Any question answered...

Braided brake lines for hydraulic brakes on bicycles, do they make as much difference as they do on motorbikes?

The rest of the system makes more difference and if you're buying a new set that comes already set up, I'd run the stock host until it's damaged or you need to replace (rather than top up) the fluid.

Anyone know CSL or how to make custom styles for Zotero? I'm getting close to the stabby point.

Consular services

Thanks TW2, I ended up going to the UK embassy in Berlin this morning, so helpful and understanding, they made a formal request to the Canadian embassy to help, spent 2 days at the Canadian embassy this week, completely worthless, never actually met a Canadian there

My current build is 110mm spaced at the rear.
My hub is 120mm.
Frame is steel.

Options:

1 - Buy a 110mm NJS DA7600 hub and wait ten two weeks before I can ride my bike.
2 - Cold set the steel by hand to allow it to accommodate the 120mm hub.
3 - Re-space the hub with a new axle kit? I dunno where to find or buy one of these.

Any help/experience greatly appreciated.

Braided brake lines for hydraulic brakes on bicycles, do they make as much difference as they do on motorbikes?

No, but they look rad

Thrashing around Yorkshire and Essex watching the TDF at the weekend my bottle cage sheered off from the bolts.

This is the 3rd time this has happened with a metal cage on my steel bike in 3-4 years. Is this happening to anyone else, WTF?

I know part of the answer is UK road surfaces are shit. I guess my awesome power/above average girth/lightening speed/other is causing the frame to flex too much and putting too much strain the cage? Am I missing something, is there some good quality metal cage I should be investing in? Is a plastic or crabon one likely to fare any better?

On the same trip and I've also shaken lose a bolt from my crabon Chorus, the one that screws into the crank arm.

Campag catalogue tells me the bolt is an FC-RE302 but I can't seem to find the bolt in the UK. No dice at Sigma, I've emailed Sidcup cycles and am going to try Condor tomorrow. Any other suggestions?

Campag distro (Chicken?) can probably get one for you - get in before the entire nation of Italy goes on holibobs though

Cheers Howard, will try them too. Even when not on hols Campag operate on their own timescales it seems. I went into Condor recently asking for some new hoods for my shifters. They did'nt have any in stock and when I asked when they were due in, the guy replied '3 weeks ago' :|

Try getting fulcrum rims

Oh wait. Don't.

^reasons why campagno-no

KCNC chainring bolts from Clee Cycles.

TA also do UT bolts, but they're £30-odd.

FAO TM RE: PASELAS

Cheap, tough, 26 x 1.3 or so (32mm-ish), slick tyres?

My current build is 110mm spaced at the rear.
My hub is 120mm.
Frame is steel.

Options:

1 - Buy a 110mm NJS DA7600 hub and wait ten two weeks before I can ride my bike.
2 - Cold set the steel by hand to allow it to accommodate the 120mm hub.
3 - Re-space the hub with a new axle kit? I dunno where to find or buy one of these.

Any help/experience greatly appreciated.

Easy, just did this again last night for a co-worker's frame that had the rear triangle pushed in a little thanks to a spill.

Easy, just did this again last night for a co-worker's frame that had the rear triangle pushed in a little thanks to a spill.

Thought so.
Wise Sheldon.

rep'd

i have a set in black you can have for £10, fitted, removed.

KCNC chainring bolts from Clee Cycles.

TA also do UT bolts, but they're £30-odd.

...
On the same trip and I've also shaken lose a bolt from my crabon Chorus, the one that screws into the crank arm.
...
Campag catalogue tells me the bolt is an FC-RE302 but I can't seem to find the bolt in the UK. No dice at Sigma, I've emailed Sidcup cycles and am going to try Condor tomorrow. Any other suggestions?

i have a set in black you can have for £10, fitted, removed.

Brilliant! Noiser you are a star, dibs. PM'd

Hi,
I have Shimano 105 5700 STI Shifters. Two questions:

1) I was wondering if there was some sort of padding that goes where the red circle is in the photo below - the plastic / metal in this area keeps rubbing on my index finger when I'm riding the tops. Seems like there should be a rubber 'sock' I could place over this area...suggestions?

2) Are there other size shifters for shorter reach? I keep reading online of shims, but not sure if this is applicable - basically when I'm in the drops it's a stretch to reach the levers.

Thanks all in advance

The levers normally come with an extra set of wedges that fit where the lever "shuts" at the front.

Get thee to ye olde SJS shoppe!

I bought some Shimano "adjustment blocks" for my friend's eight year old.

Different flavours depending on group and available (from memory) in two different sizes.

Ta da!

A turbo trainer noise/vibration question

We live in the 1st floor of a converted victorian school. The walls are very thick so there is almost no lateral sound leakage between flats however the wooden floors are not sound insulated so we can hear footsteps upstairs and our below neighbours can hear us walking around.

When our washing machine is spinning, the flats can feel but not hear the vibrations.

We want to use our turbo with the minimum of disruption to our downstairs neighbours (with whom we have an excellent relationship with).

I was thinking about making some kind of platform for the turbo (or two small ones, one for rear and one for front). In my mind I have the idea that I can glue a 1cm thick piece of ply wood to a square of 40mm thick polystyrene (sculpture grade) to create a platform that will dampen some of the vibrations before they get transmitted to the floor.

Is this a sensible approach? What sort of polystyrene or foam would be best? There are so many different types available.

Does anybody have any experience of this and if so, what did you find worked best? We realise we won't be able to totally eliminate noise/vibration but we want to minimise as best we can.

Get a cople of pound shop yoga mats?

We've got a cycleops turbo mat and have tried with a yoga mat underneath. Its an improvement but starts to affect stability and it dampens noise rather than the vibrations that tend to resonate through the floor.

Cheers for the suggestion though.

I kinda hate everyone so trying to do something considerate for my neighbours is not something I'd commit much effort to.