs

• Cane Creek S.H.I.S. Poster (Get your S.H.I.S. Straight)
• C-Bear Bottom Bracket Chart
• Hope Brake Tech Book

Useful webtools

• Wheels:
  • DT Swiss Spoke Calculator
  • More advanced: The Spoke Length Project

Useful websites

• SOSHanger: THE site for finding (and purchasing) any derailleur hanger
• Wiklou, le wiki francophone du vélo: French-speaking cycling wiki

Blogs

• DC Rainmaker: detailed product reviews for all kinds of sports electronics

Navigation

brouter is an amazing tool for planning cycling routes. There are two web versions, brouter-web and bikerouter.de (I recommend the latter).

Android users can use BRouter with OSMAnd for offline navigation if they are brave enough to face the menus.

Whatever you do, do not use Google Maps for planning cycling routes unless you want to die on the side of a motorway.

Forums

EN

• Bike Forums: General bike forum. Everything from general discussion to racing.
• Subreddits:
  • /r/bikewrench: for help fixing your bike
  • /r/BikeMechanics: for discussion between bike mechanics
  • /r/bicycling: general posts
  • /r/wheelbuild: name is pretty self-explanatory
  • /r/FixedGearCycling: you’ll never guess what this subreddit is for

FR

• Velotaf: commuter bike forum
• Vélo Vert: MTB forum
• /r/pedale/ subreddit: general cycling subreddit

YouTube Channels

• Technical:

  • ParkTool: Legend Calvin Jones’ clean, concise tutorials
  • SRAM: All the official tutorials
  • MAGURA: Magura’s official YouTube channel; useful for brake bleeds. Consider using the MAGURA Hack.
  • hopetech: Hope’s official YouTube channel with tutorials, dream builds, factory tours, etc
  • RJ The Bike Guy: Some good tutorials. Can be long-winded.

• Fun:

  • Altis play: Interesting videos about bicycle infrastructure, urbanism… Beware the sponsored content. French channel.
  • BikeFarmer: Former bike shop owner concerned by the “Bike Surplus Problem”. Fixes bikes while complaining about America.
  • garys.projects: “bike restorations, mods and custom builds. Melbourne, Australia”
  • bluelug: Fun builds. Japanese channel.
  • Vintage Queen Bike Repair: Bike shop owner who restores vintage bikes. Some tutorials but not the main focus of the channel.
  • Toasty Rides: Vintage bike builds. New Zealand.

Buy neat apparel

• Blahol: Polish maker of messenger bags.
• cargowerk: bags and accessories made by one guy. EU seller.
• Poney Factory Cycling: bags, pedal straps, belts and accessories made by a guy in his apartment/workshop in Occitania. Follow his Instagram if you want to buy his bags as they tend to sell out very quickly.
• C.Pouki: seller from Liège, bags and accessories. Lots of colorways. Definitely aiming for a more luxury segment.

Avoid wrist pain

• Ergon: ergonomic grips made in Germany
• Spirgraps: “inner bar-ends” made in Italy
• SQlab: similar products to the aforementioned brands
• Baramind: shock-absorbing handlebars made in France

If you suffer from Carpal tunnel syndrome, do these wrist exercises! There is a PDF version you can print out.

Bike brands

That sell steel framesets

USA

• Quality Bicycle Products (QBP) brands:
  • Surly
  • Salsa
• Crust
• Black Mountain Cycles
• Rivendell Bicycle Works

EU/UK

• Pelago
• Genesis
• Cargo bikes :
  • Larry vs Harry (not steel but important to mention)
  • Omnium
• Dilecta

Artisanal

France by region

• Greater Paris:

  • Stolen Garage, Le Pré-Saint-Gervais, France: paint frames, also a cool restaurant/bar
  • Cycles Baptiste Pelletan, Montreuil, France: does frame repairs

• Auvergne:

  • Victoire Cycles

• Savoie :

  • Glacier Cycles

USA

• Rodriguez Cycles: they make some crazy bikes, like this five person tandem