Any question answered...

ok so here's the thing...

I'm not going to do that. Can't afford it. I'll go borrow a chain-tester from somewhere but I am too skint right now to be replacing stuff. It's quiet at the moment and that's fine for me.

`in that case stick with the original cog.

As for chain, cheap and cheerful will work just as well, no point spending a lots of money for it's to wear out.

Chainring are usually the last to be needed replacing, but there's a chance.

A new chain is £6, you've got a £50 sprocket on there

I have a brand new sugino 75bb but no bearings, am I right in thinking I can just use 11 loose 1/4" balls bearings without cages in it?

Don't have any to hand but can pick some up tonight if this is true.

I can't really see the benefits of loose bearings with no cages but there should be no reason you couldn't use them apart from trickiness in installation. They should stay in place with grease until everything is tightened up.

I know loose will work as I've had to do it before, I was just wondering if the size needed was 1/4"

You seem surprised that he's making no sense?

1/4" it is.

Has anyone had success/experience with Lucene or similar?

All the cool kids are using Elasticsearch. Like howard says, rolling your own is for chumps. Get your devs up to speed on Elastic integration, use it for everything, then use the many, many weeks of work that you'll have saved to go down the pub for non-stop celebratory beers.

am I right in thinking I can just use 11 loose 1/4" balls bearings without cages in it?

You'll probably want one or two extra balls to account for the absence of cages spacing the balls apart evenly. If you use too few, they can all end up on one side of the bearing and your axle will flap around.

A new chain is £60

ftfy, he likes the Super Toughness :-)

Yeah used 11 instead of 10 last time I did it.

Is there such thing as a weatherproof tool storage box suitable for a covered (but still exposed) balcony?

Search Stanley waterproof toolbox should find you one at B&Q for fifteen squid.

I've had problems with my front mech and mech clamp for a while. The band-on clamp is carbon and has slipped a few times which has led to it rubbing on the chainrings.

I (over)tightened it and hadn't had that problem for a while, then yesterday when pulling away from some lights, chain slipped and was under so much force (boast post) that it dug the chain into the chainring, which has cracked. Never seen the likes of that before.

Anyhow, should I buy a new mech clamp or just a band-on front mech? The one I have is a SRAM Apex, which is probably the problem.

If it would be better just to buy a new mech, what would people recommend? Apart from two months when this bike was first built, I've never had a good experience with SRAM front mechs, and I know I'm not alone in that.

Elasticsearch looks good, thanks for the link. Apparently it's based on Lucene again. It looks ideal.

@Howard
The search we currently have is nowhere near 'pretty darn good', but it scrapes in at 'good enough'.

Because it's now 'good enough', it's not a top priority, but I know the monster that lies beneath, and I'll get Elasticsearch or Lucene in there one day.

Anyone know where I can buy a B&M CYO dynamo light in London? In the big smoke on Monday and Tuesday next week and want to pick one up from a physical shop if possible.

Cheers!

Same question but for Wald baskets - pref 137.

The only LBS near my office is so awful that I cannot in all good conscience go in there to buy even an inner tube. Stories of ripping people off for parts, selling stolen bikes and other shithousery litter the internet. The don't let you use a pump...they'll insist on charging you £15 for tube and fitting.

Does anybody fancy dropping off an inner tube to my office in Chelsea Harbour and allowing me a quick use of their pump in return for fair financial compensation for the tube and their time?

Secret Santa present for a guy in the office I've never talked to.

young grad. apparently likes tennis, France and coffee?

£10ish max, ideally on Amazon prime.

Go!

A poster of the best tennis player France has to offer: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Richard-Gasquet-Customized-Poster-WallPaper/dp/B014ENEWIE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1449058317&sr=8-2&keywords=richard+gasquet

And a 4 quid jar of coffee from your local Tescos!

ha.

ta.

That would be awesome if we had walls in the office.

I'm also thinking more shit and more novelty. If I'm being forced into this it should at least be something that makes me LoL

the best tennis player France has to offer

Does anyone know the origin of this picture?

I must confess that I know absolutely nothing about tennis at all and have no idea who either of those dudes are, I just googled the name of the first guy in this list: http://www.ranker.com/list/famous-tennis-players-from-france/reference

I'm sure Mr Sadface up there is very good, though. I didn't mean to make him sad.