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I would take the screw out completely. Pretty sure it's useless, or a hindrance on a fixed conversion. You need as much space in those forward facing drop outs as possible.

EDIT: when tightening the bolts I do it with the bike upright and sort of grab the front of the back wheel near the seat tube and pull backwards while keeping it aligned to the frame. Then with your other hand tighten each bolt a bit each in turn until there both really tight.

I just don't know if it's worth hammering away doing intervals in the winter when you've only just started riding a bike. Better to do a few weeks of longer rides before building up, I would've thought?

For cardiovascular fitness you really just need to get the miles in, some intervals might help, but there's no short cut. The traditional roadie method of keeping fit is to do a minimum of a 50 mile sunday run (casual pace) plus one or two shorter rides during the week of about 25 miles. So your looking at approx 3 hours in the saddle on sunday, which should give you good conditioning as well, i.e. your body will feel comfortable.

If you need to use your cycle at the other end of the journey please consider the following:
Using a folding cycle
Re-thinking your journey
Travelling earlier or later to avoid peak times.
Using two cycles (and keeping one at either end).

Helpful advice from Southern Trains.
I like that one of their bits of advice is 're-thinking your journey', translated = get lost.

Reminiscent of Chris Moyles using the word 'gay' to mean 'bad' and claiming it was OK because that's 'how the kids talk'.

I like trains, but the two bikes rule on Southern Trains is wearing me out. Most guards are pretty good and let everyone get on, even in the non bike carriages. A couple of guards have been a bit discouraging, like when three of us were arranging our bikes together he said 'they're great ideas these things, but totally impractical'. He was actually referring to bikes, not the bike compartments on trains. And a guard this morning shouted at teenager that 'the bike compartments the next one down' even though it was full and the norm is to get on at the least busy carriage.

I don't think it makes much difference as the angle difference between a standard road frame and a track frame is only a couple of degrees, which won't affect your position much.

I searched and searched on this when I was in the market for a track frame and never really found a satisfactory explanation.

I'm beginning to think there isn't one too. Perhaps people just assume that track bike=small and quick, but with the geometry difference that should happen anyway, and there's no need to go a size smaller. When you move your saddle fore-aft you have to make adjustments to height as well, so surely it's the same principle.

Cyclefit charge about 1/2 what I'm thinking of paying for a bike alone. So I think I'll find a good shop and get some advice.

therefore an equal size frame will be a little taller.

Also, the bottom bracket is higher on track frames, so to maintain comfortable crotch-clearance blah-blah..
It will be taller, but the seat height will still be the same, because you don't measure seat height by how far off the ground it is, but in a line from c of BB to top of saddle (a non-vertical line).

Did a search and decided to post here so hopefully won't be duplicating anything.

What are people's views on the difference of track frame sizes to road frame sizes? I've read that you should go for one size smaller than your normal road bike. The only basis for this I could find was that, because the seat tube is steeper, an equivalent size would be slightly higher. However, surely when you measure your seat height you measure along the seat tube, not along the vertical.

Also, with tighter geometry and a shorter wheel base, an equivalent track bike will already be 'smaller' than a road bike. The top tube will also be shorter. I imagine if I went a size smaller for a track frame I could have problems getting the seat far back enough, or have to put an extra long stem on.

Does anyone else seeing this think how nice it would be to have a touring bike? comfy ride, gears, proper gentlemens kit. sweeping through Europe with tent, the open road mmmmmmmm think i need to invest.
Definitely feel the urge to do some touring. Roberts would be an option, less common than BJ and Mercian and their based in Croydon. Bit expensive new though.

You can spec any Condor as you please. If you want 'fast', responsive wheels then get some Mavic Open Pros laced to the best hubs you can afford with the lowest spoke count that your weight will allow. I'm 6' 4", 205lbs and use 36 hole and they are still straight and true after a year. If you weigh a lot less then 28 could be ok for you, speak to your wheelbuilder. The trick with light feeling wheels is to keep the rotational mass to a minimum, hence forget the deep section rims like Deep Vs, besides which any aero benefits only come into play at speeds that you will most liklely not regularly hit riding in London. Also you can save weight with latex tubes and the lightest tires you can find, although you may trade off puncture resistance if you can this route.

Do consider your other options though, there is a lot available in the price range of the Pista that is a little more unique. The Pista is a good bike though, don't get me wrong.
I am looking at the Surly as well, and possibly considering BLB. I'm riding a fixed conversion right now, but I ride a road bike a lot in the summer and am looking for a fixed wheel for 'winter training'. The conversion is OK, but a bike with track ends, correct spacing, front and back brake (+hoods), reasonable quality wheels etc would be nice. I know it's a different kind of riding to most people on here, but I thought you'd know most about the OTPs, and I got loads of tips from here when doing my conversion.

Howdy. FWIW mine are still running true after 100+ miles per week of London commuting, for the best part of a year (and this post had better not jinx them).
Thanks, are they quite responsive? I'm looking again at the Condor but would ideally like a set of quite fast wheels.

I am thinking of going for a Condor Pista but I don't know whether the Miche Wheels are good quality. Does anyone know about these?

not sure where to post this, but these tricks are impressive:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8372434@N07/2217881695/in/photostream/

you could get the measurements from your old bike (saddle height, saddle-handlebar reach) and see if you can replicate it on the Thorn by moving the saddle right back and up, changing to a longer stem, raising the stem etc. It looks like a 54cm frame though, and would still be really twitchy

cheers for the advice.
the wheels are standard road wheels i think, the tyres are 700x23. cranks are about 175mm campagnolo (at the lower end of their range).

I've got, I think, a 52 chainring with a 21 tooth sprocket which can be hard work in headwinds/on uphills. If i swap the the chainring but leave the spider on the BB would this cause any chainline issues?

also, my track nuts are getting worn/rounded/rusty. how do i know what size to get for replacements? on this site it says 10mm but i don't know what is 10mm: http://www.twowheelsgood.co.uk/index.php/product/hubsandhubspares/hubnutsandtracknuts/index.html
it is a suzue rear hub and i think an ambrosio on the front. the old nuts are the cheaper ones without the independent washer

Stormy it feels about the same, fixed cranks are 165mm road ones are 175mm so the saddle on the road bike is 10mm lower, not sure if this is correct though, the seat tube angle is more relaxed so maybe I should tinker with moving the saddle forward a bit
saddle position can be quite critical. hippy says on the fixed you need to be slightly lower, which I didn't know about. I think saddle height is usually measured from centre of bb to top of saddle, but as you say, different crank lengths must make a difference because your leg will be straighter.

On the bike that you're most comfortable with, measure the distance from the tip of saddle to the centre of the handlebar. Then use this distance to adjust the saddle fore aft on the road bike. If you do have the wrong distance you'd probably have back discomfort as well as a lack of pedalling efficiency. A 1cm difference can have a big effect.

Do you have your saddle at a different height on your road bike to your fixed bike?

The police say there is 'no independent evidence'? What about the fact that he hit you so hard his number plate came off and you now have it in your possession? How else can you come to have his number plate? If you've got any contacts in the legal profession it is worth finding out if you have a civil claim. I don't know what you can expect in damages, but that's probably not what it's all about.

Just in one direction (up), i've pushed the chain in while turning the cranks and it doesn't look like it's going anywhere.

about 1.5 cm at the loosest point and it's actually quite tight at the tightest point. there is nothing noticeable when riding or if you look at the chain from the side it looks straight and not slack.

sorry to resurrect this topic, but the chain tension is still not perfect. I didn't actually take any more links off, and it was fine for a few days. But after changing the rear tyre I can't seem to get the chain as tight as before, even with the axle as far back as it'll go (maybe the chain just stretched a bit as it was new out of the box?). However, on my SRAM chain I can't take just one link out, it has to be two because otherwise the two ends won't fit together with the fastener link things. Could I get away with two do you think?

I see I'm not the only one who's had this inexplicable phrase shouted at them: 'aaaa, you're wheels are going round mate' - from a load of kids rolling 'cigarettes' on the steps outside a house. Same day I had some yokel in the passenger seat of a van shout 'roiftrsandrefferesd!' I turned and looked and he looked like one of those stereotyped rural idiots with an stupid grin on his drunken face.

OK, thanks for the advice, the consensus seems to be that it could do with one less link. it's got horizontal drop outs, and there's not a huge amount of variation in placing available probably about 1.5 - 2 cm fore/aft. But that should probably do it, cheers