Any question answered...

Could just be a worn out 5mm. Does it look like someone's chewed it?

It is squeaky clean.

All Mercian seat pin bolts use a 7/32" Allen key

Thanks, in this case there is a 7/32" in the set Apollo linked to. Guess I won't be building till next week now ):

5.5mm will do if you've got one.

http://www.procyclekits.co.uk/index.php

Has anyone ever used this website? Team jersey and bib shorts for £40. Is it legit or Hong Kong knock offs?

HMRC have powers the police can only dream of. Tread carefully.

What's the best crown race tool (and/or method) for getting this off?

Screwdriver?

the ectasuck penis pump parktool crp-2, goes up to 1.5"

http://www.procyclekits.co.uk/index.php

Has anyone ever used this website? Team jersey and bib shorts for £40. Is it legit or Hong Kong knock offs?

Answered my own questions. Knock offs.

the ectasuck penis pump parktool crp-2, goes up to 1.5"

Looks good, not cheap mind. Would you def recommend that over something like this?

does that accommodate the rather fat looking crown race?

you want something thin bladed, that won't bruise the carbon, screwdriver's out really

take it to lbs?

The bigger the problem, the bigger the hammer... A hammer will either resolve the problem, or create a new one much bigger, thus making the original problem seem insignificant.

Fixed!

LBS is looking like the answer at the moment, will need to see if I can fit two pairs of forks in my bag.

I've got a 110V, 9-inch angle grinder you can borrow.

I use a very sharp knife and tap gently on the back of the blade going around,
go steady, open the gap very slowly.
When the blade is about to touch the steerer, use another tool or the back of the blade.

Don't try to get some movement straight away,
just go around taping,
when something moves , don't rush, make it level, repeat etc..

The bigger the problem, the bigger the hammer... A hammer will either resolve the problem, or create a new one much bigger, thus making the original problem seem insignificant.

Fixed!

You're Murtle and I claim my five pounds.

I'll be in Zurich for lunch in a couple of days time (en route to Austria) - is it worth changing £20 worth of swiss francs or just pay in euros?

debit card

Is there anyway to use less spokes than 36 on using either a 36 or 32h hub on a 36h rim?

I don't think there's any even vaguely sensible way to use a 32h hub with a 36h rim.

If it's a dished rear you could build it half-radial onto a 36h hub and leave out half the NDS spokes to give a 27 spoke wheel. I'd want a deep and stiff rim to resist the unevenness - wheels should be round not nonagonal. (I've heard of people doing something like this with 24h rims & 24 spokes onto 32h hubs.)

Are the rim holes offset towards alternate hub flanges, or drilled at an angle aimed towards alternate flanges? If not you have more options:

Find an 18h hub and you could build a radial wheel with every other rim hole. (No, it won't work with every other hole of a 36h hub - you'll find half the holes you want are on the wrong flange.)

There's a whole family of 24 spoke patterns that will work on a 36h hub by skipping every third rim hole. You can do radial, 0.5 cross, 1.5 cross, 2.5 cross... On all of them the skipped rim holes come between two spoke that go to the same flange - lateral trueing might be hard.

If the rim holes are flange-specific then you have to skip pairs of adjacent rim holes, so your wheel may come out hexagonal.

screwdriver's out really

Don't know till you try. If it was mine I would try to lever it using force only up to what I perceive could damage the fork. If the race didn't budge I'd give up and buy the tools.

No room to fit a screwdriver in, and if you tried I suspect the carbon would deform before the race shifts- it's on tight.

Where in London would have a crown race removal tool?

Easier to bring the tool to my house rather than the forks to the shop.

bc?

They shut before I can get there.

what about one of the bike workshops in London?

Lmnh

Still means getting a fork into a small bag, and I have a frame to bring home tonight.

I'll see if I can get a crown race removal tool from (say) Condor at lunch.