Any question answered...

What are the best rim brake calipers?

By "best" I mean in terms of stopping performance.

Does anything stand-out, or are all dual pivots much the same?

Dura ace in my experience have been the best

What are the best rim brake calipers?

Finding the pad which works with your rim is more important than anything else. Once you've done that, everybody seems to bench mark against DuraAce

Yup, used the trainline app, seems pretty good as I don't have a working bank account and if I fuck up I can get a ticket bought for me than goes to the phone, don't need to mess around picking up advance tickets paid for on someone else's card either. Only tried it from Brum to Manc and Manc to Sheffield though.

And the brake levers as well (cable pull and all that).

And the brake levers as well

And the guy pulling them. Weinmann 500s were amazing brakes when I was 8st7lb :)

Post Mount to IS adaptor. Cheap Cnc ones off the bay or stump up a couple more quid for proper Shimano jobbies?

21.4cm circumference, 0.6cm rope would need 210/.6=350 turns at 21.4cm each=7490/100=75m?

Surface area of pipe = 210cm * pi * 6.8cm = 4486.2 cm^2

So if rope diameter is 0.6cm then you'd need at least 4486.2cm^2 / 0.6cm = 7477cm of it.

I hope the rope is a bit stretchy as 6.8cm is the inner diameter of the coil.

The outer diameter (pipe+rope+rope) will now be 6.8+0.6+0.6 = 8cm.

210cm * pi * 8cm / 0.6cm = 8796cm per pipe

Guess you'll have a better idea after you've done one...

You mean IS to Post? The other way round tends to be spendy and rare.

I'd go with the branded ones to start with but if you drop in to a friendly lbs they might have a selection you can try.

Need to buy a cone spanner, don't have calipers and don't have anyone nearby to try different sizes.

What is the likely size required for a rear flip hop cheapo hub?

almost definitely 15 or 16mm.
I've got a couple of these
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Ice-Toolz-Hub-Cone-Wrench_37725.htm

I'm claiming for a new front NS tyre after it was savaged by a pothole.

Is it reasonable to claim for the DS tyre as well, given that I had to replace it because the difference in wear?

You can but try but I doubt the council will 'wear' it.

It'll be 15mm but just get two with a few sizes on, which is probably what sumo linked to.

Just to follow up, remember you'll need 2 of whatever size it is.

Hardy-ha-ha-ha ;)

Basically I don't want to be a dick or come across like I'm being unreasonable.

That said I was always taught to claim for the maximum available (that is directly related). So claiming for the DS as well seems sensible as I wouldn't have had to replace it had the NS not been damaged.

Perfect, cheers @Sumo got some bibs from their clearance too :)

Anyone have any pressure washer recommendations?

If you word your claim adequately with your reasoning and safety concerns explained it might be difficult for them to wriggle out of it. If said pothole had white paint markings around it that would indicate they know about it. Of course I wouldn't suggest that you inform 'fixmystreet' before you make any claim because that might cause confusion and may appear that they did know about it before you had your incident.

Don't point it at your bike.

I've notifyed the council sort of by accident as I was trying to find their fast claim section.

It wasn't highlighted, but Google Maps from April this year shows a decent sized hole - albeit smaller than now.

Its not a million miles from me, so I'm thinking about going back to measure it.

I think I'm going to chuck the DS tyre in anyway as they can always refuse that element. I think I've been reasonable and limited my loses else where so we'll see.

So frustrating to have spunked a load of money this weekend on what feels like nothing. I was also planning on getting some decent 3 season tyres next month anyway rather than the ok set I've ended up with.... and I got fleeced by Kwikfit on some sort of "geoalign" tracking bullshit.

I like the sound of metal on metal tho

I was told to always replace both tyres on the same axle at the same time, otherwise you'll have differing grip between the two sides which is a safety issue as it could cause a spin.

I have always done so - when I have had a puncture I move the upunctured tyre to the spare.

Is there anything else that uses the two bolt crudcatcher downtube mount standard?

Bear in mind this

https://www.abi.org.uk/Insurance-and-savings/Products/Motor-insurance/~/media/4621107A11034C2E98AD503657A699FB.ashx

It says it will be reviewed on 02/09/16. It may be that all insurers no longer wish to load policies for winter tyres but worth a check before you pull the trigger on some new rubber. It's probably worth ringing your insurance just to be on the safe side.