Brick Lane Bikes are really really...

From sheldon brown:

Bottom Bracket
[INDENT]The bottom bracket threading on Raleigh Twentys is Raleigh's proprietary 26 tpi size. The shells are also rather wider than standard, approximately 76 mm. If you wish to upgrade a Raleigh Twenty for modern cotterless cranks, you have 3 options:

[]Have the bottom bracket shell re-threaded to take an ISO standard 24 tpi bottom bracket. This works, but the threads are not terribly strong, because the diameter is the same, so there will be some missing threads. (The shells are not thick enough to tap out to the larger Italian size.)
[]Re-use the original 26 tpi cups with a long cotterless axle. "7" series bottom bracket axles are made to work with 73 mm "oversized" shells, and some of them can be made to work in the Raleigh cups.
[*]Use a cartridge bottom bracket with Phil Wood 26 tpi retaining rings. I'm told that it is possible to use Shimano UN72 bottom-bracket cartridges with the Phil Wood rings, if a Phil Wood bottom bracket is beyond your budget. If you order a Phil bottom bracket for a Twenty, you should be careful to order a long-barrel bracket (made for a 71-75 mm BB shell), or tightening down the mounting rings may not be possible.

[/INDENT]

Upgrading to Cotterless Cranks

There are three ways to upgrade a Nottingham Raleigh to use modern cotterless cranks: New Spindle, Old Cups

By far the cheapest option is to keep the original 26 tpi Raleigh cups, and install a new spindle with the tapered square ends needed to fit cotterless cranks. Not all spindles will fit, unfortunately. Some of them are just a bit too thick to fit the slightly smaller inside diameter of the Raleigh cups, even though they all are made for 11 1/4" balls on each side. Sometimes you can make the thicker spindles work by using slightly smaller 15/64" balls. Japanese spindles will usually fit with the correct 1/4" size. Raleigh bottom bracket shells are wider than the standard 68 mm width of B.S.C./ISO bottom brackets, commonly anywhere from 71 mm to 76 mm. As a result, you'll need a longer than normal spindle. Japanese spindles are generally designated by a simple code consisting of a single digit followed by one or more letters.

[]If the digit is "3" the spindle is made for a typical B.S.C./ISO 68 mm shell, and won't work in your Raleigh...the adjustable cup will sink in too far, so you won't be able to use the lockring.
[]If the digit is "5" the spindle is made for in Italian-sized 70 mm shell, and may work in your Raleigh if it has a 71 mm shell.
[*]If the digit is "7" the spindle is made for an "oversized" 73 mm mountain bike bottom bracket. These will generally work in most Raleigh BBs.

Just getting a spindle to fit into the frame is a start, but you may still have problems due to the overall length of the spindle. Older cranks used longer spindles than newer cranks. Axles of the type described are mostly available in longer overall lengths, which are likely to give poor chain line with newer cranks, though they will work.

You can also handsaw the BB shell if you really need it to be smaller, but you have to be skilled and may need facing if you bodge it.

incredibly ugly, yes.

stopping and hopping and bouncing and stopping and hopping is so fucking boring no matter how high up it's done or how narrow a ledge it's done on

give me a fast as fuck bmx street link any day... i almost ejaculated (in a non-homoerotic way) when i watched me mate hop to manual the ledge next to woolworths, then manual all the way down to marks & spencers, 180 down the steps straight out of the manual, fakie all the way down to the body shop. it was beautiful. not ugly like trials riding

The only thing different about BMX & Trials bikes these days is Brakes & Tyre pressure. Fact.

I love watching BMX street stuff. I'm so jealous of people that can do it. I wish I was 12 again, so I could get into it and start getting really good. I'm very bitter.

The only thing different about BMX & Trials bikes these days is Brakes & Tyre pressure. Fact.

LOL that is such absolute bullshit it doesn't even deserve an argument

I love watching BMX street stuff. I'm so jealous of people that can do it. I wish I was 12 again, so I could get into it and start getting really good. I'm very bitter.

Dude age is no barrier, I know people who didn't start riding til they were almost 30, and now they're better than me... I started when I was about 13, didn't start getting 'good' until I was about 17, peaked at about 19 (coincidentally that was just about the time when we got Walsall skatepark built and thus had somewhere to ride every day instead of getting the train to Derby every other weekend...)

When you're older it hurts more when you crash or if you strain a muscle, but just wear pads and warm up & stretch first innit :)

I'm too much of a wuss now to try and jump off big things etc....
I'm looking into getting a 24" streetbike (i'm 6'2")...
I know what you mean, I'm just waiting to have a child so I can force all my broken dreams onto him/her.

haha yeah, i'm too scared to do some of the stuff i used to do - i cant even 180 my favourite set of steps anymore :( its steps i used to fearlessly throw myself down when i was ten years younger lol

have a look at one of these

It's a 24" bmx cruiser, but built like a sized up bmx so it's just as easy for tricks (apparently).
read all about it here http://bmx.transworld.net/2009/03/06/jim-cielencki-24-bike-check/

I don't know if they're available in the uk yet haha. On a related not apparently there is a new train line opening from Birmingham to Corby where there is an ACE skatepark with foam pit, resi jump box and resi vert ramp, so if you're scared of falling off you could always go there :) http://www.adrenalinealley.co.uk/

ooh nice.

^I saw one of those 24"bmx in a shop in Birmingham ages ago.It was a big warehouse shop out in and industrial estate, I think. Maybe around cannock, but could be wrong.

^I saw one of those 24"bmx in a shop in Birmingham ages ago.It was a big warehouse shop out in and industrial estate, I think. Maybe around** cannock**, but could be wrong.

Err ok.

I saw one in BikePro in Kings heath, its a DK, a big General Lee I think. It was nice. I only wish i had some money.

Birmingham in the more general sense of the word.

The problem with resi & foam jumps is that they dont stop you from landing on top of the bike, or the bike from landing on top of you. I think when I bailed a flair into the foam pit at 'Vertical Extreme' skatepark and landed with my knee on top of my rear axle nut , I was pretty lucky to only lose some skin and a bit of flesh. And pretty lucky when my bike came within an inch of landing on top of my head for whatever reason - bikes weren't light back in 1999.

'Vertical extreme' used to have a list of injuries on the wall and the places where people sustained them, nearly all were in that foam pit. A friend of mine actually hit the part of the ceiling off that massive ski jump.

thing is man the layout of that park was well dangerous with the jumpbox leading directly into the side of the street course, which is like having a fucking t-junction with no stop or give way sign. nuff accidents were caused by that but i bet fewer people got hurt than the people who thought "hey it's a foam pit, i cant get hurt, i don't need to be careful!"