Any question answered...

Pretty certain that no 10 speed Rival mech will take a 40t.

To stand a chance of getting an expander running you'd need to use x9 or similar, and even then frame geo might prevent it from working.

You'd then need a goatlink or similar if that's the case.

I've got a sticky hood.

...on my ~8year old 5600 shifters

I had good results on some prehistoric hoods with baby wipes. I don't know what they put in those things, but it cuts through all kinds of dirt without damaging the substrate.

Ah, have these in abundance! Will give it a go.

Also, thanks @Colonel_of_Truth

IPA normally (in the ones that work)

Are there shimano mtb 11 speed cassettes that will work on 10 speed freehubs?

All of them, as far as I'm aware. The largest sprocket overhangs the hub shell

Short answer: yes.

mtb 11 speed cassettes that will work on 10 speed freehubs?

With 10-speed MTB hubs. If you try to use one on a 130mm road hub, it will fit but you will probably end up with your rear dérailleur in your spokes.

Nice one, thanks. Do you happen to know if this is true for slx 11 speed cassettes?

I assumed the answer was as you describe, but struggled to find much on Google (probably I was using the wrong search terms).

@mdcc_tester yup I'm using a shimano xt mtb hub.

@edscoble ta!

slx 11 speed

The spider carrying the 3 big sprockets looks pretty dished to me
http://si.shimano.com/pdfs/ev/EV-CS-M7000-3984A.pdf

Thanks man. further investigation (reading the description) made it clear they wouldn't work. I'm on 11 speed.

Another question (not necessarily for you): converting a touring bike from drops to flat bar. 3x8, deore mechs, canti brakes. What shifter/brake combo do I need? Does the canti situation confuse things?

Get V brakes.
#cantisareshit

Or just separate shifters and levers rather than the combined jobbies that'll generally be cheapo MTB ones for v brakes

More things to buy... But they're sooo much easier to set up.

Deore are cheap and good, especially with koolstop pads in.

Just saw you can pick up avid sd 7s for £30ish a pair....

What brake/shifter combo then? Come on, snotty. Tell me what to buy!

edit bought a cheap set of Altus combo levers. Done.

They're also good.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-SRAM-TruVativ-Bottom-Bracket-Team-GXP-68-73mm-English-/222167842483?hash=item33ba3c3eb3:g:Uh0AAOSwaZdXHzBi

Is this BB any different from this one

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/sram-alloy-gxp-bottom-bracket/rp-prod55194?gs=1&utm_source=google&utm_term=&utm_campaign=Chain+Reaction-UK-PLA-PLA-All-DT-SE-Shopping+QLB+Manufacturer+Desktop&utm_medium=base&utm_content=mkwid|sforcTlSt_dc|pcrid|161849642367|pkw||pmt||prd|199312UK

Trim your links; in both cases, everything after the ? is redundant.

Everything after what is redundant?

Talking about the URL

... I think

Talking about the URL

Talking about the query string, which in both cases is not a necessary part of the URL, since the relevant part of the resource can be located without reference to the query string.

Half link fitted (£3 and I get to keep the same gear - ideally I would have better planned it from the start as switching the sprocket and chainring at this point would be considerably more than £3).

Not one skip over 8miles today.

I'm a little confused, does removing a whole link actually cause an issues? half link seemed to work, but I can't see why not removing a full link won't work, unless there's something I obviously missed.

Chain is just too short with a full link removed. I might still go down to a 17T sprocket in future, in which case I could ditch the half link.