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I dropped my passport in the street there on a busy Sunday afternoon. Didn't realise till the next day when I needed it so went to the embassy to try to sort it out, was going to take 10 days to get a new one and would cancel my old one straight away. This was a big problem for me as I was going to Kazakhstan in 9 days and needed the visa that was in my passport that had taken 5 weeks to get. Basically someone in the queue in the embassy advised me to do nothing and hope someone hands it in as there very honest there. Waited 3 days and went back to the embassy and it had been handed into the police!

Also saw a 3rensho with a mini u lock balanced on the seat at the side of the road.

I have a set of quando branded hubs, had minor problems with slipping cogs and odd sized lockrings. I started on a suzue cheapo one, you basically get what you pay for with this. The cog slipped all the time it was impossible to get it tightened properly and I had to re pack the bearings every month. But I think the wheel cost me 50 quid fully built up from deeside cycles so can't really complain. Now have Phils which are a work of art and the only problem I've had was that the wheel could slip in chrome dropouts, buying the chrome domes resolved this.

Profile are bringing out track hubs that look bombproof, the lockring on them is massive. I have heard so many people say they would get Goldtechs if they were in silver, can't belive they haven't yet.

The comfiest bull horn type bars I use are cut down risers upside down with bar ends. Means you can cut them to the right width no problem.

When I first got my Brompton I was having the exciting I'm cycling home from work feeling and went from the road onto the pavement where there wasn't a kerb. I did a wheely and the bike seemed to be balancing well and then I just fell straight back as the thing folded, luckily landed on my feet so didn't look like a complete idiot. They are amazing bikes though and surprisingly fast, really don't see the point in having one fixed though I wouldn't even have one single speed. They don't ride well when you are out the saddle so I find I need both the gears on mine.

teenslain It'll need Mercian lugs tho'... I'll give Mario a call, see what he says...
Ross at Brixton Cycles was gonna braze some silver in there but when he had a proper look he reckoned I should send it back to Derby...
Old bikes, goes with the territory I guess... Bah!

The lugs will probably be kept it will just be the head tube that is taken out and replaced. My brother crippled the downtube on his Mercian and they only replaced it. Needed a respray obviously so that might be a good reason to send it back to them so they can do that as well.

I imagine it is an amazing bike, all their other bikes get top reviews. 2 or so years ago someone had what looked like one of the first ones over on fgg, he was mates with the guys who own BMW and he made it himself, I think this bike was the start of them producing them. The list of this guys track bikes and other bikes was incredible, it sounded like he had a museum of bikes in his house!

dogsballs he is looking to start importing specialist downhill frames from brooklyn machine works, i wonder if he can slot in a track frame or two. just for testing purposes ;)

Definately the coolest make in mountain biking in my opinion, their bikes make me want to start downhilling. They also do a fixed wheel bike now which I'm not overly keen on, but all thier other bikes are cool as.

I've got another cheap one that you can sometimes get on e bay for about 30 quid, it has big round arms and looks fairly good. Stay away from it though as its really flexy most of the bracketing bits are plastic and just don't hold up to it. I've used the minora one which is a massive improvement but to be honest if I was getting one now I would shell out for a good park one as having a quality jig would be a joy to use.

I very much doubt you would wear out shimano cleats in a month, I had a pair for years that were used solidly for ages and scrapped on the ground walking alot while couriering and were fine. Also knew someone who wore his until they fell off as the heads of the bolts wore away. Can't imagine they were working that well by then though. I also had the same problem after a while and it was definately me twisting my feet while braking, it was just a bad habit I picked up and couldn't loose, changed to clips and straps which has been fine since.

Its not happened to me but alot of my mates are sure when they've been hit by taxis or van drivers that they have a set procedure they follow where they will pretend to phone the police and then say they weren't interested, in that case phone them yourself. I pretty much just stay calm these days as I feel its something you have to get used to and kind of expect to get cut up all the time. Went through a stage of couriering when I was getting angry at every other road users mistakes and all it was doing was reducing my fun and annoying me. I love my cycling in the streets more now as its less stressful even though its the same traffic, there still are incidents though that do make me go mad but they are definately less and I haven't chased cars down the street for a few years now.

Momentum [quote]dr.oblong for me they are a kind of symbol for guys who want to be an 'alpha male'/'utility man'

Haha - the best are people who carry them on their belts in a pouch with a mobile next to it in another pouch and wearing a g-shock going to a meeting about lightbulb procurement wearing an M&S easy iron shirt and a cheap suit. Norman the outdoor machine! I keep mine hidden in my bag and only really have it with me for the pliers.

I've got a small spiderco knife which is tough, small and sharp and good for taking hiking and stuff like that. If I wanna be alpha male then I've got a big sheath knife but only use that when I'm in Lapland![/quote]

I know what you mean I work in engineering and everyone has leathermans on their belt, only ever seen people use them to sharpen pencils. I do actually own 2 myself though but they are never on my belt, I do take one mountainbiking as you never know when you could get stranded 5 miles from a road and need to whittle a branch into a spear when you get hungry

I still think the greatest multitool was the cool tool its based on an adjustable spanner with a chain tool in the handle. Putting the allen keys in the wrong way round gives you plenty of leverage to tighten up track nuts or take off pedals. I still have one and use it as my only chain tool and for doing up my phils as you can use the allen keys with the other part on to get better leverage than normal allen keys. I wouldn't want to use it all the time on track nuts though as you could end up rounding them, which I think maybe happened on my cheapo track hubs. Don't think thier made anymore and they are bigger than modern multitools but definately the most multi of tools I've used.

SimonC do you know where the Bike station is in Edinburgh....will be back up there xmas time and will have a pop in

250 Causewayside
Edinburgh, EH9 1UU
0131 668 1996

http://www.thebikestation.org.uk

May not be open all the time - when I used to help them out it was Saturday mornings only, but that may have changed with their new location

Its mainly open on Saturday mornings when they sell off the bikes they have made during the week. If you are just looking for parts or bikes not working you can generally ask if you can have a look around and buy as is. They used to allow you to do that anyway.

Search the forum here for Japan and all the information for shops in Tokyo will come up, this is where I got it all.

Sadly I'm 6ft6 so finding a Keirin frame to fit me is beyond impossible, if your small you will be able to get yourself a really nice frame. I got a few nitto stems that were very cheap but they were used. Cost me 15 quid for the steel chromed one, don't know how much they cost here but they won't be that cheap. Also got some anodised mks pedals that were cheaper than getting them in the states but still fairly pricey. I didn't really ask for prices on anything else as I couldn't be bothered lugging bars about and didn't need hubs or that.

I've been thinking about this alot especially since I've just been on holiday in Japan and thought the shops there were incredible.

I think I would put my top 5 in no particular order are:
The Bike Station Edinburgh - It's like an alladins cave of donated bikes which you can search through and all in the name of charity. They even have a secret room with all the special parts. Got my first bike here to make into a fixed wheel, cost me 10 quid the frame was 531 and it had a record headset. They have changed premises now and haven't had a proper look there yet but I'm sure it will still be class. Definatly the place for getting parts for conversions.
Can't remember the name of it but this second hand bike shop in Santa Cruz California - Like a Mountain Bike Museum lots of cool AMP full sussers and stuff and nice cruiser BMX's
Carnival Tokyo - Alot already been said on here
Punch Cycles Tokyo - Ditto
W-Base Tokyo - Loved this shop, really like all the old BMX stuff like shimano dx pedals and GT mallet stems also Brooklyn bikes are so nice

I've just bought myself a D80 a few months ago, I love the camera tis been giving me some great shots I would definately recomend it. My dad has the D40x which seems very similar but with less buttons so changing functions is done through menus which can get a bit annoying.

I went for the Nikon over the Canon as I've got other Nikon cameras and always liked them. I'm sure theres lots of varying reasons to buy either but you will probably get very good photos with both.

Do many people here shoot in RAW? I still haven't looked into it yet and don't quite yet understand the advantages, no ones really explained it to me apart from my dad who I on't think knew what he was talking about

Ive been riding bikes in one way or another for the past 25 years and riding fixed wheel or track bikes for the last 6 years so I can see any reason to stop in the next 5. Although when I move back to London in the next 6 months I'll probably buy my first car (probably a van) but this will be used more for getting out of London, I have no intentions of using it to get about London.

I also find it quite strange that so many people are getting annoyed at new riders, I doubt these people have been riding fixed for that long themselves. Personally I like the growing fixed scene and am always trying to encorage my friends to get a bike as I reckon they will enjoy it.

I always think getting into fixed wheel bikes is a bit like becoming a DJ. You start off with some crap decks and then buy technics which are infinately better. In my opinion conversions are almost always a compromise and with the availability of cheap track bikes noadays makes them unnessessary. Getting the chainline right can be complicated and every converted frame I've used the chainstays flexed so much under power and braking that the chain could come off, I am heavy though so it probably won't be a problem with most people. By the time you've built up your conversion it will have cost you close to an off the peg track bike, and by this point you will want a track bike!

In my opinion you should get a Bianchi or a Fuji or even better get a old fully built up track bike and convert it for the road. The best thing in my opinion about making conversions is you learn alot about bike building and maintanence but the bike is never as nice to ride as a proper track bike.

Do you really think you'll turn your tyre round every few days though? I know that its something that would really annoy me if I had to do it. Thats what I like about my track bike is that I only need to blowup the tyres and change them every few months other than that almost nothing.

Something that I think you should learn to do if your riding brakeless is skid either feet forwards, this multiplies your skid points by 2 if you use them both. It can also reduce your braking distance

Living in Kazakhstan at the moment, not found much of a fixie scene here yet. Occansionaly in Edinburgh and Glasgow on my bike though and will be moving back to London in May