Any question answered...

Is there any difference between all the cheap master link pliers? Do they all work with all the different brands of master links?

Can anyone in north London lend me a tool to fit a Shimano Octalink bracket? Mine doesn't fit over the fat axle (though it works fine for all square-taper units)

Try here: https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/129742/

If I put non-dryable merino/other sporty fabrics in the tumble dryer, will I damage them in less than 5 minutes?

I slept under a tarp in the highlands and got a bunch of tick bites (not my best idea). They were crawling around on my sleeping bag, clothes and so on when I had to pack my stuff up. I don't really want them living in the flat or on my stuff (although they should only live a couple of days indoors). I read they can survive the wash cycle but will die within 5-6 minutes in the tumble dryer, so I'd like to kill them off that way. But don't want to ruin my clothes. Ideas?

Ideas?

Low temperature will kill them, and is less likely to damage fabric. If you have a deep freeze (❄️❄️❄️ -18°C, not just an ice box) that should do the trick. A few days below -6°C is supposed to be fatal, but I'd give them a week at -18°C to be absolutely sure.

Nuke from orbit is the only way to be sure.

Thanks, good idea though. I'll just have to eat a load of peas and cram my sleeping bag and stuff in there. Better than ruining my clothes though.

Edit: maybe a bit of sauna action, wash first, then into the freezer

wash first, then into the freezer

No, make sure the stuff is dry before freezing, because the formation of ice crystals can cause mechanical damage to your fabric.

Does anyone know if I can be prevented from becoming a director of my flat's Residential Management Company if I owe service charge debt to the Managing Agent?

Company

Companies have Articles, Rules and Standing Orders. Your answer will be found in those.

Hotels often seem to have free shampoo but not shower gel. Realistically is there much difference between shampoo and shower gel for washing myself?

How hairy are you?

But also, no.

Typically for shower products based sodium lauryl ether sulphate,
(most of them),
a smidgin of common salt, NaCl,
which is the cheapest, most effective thickener for such products.

What is shampoo?

Can I reuse my Alfine crankset on my sweet fixie? Or will the axle be too long)

@n3il you can and you should.

Is there much difference between between Adamo’s tt and road saddles and am I likely to feel the benefit of one if my position isn’t particularly aggressive?

Length, for sure. Pretty sure my PL1.1 (or something) is noticeably longer compared to whatever classic one I’d got from a tri shop in Paris, and that again was longer than a super old ISM that got thrown out for a broken rail. Cushioning seemed about the same but if you can go check them for real in a shop, do so. Dad couldn’t get on with the longer one, whereas I prefer it for more seating positions.

There's a small piece of metal in my (Ultegra) brake pad. More than one, actually. It seems to have scratched the rim. Presumably this is a manufacturing flaw?

1 Attachment

Probably came from your rim in the first place. Or from an older rim that you ran previously?

The metal is from your rims. I found the Shimano R55C3/4 pads picked up a lot of metal from my rims, causing scratching and horrible noise when braking.

I was always having to take the wheels out and dig the flakes out.

I switched to Swisstop pads and never had this issue.

Really? Those metal flakes seem to be embedded pretty deep in the rubber. But yeah the noise is nasty. Only started mid-ride yesterday and I had a look when the noise continued more than a few minutes... Maybe I need to switch (back) to SwissStop.

Bear in mind the speed/force/torque/choice-word-for-it when the brake comes into contact with the rim, compared to how little is needed to get a splinter in your finger.

Metal flakes in brake pads is like stabbing a lump of cheddar with a Victorinox blade.

Fair point. Thanks for the responses, it's not something I've come across before!

The metal shards will dig out with a sharp pokey thing.