Any question answered...

No; under the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, all a bike needs when crossing borders is:
-An efficient brake
-A bell – and no other audible warning device
-A red rear reflector
-A red rear lamp
-A white or selective yellow front lamp

See http://www.cyclinguk.org/cyclists-library/regulations/international-traffic for more info.

If I've read that correctly you don't have to have the bell or lights when in France, as they don't require either in their regs - you just need the lesser of the Vienna or local requirements.

Great, thanks! Need to pop a bell on my bike, but I think I've got a spare kicking around somewhere.

Sorry, edited while you replied - if my reading's correct you may not formally need the bell, but probably worth sticking one on in case.

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

Whatever the rules say in theory, in practice no. I've ridden in France on many occasions, and on absolutely none of them have I ever had a bell or any reflectors, and none of the people I've been riding with have either.

I'd assume that if it satisfied laws on the use of bikes in your home country (within the EU), they probably wouldn't bother pursuing it unless you were involved in an incident.

No love in the GS thread, so thought I'd ask here;

Any thoughts on what the best all-round 9 speed Shimano STI shifters are?

Ideally 3x9 and inexpensive.

Being paired with an XT M751 (SGS Long Cage).

Last of the 9 speed Tigra?

Driving question...

Got a hire car, it's a seat ibiza manual. It has a regular hand brake, a lever that you pull like the good old days. Then it also seems to have a function where on a hill, a brake will apply and not let the car roll backwards for a few seconds. I presume it's supposed to release when you engage the clutch biting point.

Anyway, I've just been using the regular old handbrake lever on hill starts, however today I had a bullshit few minutes trying to set off up a hill where the blasted electric brake wouldn't let go, despite me revving the shit out of it. Stalled it about 10 times. What am I doing wrong, should I ditch the normal handbrake? Or can I disable the electric brake?

Cars have really change in the last 15 years...

Ultegra 6600 or DA 7700. Last of the good looking gruppos. Can't remember if there was a DA triple, but nobody will have bought it anyway.

Ultegra 6600 was 10sp.

There is a DA triple, the 7803. I have a 7803 rear derailleur, @Cycliste has a 7803 shifter. They are indeed rocking horse poo rare.

Actually, anything other than last gen 9 speed Tiagra (4500) or Sora, as they have the gear indicators. Also, no 9 speed STIs ever had hidden gear cables, to save you checking [edit: until Sora 3000 - see below]

http://www.jtekengineering.com/shiftmate/shiftmate-compatibility-charts-choices/

Hang on, latest Sora 3000 is 9 speed with hidden cables, no gear indicators, and probably the best looking. But double front only.

Sram Rival 11 speed shifters with a Rival 11 speed rear mech and a 10 speed cassette. Will that work?

Google and Leonard Zinn say no.

In which case, what are my options: Shimano m8000 hubs, Rival shifters and derailleur and a desire for a reasonable close-ratio cassette.

I think if you use a ten speed mech it works?

Weetamix club. Proper warehouse club, line ups are good and great sound system.

Speeds are dictated by the shifters with Sram. You can use 10 or 11 speed mechs for either. Match the levers and the cassette.
If you have 10 speed wheels and 11 speed levers, I can't help you

If you have 10 speed wheels and 11 speed levers, I can't help you

bugger.

looks like there might be potential for filing down the freehub, will have to take some measurements.

speeds are dictated by the shifters with Sram.

Yes and no. I think they changed the geo of the 11 speed mechs to match the gaps in the 11 speed blocks.

The shifters pull the same amount of cable [exact actuation] , ten or eleven speed, for each click.

But plug them in to an 11 speed mech and the amount it moves will be different to the same shifters plugged in to an ten speed mech.

Obvs with a ten speed block and mech you'll have a spare shift that you'll need to absorb with limit screws.

@jon. - plug it in to a ten speed mech.

Can't find the link now but there was a handy article of someone mixing and matching all aspects of 10 and 11 speed components. What you said makes sense though so now I'm confused

Though second post down on here
http://www.velonews.com/2014/05/bikes-and-tech/technical-faq/technical-faq-10-11-speed-compatibility_329731
Says it works a charm mixing levers and mechs

Len sayz

"Yes, SRAM did not change the cable pull ratio when going from 10-speed to 11-speed, so a 10-speed SRAM road rear derailleur will work quite well with an 11-speed SRAM road shifter.
Read more at http://www.velonews.com/2014/05/bikes-and-tech/technical-faq/technical-faq-10-11-speed-compatibility_329731#gy3OwbB1A5q4M40h.99"

It's the MTB stuff they messed up when they went 11 speed, using its own stupid pull ratio. Grrr.

@jon. - plug it in to a ten speed mech.

Could also break an 11 speed sram road cassette, do away with the biggest cog, effectively making it a 10 with 11 speed spacing, right?