Any question answered...

FR 5 are the right levers, can you take a shot of the full setup for the front?

sit rep after your very helpful feedback:

• swapped the conical washers out and reduced the distance between the arms
  
• couldn't make the outer longer, so I moved the lever to the other side of the bars
  
  

the cable angle is now much more natural, it doesn't push on the noodle any more. as a result inner cable travels freely, well in line with the noodle and the outer. braking feeling has much improved.

Thank you!
cc @coventry_eagle @Constable_Savage @freezing77

Regardless, definitely get something that can take larger tires than 25mm with fenders.

Yep, noted. Watching some Genesis Equilibriums and those Ribbles on the ebay.

Amen. Steve and Lester were/are gods in motorcycle fabrication, along with Spondon. Altho Spondon were a fucking nightmare to deal with. I once went up there and refused to leave until they’d finished my swingarm, only took them 5 months. Genius fabricators but fuck me, never again.

Those Ribbles are specifically what I was referring to.

Took a quick pic last night. This morning I did the commute and thought ‘naaah this is okay’. I figure: mucking about with washers might help, compressionless because you should if can, general tweakage of outer lengths besides.
These are parallel push XT brakes too. I just slapped them on and got them ‘working’ - but there’s probably scope for more tweaking there too.
Thanks for the feedback btw : )

Tl:dr - Measure twice/cut once.

That looks quite ok!

Ok guys got a pair of tektro v brakes and I seem to have a few issues. I still get one of them sticking.. so it pulls fine but then doesn't back out. I've tightened the tension screw on it quite a bit and loosened the other one and it still stays put. Wondering if it could be the angle of my cable housing ? Just run out of ideas:

I was looking at the same problem at the weekend. Started fresh with the tension screws, unscrew then screw, lubricate the mounts and the springs, make sure it's all nice and smooth in there. At some point in the screwing/unscrewing, the whole brake went pop and into place. Happy with it since.

With the cable detached try how much they spring back when you apply the brake bike hand, this should tell you if the stickiness is in the brake arms or the cable. Additionally if you need more spring back tension the return spring locating pin may have more than one position on the fork mount.

Ah... haha... cheers : )

@bsb @freezing77 thanks to you both ill give it a go

You can bend the straight part of the spring by hand, it's often enough to even both arms out.

Is there a faster way to ride from Lisson Grove to Hillingdon Cycle Circuit than going down Sussex Gardens, and all the way along the Uxbridge Road?

Anyone used this website before? They got an UK address and stocks are UK based. Seems legit but the prices seem a bit cheap for a UK based company even for an online store.

https://www.countryattire.com

Looks alright:
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.countryattire.com

Pay with Paypal to be sure.

Ever considered the canal tow path?

faster

Theoretically, following the canal is 1 mile longer but takes about 5 minutes less. It has the advantage of being dead flat and avoids the absolute shit show of traffic jams involved in going up every west London high street which is what the Uxbridge Road involves. Even if it took slightly longer, it's still the way I'd go just for the reduction in NO_x & PM_2.5 inhalation.

@NorthLondonLight knows that route in detail I think

Personally I've always taken the train to Southall from Paddington. I've found the towpath down that way to be a frustrating ride and wouldn't attempt it on a road (race) bike - the surface is too inconsistent. It's OK when you don't actually need to be anywhere though. @Tenners

Appreciate at certain times of day this is forbidden however.

Appreciate at certain times of day this is forbidden however.

Yeh, that's the bastard. I normally take the train too, and hate the pollution @mdcc_tester so kindly reminds us about. The towpath round there isn't suitable for a time-pressured journey (hence the 'faster') either. I guess Uxb Rd is probably the way for it then. Was wondering if anyone had any smart parallel rat runs really...

How'd you do subscript?

Am afraid most riders I've seen heading that way are barrelling along Uxbridge Road.

How long have you been racing or are you just starting?

I'll check with the mechanic at my LBS who lives in that direction and raced or did race regularly at Hillingdon. He is the only person I know who will know the rat runs as if there are any he will be using them for his daily commute.