Any question answered...

50mm webbing? I have a load of very high quality polyester webbing, thicker/stronger than typical seatbelt webbing. More like the stuff you get on a racing harness.

What about a bread crate?

Those shallow things with the flippable metal handles that allow them to be stacked.

They seem to be strewn around as freely as shopping trolleys... [nudge, nudge; wink, wink]

I'd have thought some form of plastic must have higher stiffness for a given thickness, and be lighter.

Seems unlikely, plywood is pretty good. Some kind of composite would be needed to match the stiffness per weight

And the marine plywood will last pretty well in the weather. You can stain/wax/varnish it if you want it to look a little nicer too.

The wood-free option would be bonding some thin aluminium sheet onto your choice of core material but it looks like like turning into an expensive and time consuming project against a tenner's worth of plywood.

I stand corrected on plywood. Given it's price and availability it looks like that's the one to try.

I've just bought a 1930s Raleigh frame that's been stripped and powdercoated.

The BB shell is 78mm wide. Diameter is 1.33", I suspect it's 26tpi.

Can't cut it down to 68mm because that's pretty much the width of the chainstay lugs.

Dropouts are 5"(123mm) and the slot is 8.25mm so I think I'll need an axle with flats.

1 Attachment

plywood drillium!

Need facing.

Yes, but if not 5mm per side, I still need to find a BB and crank!

Can you definitely not take a bit more from the NDS?

You have to be careful about taking metal from the DS as you need the chainrings and cranks to clear the stay.

Have you checked out velo orange and eBay for BBs?

Sheldon loved an old Raleigh: this page has BB info and suggestions for upgrading/updating it.

There's plenty of other info about dating and equipment on there too.

Or (more expensive option) Phil Wood rings and Shimano UN72 BB? You can then adjust chain line by moving the cups about. I may even have some and a UN72 (probably a couple of spindle lengths) in the parts bin. I'll have a look.

Or go back to cottered cranks? They would be in keeping with the frame, after all.

78mm seems wide even for Raleigh, 71 and 76 are mentioned more often. Had a look on t'bay but couldn't find anything promising by searching Raleigh or "26" in the BBs category.

I'll see if I can find some cottered cranks I like, then ponder the BB some more.

Cottered cranks are horrible.

Yes, but also potentially shiny chrome spiderless designs.

Since breaking my right foot, both feet seem to have grown over half a size, is this really possible? Could it have been caused by my body's reaction/healing/release of growth hormone? Could there be any other explanation? Really annoying, a lot of my shoes no longer fit...

Cross posted from here ...

For my wife's 30th birthday I want to get her a piano. She's somewhere between grade 5-7. The budget is somewhere below £1K and ideally it'll be a compact design - it needs to be a maximum depth of 60cm and the shorter the better, south of 130cm.

I've been advised to look out for something like a secondhand Yahama B1 or Steinmayer S108 as it fits the budget and would fit better in our house. I've also scoured eBay but being a novice myself I'm wary of buying something that might be shit.

However, a few people have also said that for this budget I could get a new digital piano that would be easier to put in the house (and could go in our much more spacious loft) and probably sound comparable to a budget piano. My concern is the wife has always been very anti-digital, although I don't think she's played digital pianos as much as keyboards.

Anyone got any recommendations? I'm really tempted to just drop the surprise and take her to a few stores and showrooms and get her to pick - we'll end up with something she is more likely to play that way.

Get a piano. Something like the old Knight upright I learnt on.

We have an Arius digital at home and I hate playing it.

Drop the surprise, musicians prefer instruments that they chose themselves.

Seems unlikely, plywood is pretty good. Some kind of composite would be needed to match the stiffness per weight

Of course, technically, plywood is a composite... #pedanthaton

Anyone know much about the Sale of Goods Act (1979)? Specifically, can a retailer force a consumer to go through a third party for faults/warranty issues? Everything I'm reading (and what CAB told me) says no - the contract is between the retailer and customer. But John Lewis, or at least one person at John Lewis, has said that their "duty of care" extends only so far as to point the consumer where to go to get something resolved.

That is, CAB says JL broke the law. JL says no way. If CAB is right JL owes me money. If JL is right UPS has potentially fucked me out of £700 via MS.

technically, plywood is a composite

And ABS facing sheets ultrasound-welded to an ABS honeycomb core isn't, so I was wrong anyway :-)

As you get older the tendons get lax and feet start to get larger. I used to take a 46 sidi and now am a 47.

Couldn't you argue it's a composite of ABS and air? ;)