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Show HN: Bicyclopedia

(bicyclopedia.lemoing.ca)
123 points lemoing | 2 comments | 24 Aug 25 11:15 UTC | HN request time: 0.42s | source

Hey folks!

A bit of background: I'm a software engineer by trade, but I'm currently on sabbatical doing a year-long working holiday in Australia. I love riding bikes but only had the most beginner-level knowledge of them before I found a job at a bike shop. This was a fun personal project to try to capture some of what I've learned so far, targeted at fellow beginners. It's going to be incomplete/lacking if you already have some bike knowledge, but I hope you all enjoyed it all the same.

Please keep the feedback coming; it's late in Australia, but I want to make sure the bike info is at least accurate, if not comprehensive!

1. Tohsig ◴[24 Aug 25 15:29 UTC] No.45004973[source]▶
Fun idea! I'll echo the comments about bringing in the text all at once, or at least line by line. The characters are definitely printing out at your 60 chars/second target; it's just significantly slower than I think a lot of people read.

Some additional common parts you might consider adding:

- Rear wheel hub (cassette compatibility) and front wheel hub

- Bottom bracket (crankset compatibility)

- Axles (quick release and threaded)

- Star nut (what the top cap is generally bolted to)

And some minutia you may want to add:

- Many rear derailleurs nowadays come with a simple on/off clutch that adds extra rotational resistance to the cage arm. That helps keep it from pivoting during rougher riding and in turn helps limit "chain slap" against the frame.

- The handlebar stem is one of the most, if not the most, critical components on a bike in terms of safety. You tighten the top cap just enough to pull all of the headset components flush against each other, but the stem bolts are what actually lock the handlebars to the fork. Just something I always emphasize because I've seen too many people try to wrench the top bolt within an inch of its life, barely tighten the stem bolts, and then almost hurt themselves when their bars rotate and/or twist while riding.

replies(1): >>45008354 #
2. lemoing ◴[24 Aug 25 22:25 UTC] No.45008354[source]▶
Thanks for the feedback! I disabled the text animation for the time being.

There is a note about the star nut if you click on the headset top cap and then explode the headset, and I also mentioned QR vs thru axle briefly when talking about the fork. BB is definitely missing and I should add it. I was also thinking it would be fun to make the wheel explodable too, which would give me a place to talk more about hubs, spokes, rim standards, etc.