Any question answered...

Oh, I hadn't seen them in five-bolt.

If I have a Sugino Messenger crank, which has a 45mm chain line with a 103mm JIS BB, what length BB will I need to run it with gears (6 speed 105 - I.e. 1x6)? Also, will any old 135BCD road chainring work as the front ring, or do I need a specific width too (I'm going to leave the front dérailleur, as a guide)? Oh an also will I need new chainring bolts? Thanks all

If I have a Sugino Messenger crank, which has a 45mm chain line with a 103mm JIS BB, what length BB will I need to run it with gears (6 speed 105 - I.e. 1x6)? Also, will any old 135BCD road chainring work as the front ring, or do I need a specific width too (I'm going to leave the front dérailleur, as a guide)? Oh an also will I need new chainring bolts? Thanks all

Ideally, any 3/32" ring with full height teeth - Gebhardt Classic or Surly Stainless, for example. Messengers are 130mm PCD aren't they? You shouldn't need to change the chainring bolts, and the 45mm chainline will be fine for any 1×n drive so there's no need to change the BB

Thanks for explaining that so clearly! You are right, the BCD is 130 - I was working from memory. Cheers

I've found a Wippermann Intrax 708 for £8.99 - would this would be a better option than a KMC Z 610HX at £9.49 for a 3/32 fixed drivetrain?

Wippermann 7R8 would be better

I can only find that on Bike-components.de, not bad price though. I am concerned that it's going to be really noisy though as I have a slight warp in my cranks or chainring. I've used a 1r8 before and that made my bike sound like an old merc diesel. The intrax is still a bushed design right?

Mmm, starting using a 1r8 again and it really does sound like a bag of spanners. Perhaps avoid if you've got chainline issues, stopped using one on my TT bike cos 2mm out on chainline made it howl.

The intrax is still a bushed design right?

No, 708 is bushingless. If you want a quiet bushed 3/32" chain, get a 7Z1, they're about £10 from most shops. If your chainline is a bit off, you might even want to use a 1Z1 to keep it quiet, and the ⅛" has a proper spring clip master link, not the snap-on joiner found on the 3/32" version.

@mdcc_tester Ah, right. Might have switch to ⅛". seems like a cheaper solution than new cranks.
And I do hate the snap-on link. I should stop getting annoyed about noise though. I cleaned an old 1r8 and fitted to friends bike and it's still perfect after many thousands of grimed up miles. They are robust.

Levi 522, best cut I've found for cyclist thighs

Got some and they're just generous enough for my thighs. GAP "Easy" used to fit me perfectly but they've changed the names of the fits and the "standard taper" that was supposed to be the new "Easy" is too tight a fit.

I had hoped increased running would help slim down my cyclist thighs but it seems not yet.

how do I gear a sturmey archer aw3? up and down are +/-33% so if I have for instance 48/17 then gear 3 is 100GI. If I lower the direct drive so the top is more useable am I just going to want to be between gears all the time?

Its actually not for me its for a girl who isn't a very good cyclist. I've got a 19t cog on it now so I thought 46t front, 65GI is a bit low but then change up to go down hills and straights...
does that sound reasonable?

I have no idea how to use gears, are you supposed to start in 1st and go up through them all and use the top at normal cruising speed ? Or do you just leave it 2nd unless going up and down big hills?

65GI is a very nice gear, esp if she's not all that bikey. As you say, top and bottom are for hill work.

I think traditionally you have one that is too low, one that is too high and one that is slightly too high or low.

I cut the brake bridge out of my Genesis Flyer frame intending to replace it with a bit of stainless 4mm plate in the shape of an inverted cross.

Turns out I'm shite at brazing* and I've no managed to get the piece put in.

I need/want to take the flyer to get around on when I go to France to watch the tour in a fortnight but will have weakened the frame to the point where it's going to snap in the middle of rural France imping each my buttocks on a bit of broken seat stay?

*I don't know how to braze, I was going to learn while doing this job!

So, I just done went and bent my derailleur hanger on the first ride with the new gears.
Since this is a Kona Unit, a usually singlespeed bike, the derailleur hanger is part of the dropout, which can be swapped as such, but is quite expensive.
Can I bend it back in shape somehow, or is that a bad idea?

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Hanger can defo be bent back but it's worth getting someone with an alignment gauge to do it for you so it's bent back into the correct place.

Just put a screwdriver in there and pull it out a few mm

screwdriver? Come on, pliers are the only tool for the job.

@Murphys_Law ignore @sumo and @dfp

@M_V is correct what you need is a park tool FAG.

what you need is a park tool DAG.

Ftfy.

Tip for cheap battery powered lights that are mounted with bolts? Everything I can find in bike stores can easily be taken off.

D'yer loik dags?

alignment gauge = anything flat, ruler would do. Its not bent very much, and you could just guess it. Must have done this around 30 times with no ill effects while working in lbs without the use of anything to check straightness.

Instead you want him to spend £60 on a tool to accurately straighten a £18 component.

Because inaccuracy in this situation is going to cause certain death and the task at had is so intricate no one could possible just get it right just by giving it a go?

#Livingontheedge

You can straighten an almost infinite* number of £18 mech-hangers with that £60 tool though.

*I dare you to prove me wrong.