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Highly recommended if you have prescription:

http://www.optilabs.com/site/prods.php?pfid=0,8,11

Get photochromatic. Added bonus - great for freaking people out as they change from dark to clear

Elguapo - i'd say do it - ignore the comments about moody peds. If you are setting off early morn there will be virtually no-one around & as I said ^^ you see a side of London that is at complete odds with the usual hustle & bustle. I used to love seeing herons/swans/foxes/dragonflies & all that.

You can do it on any sort of bike but if you ride on slicks I'd change to something with a bit more grip & maybe a bit wider.

Word of advice - do the route in daylight first as you could easily miss a turn to another canal or an exit off.

Used to commute daily from Turnpike Lane to Canary Wharf. River Lea, then cut across Regents Canal & Down Lea again. This waa about 2 years ago but at this time of year hardly saw anyone & I loved it. Was setting off pretty early though & there are now a lot more cyclists about generally. Summer was different as a lot more people about in the evening but still bearable.

You do need a bell - mainly to warn other cyclists as you are going under the bridges blind to what's coming the other way. The towpaths are NOT the same as pavements - they are for shared usage & that includes bikes.

Generally it was great - I liked the tranquility even though you are in Central London. Also get to ee a surprising amount of wildlife.

There is a bike locked up bizarrely on my road about 20 meters from my house - it's stood vertically on its back wheel with the top of the frame locked to the lampost. Has now been there for almost a week & the back wheel is bend to f**k.

It's a pretty shitty Dawes racer & I think it's been abandoned but I can't work out why someone would go to the trouble of locking it - Arbus D-lock - if they are going to abandon it.

Am thinking of knocking on the doors around it/sticking some notes through doors to see if it belongs to anyone I then trying to free it. Anyone have any advice? I don't want to look like a bike thief (that sounds so dodgy even typing it) but if it has been abandoned am presuming if I phone the council they will just cut it free & bin it? Would make a good beater.

I'm planning a trip over to Copenhagen in the near(ish) future to pick some of these up:

http://www.sogreni.dk/Mudguards.php

PM me if you are interested in me bringing some back.

I'm also after some of the bells he makes - they are lush.

I've got a degree in English Lit & have to say once I'd finished it I didn't pick up a book for a long time. Mentioned above but James Ellroy got me back into reading. You've said you don't like fiction but i you have any interest in crime he's the man.

Other faves recently have been The Quincunx by Charles Palliser - probably the best book i've ever read.

That pushed me back to Wilkie Collins & The Woman in White / The Moonstone - great Victorian crime stuff & surprisingly easy to read with great plots.

If you have any interest in music read The Dirt - the Motley Crue autobiography. I hate metal but it's one of the funniest books I've ever read. Sheer madness.

Guys - if any of you are around is there any reason you can think of why i shouldn't bid on this?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110293999098&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123

Have confirmed with seller the dropout spacing & it all seems good. He's come back with 4 3/8" with the washers which is 120mm.

Thanks

Anyone have any Soma inverse brake levers they want to sell? Could buy Tektro as I know they are the same but I think the Soma ones look better / sre shinier. Cheers.

Again - thanks for all this - really useful info and massively appreciated. Moth - you've just brought back a lot of memories with the neutral gear. I remember it well from my childhood days on my Grifter - all of a sudden you'd be pedalling furiously & going nowhere. In fact all your responses have triggered quite a lot in my memory & I remember much better how that Grifter hub worked / fitted together now. Am definitely going for it with the Super Galaxy rebuild as somehow it just feels right. I'll post some pics when it's done (although will probably have more questions when I source the parts). Thanks again.

Good on yer. You sound like you are going about things the right way. Agree with Lewis ^^ that taking your bike apart & putting it back together is the best start - it's what I used to do every weekend as a kid with BMX's. Dylan is also right in that it's really not that hard. I've found the hardest thing working out the correct sizing for components.

Good luck - I bet what you end up with looks nothing like a Bianchi however!

Wow - BQ thanks mate - good dedication! I'm going to go for it.

Is this your bike? I like it a lot.

Thanks cohen - maybe a better question should have been how many teeth you have front chainring?

Cohen - thanks.

Can you give an idea of what the geari range you have is?

That would be really helpfull to me in this adventure - cheers

Great replies - cheers all so far. BQ - it's making a lot more sense now.

if all goes well i'll start a new forum londonsturmey.com.

Surely a 3 (ish) speed hub is ideal for daily use?

Ha - that's the thing on the Grifter i used to twist - barrel adjuster.

cheers Sam - am ready to enter a world of pain.

Thanks Sam - exactly what i was after. So if I buy from e-bay do i just need to ask the seller to measure the width of the hub?

As long as the hub bits themselves are less than 120 could space it?

Whole new world for me!!

Cheers man. Should have said I've already checked Sheldon but can't see anything relating to spacing.

Hi all

Sorry that this isn't quite fixed or ss related but I hope someone can help.

I'm building up a vintage (70's) Dawes Super Galaxy in a porteur style & initially was going to build it fixed.

After a bit of thinking I thought it might be good to put a sturmey archer hub on instead. Does anyone have any experience of using these & could point me in the right direction? I used to have one on an old Grifter but can't remember much about it other than twisting something on the cable to adjust it! My first question is around dropout spacing - on the Dawes this is 120 - do sturmeys come with different skewer sizes - do they even have a skewer?

Any help appreciated.

Read this - links to unlocking sites at the bottom of page:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/unlock-mobile-phone

Yep - that looks Ok to me . You really can't tell about the quality but at that price I'd suck it and see. You'll probably end up snapping a few tools but hey.

I'd still get a separate (cheap) socket set ^^ & if you want to be maintaining your current bikes check whether there is anything you need that is not covered - e.g. BB tools.

You might want to get a track pump as well if you've not got one. Oh & some hammers.

I hit a dog once - was leaving a friends house - they lived on a hill & it was dark. I had lights on the bike & had picked up a fair bit of speed. Some stupid bint walked out from behind a parked car without looking & I shouted at her to look out & swerved to avoid her - right into the dog she was walking. It let out a massive yelp & I flew over the bars. As I lay in a bruised, grazed & crumpled heap the woman starts having a go at me about how I could have killed her dog (it wa fine) - wtf! Didn't even begin to ask if I was OK. Needless to say I went ballistic at her.

Sharkstar - Sorry mate - was having an off day!

Oh and if yiou are unsure I recmmend this;

http://bicycletutor.com/

A disposable torque wrench - I like it.

So give the OP your toolkit details & exactly what you think he needs. Not difficult. Sounds like you can help him.

All i was trying to do was give some help to be able to maintain his bike cheaply. Majority of things require a socket set & screwdrivers, What I said was to take the bike apart & put it back together & work out the tools he needs.

What make is your torque wernch? Why is it good? Based on his post what does he need it for? Why is it suitable for him etc? That is what he is asking.

No need to have a sarcastic pop at me for offering advice.