Any question answered...

Yep. Shitty octalink bearings would kind of defeat the object of my durable 8 speed touring build.

^^ they're worn? Might as well start off with brand new teeth / square taper interface. I have looked at some old ones.

I ended up with deoreLX cranks and derailleurs and for the dawes super galaxy with bar end shifters, NOS does come up.

Looking at ultegra and octalink for the Raliegh racer as that is what I have decided to go for. Just takes a while to find things that come up on forums.

How hard is it to find 531 tubing, not cycle frames sizes?

What other tubing has similar characteristics, as there are a few motorbikes being buit as cafe racer using 531 tubing and I was having idle thoughts.

Was it octalink or Isis that had issues is the crank came loose?

First generation Octalink. They lengthened the splines for V2.

How hard is it to find 531 tubing, not cycle frames sizes?

What other tubing has similar characteristics, as there are a few motorbikes being buit as cafe racer using 531 tubing and I was having idle thoughts.

Can't be that hard to get, lots of stuff is/was built from 531, not just motorcycle frames but car spaceframes and aircraft parts (particularly engine subframes). There is a dedicated contact at Reynolds for motorsport projects.

On the other hand, it's an expensive proprietary product, and it's advantage over much cheaper generic 4130 CrMo is higher strength. In many applications, strength isn't the the overriding need, and once you've used enough 4130 to get the stiffness you need it turns out to be strong enough too.

This is getting frustrating. I wanted to run a square taper BB but can only find octalink. All the decent square taper chansets seem to have been discontinued. For longevity, ease of servicing, is octalink as good?

While I agree with tester* in theory, Octalink has worked fine on all my mtbs and road bikes, through all sorts of horrific conditions. I'll happily continue to use it, until Shimano stop selling an LX/105 level option.

Not had a problem with V1 or V2. Nip the bolts up after the first few minutes of riding and they stay there :-)

Isis is awful though.

*duh, obvsly

First generation Octalink. They lengthened the splines for V2.

Knew there was something.

Can't be that hard to get, lots of stuff is/was built from 531, not just motorcycle frames but car spaceframes and aircraft parts (particularly engine subframes). There is a dedicated contact at Reynolds for motorsport projects.

On the other hand, it's an expensive proprietary product, and it's advantage over much cheaper generic 4130 CrMo is higher strength. In many applications, strength isn't the the overriding need, and once you've used enough 4130 to get the stiffness you need it turns out to be strong enough too.

At the mo it is nothing more than design/material stage, been looking at a few custom bike makers frames and quite a few seem to use 531 while it has been superceeded for tensile strength at thinner tube walls. So would the later tubings be cheaper than 531?

Needs to be steel as it will be welded in air so titanium was out, maybe stainless steel...

^^ they're worn? Might as well start off with brand new teeth / square taper interface. I have looked at some old ones.

I think you will find the overwhelming majority of decent quality stuff not to be worn in anyway that you would notice or is meaningful.

Still purchase new rings.

So would the later tubings be cheaper than 531?.

Markets being what they are, anybody launching a new formulation with the proposition to end users that it could be dropped into their projects as a 531 replacement would need to show how that was going to save them money. For small orders, though, the price has much more to do with the competitiveness of the distribution channel rather than the mill price per million feet

Needs to be steel as it will be welded in air so titanium was out, maybe stainless steel...

Can you even weld 531? I though it was all brazed. 4130 is cheap, weldable and available in loads of sizes and shapes. Of the commonly available stainless grades, 316 is probably the prime candidate, but it's weaker than 4130 (not that this is necessarily a problem) and quite expensive, although that's offset by the cost of finishing the non-stainless options to make them weatherproof.

Yes 531, can be welded. Have seen bike tubing welded but I haven't welded it myself.

Maybe part of the Kudos of the cafe racer is that frame is made from 531 tubing.

Maybe part of the Kudos of the cafe racer is that frame is made from 531 tubing.

If you go back to the earliest café racers,it probably was the best material available. Now it's there for the hipster points :-)

531 might have been the best material available, but it wasn't used for cafe racers. The earliest were cobbled together with proprietary frames.
Clipons, rearsets,engine swaps alloy tanks and single seats are what make the earliest cafe racers.

531 might have been the best material available, but it wasn't used for cafe racers.

Unless you were lucky enough to come by one of the race team Featherbeds :-)

What is the best site to track otger sites' usage? I.e. if I wanted to know how many people use Strava etc?

http://jimsmarketingblog.com/2008/08/22/learn-how-busy-your-competitors-websites-are/

Is it possible to buy a box of lego bricks and not a kit of a car/spaceship/horse?

Yes.

Where from?

Being based in the Netherlands it's not as easy to point you in the right direction, but a bit of Googling should get you that far.

Googling just finds me the kits, which is why I ask here

Ebay much?

Try a lego shop.
There's one in Westfield.

^ Shepherds Bush Westfield is a bit of a trek from Wales though.

Is it possible to buy a box of lego bricks and not a kit of a car/spaceship/horse?

This would be good wouldn't it? http://www.tesco.com/direct/lego-bricks-more-creative-building-cube-10681/529-6828.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=529-6828&sc_cmp=pcp_GSF_LEGO%20%26%20Construction%20Toys_529-6828kpid=529-6828&sc_cmp=ppc_g__&gclid=CjgKEAjw-6WcBRCsgNjFy-2OuGYSJADf4R2s0GlDnX_dFXMgYUEjszi41yGt4SV8qiovpVIiPbdEZ_D_BwE