The Torqued Wrench: Follow up

Published January 23, 2013 08:41AM

Editor’s Note: The Torqued Wrench is a look inside the mind of VeloNews.com tech writer Caley Fretz. Every other week he tackles the rumors, trends, innovations, and underpinnings of the tech world — or something else entirely. You can submit questions to TorquedWrench@competitorgroup.com. Be sure to check out Caley’s previous columns.

ADELAIDE, Australia (VN) — My last column delved into the democratization of news, looking into the ramifications of the trend away from a reliance on professional media, and what that means for my type of reporting. The column revolved around the definition of truth, and was long and slightly cumbersome to write, and hurt my brain quite a bit.

Given that social media is unquestionably the most massive contributor to the pluralization of the information landscape I discussed last time, I thought it may be worth a moment to put together a collection of stellar online personalities.

I’ve chosen 10 people that I admire greatly for their work away from social media, and who have effectively translated whatever genius they may have elsewhere into our modern digital format. They are interesting, intelligent, and insightful, and are listed in no particular order. This list is far from exhaustive, but it’s a start. It primarily focuses on users of Twitter and Instagram.

Don’t think of this as a “10 Best” list. Instead, each person has been chosen to represent an effective but distinctive take on the use of whatever social medium they’ve chosen to use.

Gary Fisher
Fisher keeps up a constant stream of excellent shots from his highly incredible life, always with the flair we’ve come to expect from the man notorious for showing up at the annual Interbike tradeshow in a purple suit. He’s been digging up and posting photos of rad old bikes of late.

Kei Tsuji
Tsuji is a phenomenal Japanese photographer, the man behind much of Rapha Japan’s material, and a mainstay of the race circuit. His kid is adorable, too, and features heavily in Kei’s Instagram feed.

James Huang
James is my arch nemesis, the frequent bane of my professional existence. My life would be much easier if he were terrible at his job — he’s technical editor at CyclingNews.com and BikeRadar.com — but he isn’t. Not at all. On top of being my adversary, and therefore worth keeping an eye on, James is also a funny, kind, and exceptionally intelligent guy. Follow him and you’ll certainly learn a thing or two about your bike, and learn from the man that has made the Twitter rant into an art form.

Thomas Vergouwen
Never heard of him? Neither had I, nor have I met Thomas. But he has the inside line on the Tour de France route every stinking year, getting it right weeks before anyone else and far before the official presentation. His snooping proved accurate once again this year, even as the speculation of the mainstream media was often completely wrong. Simply for this single talent, he’s worth the follow.

Carlton Reid
The executive editor of the excellent BikeBiz.com is an articulate bike advocate and stellar industry journalist; he’s broken quite a few UCI tech-related stories in the last few years.

Jered and Ashley Gruber
Yes, I’m hopping on an already-full bandwagon here, and yes, the Grubers are friends of mine. But the reason that Gruber bandwagon is so full is because the two of them are damn fine photographers, with a truly unique and fascinating style. Best of all, they share quite a bit of their work all over social media.

Follow them on Twitter and Instagram @JeredGruber (They both post from Jered’s account).

Veeral Patel
Another favorite photographer, Veeral is a staffer at the excellent Aussie site CyclingTips.com and can sling a Nikon like few I know. The Fiji-raised Australian of Indian descent has an Italian fixation, is a fan of the word cazzo, and can be found trotting the world most of the year in search of the backstage-pass style shots he does so well.

Robbie Ketchell
One of the brightest minds in the sport, encased in a shell of humor and shrouded in a deceptively laid-back attitude, Ketchell is Garmin-Sharp’s director of sport science and is in charge of the team’s marginal gains program.

Greg Henderson and Adam Hansen
Often hilarious insight from the inside. Hansen’s sequential collection of training camp photos was brilliant. He and Henderson often play off each other, so follow both.

There are dozens more I could include here, but for lack of space I’ll cut it off. Have more favorites? Post them below.