Any question answered...

Whats the best thing to clean white bartape and lever hoods with? Not expecting miracles but this bike's come out of a garage in france and needs a bit of a spruce up while I decide on definate bar/brake lever/bar tape combos.

Dish sponge and soapy water.

I am hungry. Where shall I go for lunch? 15 minute walking distance from Look Mum, any direction.
(cheapish please, LMNH exceeds my budget)

Go to Cafe a Thai on Cowcross St.

Toasted ciabatta with chicken escallope things and cheese and ham. £3.50. With that opposite my office I rarely go elsewhere. They also do massive pastries for a pound.

Also big ol portion of pasta carbonara = 3.90, win win for carb loading before cycling in the evening.

And go to Mugen Farringdon for sushi right after work - half price.

#never cook in my house anymore

you hungry, rich?

No, because I just ate one of those sandwiches :-)

queue report? :P

Toasted ciabatta with chicken escallope things and cheese and ham.

There's a deli in Balham that does those, they weigh about 5kg. I once ate two, to the surprise of my workmate.

queue report? :P

It's often a bit busy... but not too bad. Just takes a few minutes to toast the bread.

I am usually in and out in under 10 mins.

There's a deli in Balham that does those, they weigh about 5kg. I once ate two, to the surprise of my workmate.

:-)

There's an unofficial workplace bet on who will be the first to manage two of the pasta meals in one lunchtime.

It's not going to be me!

I am hungry. Where shall I go for lunch? 15 minute walking distance from Look Mum, any direction.
(cheapish please, LMNH exceeds my budget)

I should think LMNH exceeds most people'e budget! Did you know their flapjacks are £2.50 each?!

Yup. Did you know they're really tasty? But not £2.50 tasty :(

They can't be as tasty as the flapjacks from the Albion on Redchurch Street, and they're 50p.

Are they worth 50p?

I'm after some cheap and cheerful cranks. Ideally c.£30 for the bb and cranks, but could stretch begrudgingly to c.£50.

Really need to be a triple, so 2nd hand mtb makes sense. Shimano are the only brand I recognise with mtb stuff, but there are some cheap truvativ ones like these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TruVativ-X-flow-Crank-Extras-/180670194585?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item2a10c86399#ht_500wt_1156

...any tips, on new or used ones at a price point? Are there any obvious equivalents to those hideous stronglite track ones from PX?

These any use?
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/truvativ-isoflow-8-9-speed-chainset-48-38-28-170mm-prod24738/

Or http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s109p2003

Truvativ are decent strong components. Their through axle is annoying but the ones you've linked to are SqT so no problems there.

they look pretty much identical, why buy them when you have the mighty sugino 75 available..
(this is in response to long and windings rd2 vs mighty crankset question)

@ oz. - cheers, that's what I wanted to hear.

In what way is the through axle annoying? Is it quality or comparability/availability?

Their hollowtech 2 style axle is non standard - The non drive side is the same dia. as shimano/raceface... axles but then the drive side is bigger in dia.. Just makes it annoying because you're limited in choices of BB's. Most bike shops I know will have several different BB's to suit Shimano but then the Truvativ will have to be ordered in. It doesn't make it a bad product, just mildly annoying when you're short on money.

Oh - did you get my sms btw?

nope, phone broken. email for now.

Cranks - What's the difference between Sugino Mighty Comp's and Messengers?

http://www.suginoltd.co.jp/english/single_piste_parts_list_english.htm

my quick assessment is weight. one has holes cut out, the other doesn't. messenger ones might be stronger? Other than that apparently nothing except can get mighty comps 5mm shorter than messengers.

Cheers Corny/Jenne,

they look pretty much identical, why buy them when you have the mighty sugino 75 available..
(this is in response to long and windings rd2 vs mighty crankset question)

My first choice was sugino 75's, but the BCD is too large for a belt drive - I'm limited to 130mm BCD which only really leaves the Messengers, and the Mighty Comp. which I've just recently discovered.

my quick assessment is weight. one has holes cut out, the other doesn't. messenger ones might be stronger? Other than that apparently nothing except can get mighty comps 5mm shorter than messengers.

I was wondering which were better quality, or are they very similar but produced for different markets. Oh ... and as I'm going for belt sprockets, I'm only looking into the cranks.

Go to Cafe a Thai on Cowcross St.

Toasted ciabatta with chicken escallope things and cheese and ham. £3.50. With that opposite my office I rarely go elsewhere. They also do massive pastries for a pound.

^the boy was on to a winner with this. warm, gooey, tasty, filling and change from a fiver. ta.