Any question answered...

haha, Awesome i'll take a look! thanks.

Even SRAM have made compatible Shimano shifters

Yes, I wondered if the reverse might be true though. It is not.
And I'm not really meaning knock-offs, more '3rd party'. Bit of a difference I would say, you can buy shim compatible stuff in its own right. That being said, you do get knock offs of even tiagra or sora so I'm not sure why the Chinaman would miss an opportunity.
Sram is deffo a smaller market tho so maybe some dude in the future might be all over this.
I still have a shim fitted bike just cos of availability/costs

Heavy mass-produced taiwanese steel frames? Sure, be as sentimental as you like.

Then replace it.

Would a thermo fuse, like this, fatigue over time and expire?

or does its death mean that whatever system it was trying to protect has failed, and the thermo has done its job?

Dunno about a thread, but look at products from Crumpler and Chrome.
More courier bags than anything else, but work well for commuting for me.
Both are spendy, but Crumpler are beautifully made (there's a reason I have 4).
Chrome slightly less beautiful, but very robust.

My knog boomer USB has broken. I've had it about 4 years. I was going to replace it - or are there better options now?

Just recieved a brand new handbuilt wheeset, built on 28h NOS Shimano DA 7800 hubs. Front spins silently and perfectly true. Rear spins true, but with a slight up / down shift in weight, and with little clicks felt in the hub and through the rim.

Has my wheelbuilder rushed the rear slightly? Does my new old stock hub need grease? Really don't want to open up a brand new hub unless absolutely nescessary.

Shimano DA 7800 hubs

What on earth possessed you to go for those? Shimano realised their error after about 6 months and replaced them with 7850. You need to use the "10-speed only" CS-7800 cassette with the deep splines, which are not quite hen's teeth yet but will be in a few years when you've worn out your first one.

A bit of weight imbalance is normal, due to the rim joint.

In my experience, Shimano tend to ship their hubs a bit tight, so you'll feel some clickyness in the bearings from new. Don't hold the axle and spin the wheel, hold the wheel and spin the axle. That will tell you whether they're too tight. Cup and cone bearings open up under radial load, so as long as they're not ridiculously tight unloaded, the clearances will probably be spot on once you're riding.

What on earth possessed you to go for those?

"I just talked to Technical Support at Shimano America. I was informed that there should be no issue(s) with the new 10-Speed cassettes running on 7800-Series hub."
http://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-mechanics/606036-dura-ace-7800-rear-hub-cassette-compatibility.html

I have no great desire to run eleven speeds. All the eleven speed kit is ugly, which of course is my primary consideration. I've found a few forums, as well as Sheldon, saying that there are other 10 speed casettes that will fit, not just DA 7800.

And thanks for the reassurances on the wheels, can wait to sprint up a hill on them :)

there are other 10 speed casettes that will fit

I still wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole, and I actually own a 7800 cassette :)

That probably is too much leverage.

Yeah I find a 12" adjustable wrench is usually fine. If you need a ten foot pole you probably overtightened it.

That probably is too much leverage

It's too little, in fact. It takes 3lb on the end of a ten foot pole to generate the 40Nm tightening torque for the lockring, and 3lb is a lot more than a touch :)

Not with these fat fingers.

List of Courier/Messenger Bags:

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/138428/

Hey, Recently built up an mtb and its super fun, although my cranks keep coming loose which is annoying.

I greased the crank bolts but maybe I should have used thread locker?

If so which thread locker?

Also, my chain ring is a bit bent which is annoying, any idea how to fix that?

my cranks keep coming loose which is annoying.

I greased the crank bolts but maybe I should have used thread locker?

Square taper / octalink etc or something with outboard bearings? If it's the former they are almost definitely fucked, if it's the later it's likely but not certain they are damaged now.

my chain ring is a bit bent which is annoying, any idea how to fix that?

The 'beside the trail fix' is to give it a wack with a rock. I'm sure you can find some method of applying the required force with a bit more finesse. But I'd cough up for a new chainring if it's causing problems.

I greased the crank bolts but maybe I should have used thread locker?

No, you should have used a torque wrench. Crank bolts stay tight and keep the cranks on if they are tightened properly to start with.

Square taper

That relic is a poorly designed four-spline interface.

if they are tightened properly to start with.

And if they're not already damaged.

Thanks guys,

It's a square taper bottom bracket with a set of Middleburn rs1's.

I really hope not as I love the cranks!

@mdcc_tester

I'll try using different bolts and tighten them more.

Do people grease them or thread lock?

Do people grease them or thread lock?

Grease everywhere - threads, under the bolt heads and critically on the tapers.

On the other hand, bin that archaic shit and get some modern cranks.

tighten them more.

Tighten them right. Square taper is very sensitive to correct assembly, since the whole function is dependent on stretching the crank boss enough to prevent zero flank pressure under load, but not so much that the pressure on the opposite corner exceeds the yield stress.

Does anyone have any suggestions for what to do in Geneva over a weekend this time of year that doesn't involve; a) leaving, or b) cycling?

Cheers.

ps long shot, but if anyone knows any cheap (lol) decent restaurants that would be helpful too.

Off to France on Monday for a mini cycling tour, and have seen that according to French law a bike must have rear red reflector, front white reflector, and orange wheel reflectors (as well as orange pedal reflectors).

I've got all of these except the wheel reflectors (they don't seem to make them for bromptons anymore). Anyone have any French experience about how much of a hassle it would be to go without (ie, it's the same as the pedal reflector law in the UK, you're supposed to have it, but it's really super unlikely the cops will pull you up for not having them), or should I be hastily buying reflective tape to stick on my spokes?

tl;dr: wheel reflectors in France, need them or no?