Jobst Brandt: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Bicycles and Bicycling

Sheldon Brown photo

by Sheldon Brown

Original article: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/index.html on sheldonbrown.com

• Reproduced with the permission of John Allen and Harriet Fell — all rights reserved. The version on sheldonbrown.com is authoritative.
• Mirrored: 2026-10-10 · Last update of the original: see original

Jobst Brandt is a mechanical engineer (Stanford) with extensive experience, having worked for Porsche automobiles, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Hewlett-Packard and Avocet bicycle products.

He is best known in the bike industry as the author of The Bicycle Wheel, the definitive text on the theory and practice of building spoked bicycle wheels.

Brandt is a regular contributor to the rec.bicycles.tech Newsgroup. Most of the material below originally appeared in the rec.bicycles FAQ. The material is reproduced here in an HTML format by permission.

Brandt is well-known for trenchant and to-the-point comments on mechanical issues, based on a deep reservoir of engineering knowledge. He is not always right -- but almost always. He did not suffer fools gladly -- thin-skinned people, buckle up and take what's coming!

Sheldon has interspersed comments into some of the messages linked below, in brown (Brown) text. When Brandt's opinion is open to question -- or a message has gone out of date -- Sheldon generally has a response well worth reading. I'm using green.

Brandt suffered a broken leg in what appears to have been a single-bicycle crash (no witness reports) in January, 2011. He also suffered brain injury. According to one report, this was from a stroke while he was in the hospital, rather than the crash itself -- though he famously did not wear a helmet. He has not posted messages since. He is sorely missed in discussions of bicycling issues.

There is also a different -- and larger -- selection of Brandt's messages, nicely indexed like this one, on another site, Norman Yarvin's yarchive.net. Thanks, Norman! -- John Allen

Rims and Spokes Anodized vs. Non-anodized Rims Machined rims Reusing Spokes Stress Relieving Spokes Tied and Soldered Wheels Tires and Tubes Choices Ideal Tire Sizes Presta vs Schrader valves Rolling Resistance of Tires Tires with smooth tread Flats Wiping Tires Tube Failure in Clinchers Blowouts and Sudden Flats Snakebite Flats Presta Valve Nuts Valve stem Separation Flats Thorns aka Puncture Vine More Flats on Rear Tires Patching Tubes Talcum Powder for Tubes and Tires Coiling a Wire Bead Clincher Tubulars Making a tubular tire Folding a Tubular Tire Mounting Tubular Tires Rolling resistance of Tubulars Tubular Fables Tubular Tire Repair

Hubs Cassette or Freewheel Hubs Sturmey-Archer 3-Speed Hubs Wheel Bearing adjustment Chains and Drivetrain Alenax Bicycle The Continuously Variable Transmission Chain care, wear and skipping Electronic Shifting SRAM (formerly Sachs) Power Links Frame, Fork, Headset Aligning a Fork Stuck Handlebar Stems Bike pulls to one side Bottom Bracket Drop Frames "going soft" "Indexed Steering" Roller Bearing Headsets Threadless Steerers and Headsets Miscellaneous Hardware Fretting Damage in Bicycle Mechanics SIS Cable Info "Sealed" Bearings Soft Bicycle Saddles

Cranks and Bottom Brackets Bottom Bracket Bearing adjustment Installing Cranks Cracking/Breaking Cranks Left Hand Threads Loosening Splined Shimano Cranks Stuck Pedal Removal Brakes Brakes from Skid Pads to V-brakes Brake Squeal Technique Ankling, a Pedaling Style Headwinds, Crosswinds and Tailwinds Slope Wind, the Invisible Enemy Descending Riding on Ice Going over the bars Shimmy or Speed Wobble Miscellaneous What Holds the Rim Off the Ground? Measuring the Circumference of a Wheel Gyroscopic Forces Cycling Myths Shaving Your Legs Working on a Bicycle Upside-down A Brief History of the Mountain Bike Reflective Tape Mirrors

External links: Jobst Brandt Touring in the Alps

Copyright © 2004 Sheldon Brown, 2014 John Allen

Original: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/index.html · Reproduced on en.wikipedalia.com with permission, all rights reserved.