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Will they be doing the bike maintenance stands?

That's what I feared, my thinking was that if they need a sign saying cars are left at owners risk then surely they should have one for cyclists?

Looking for a bit of advice here. My mountain bike was stolen from outside the local gym a couple of months ago. As it wasn't on my property I'm not insured, so I've written to the gym trying to claim some money back off them. They say that because there are signs up saying items are left at the owners risk that it's not covered, but they have given me 2 months free memership as a 'goodwill gesture'. However the signs only say that vehicles left in the car park are left at owners risk. Is my bike classed as a vehicle? Also it was locked to their bike rack which is on the path away from the car park. All technicalities I know, but I've been arguing with them for a couple if months and want to know if its worth threatening to take legal action, and how I'd go about doing that. Cheers :)

Didn't know whether to put this here or in the CP thread, but I've got a shimano un54 bottom bracket that's 113mm on my roller frame. I'm looking into what Crankset I want to put on it now and was looking at the sugino rd2, but it says it requires a 103mm BB. The Andel cranks I've also looked at require 110mm BB. Will these not fit my BB, or will it stop me getting a good chainline? This is my 1st bike build so I'm a bit of a novice here.

Since writing that little review up there, I've gone through two sets of Reelights.

Basically what happened is that I put them on my girlfriend's town bike which gets locked up daily in some pretty busy stands, and they just fell apart within a couple of weeks. The cables got ripped out of the first set (and they're not repairable), and the brackets also broke, so I wrote to Reelight and they sent me a set of 620s (the top-of-the-range ones) which, within a month, broke in exactly the same way.

I wouldn't recommend them on anything that's likely to get bashed. They're simply not very durable, both because of their design (physically small brackets, not repairable) and because of cheap materials (really brittle plastic, cheap screws that round off easy, threads that strip before they're properly tight etc).

Thanks for the review, I'll swerve them then! They are pretty ugly tbf, I think I'll get a set of Lezynes.

Am I likely to damage the paint underneath?

Got my Roller frame today. Want to take off the stickers. Is the gorilla tape method genuine?

^

Cheers

Are there any good front lights that can be stem-mounted and aren't too pricey?

Anyone got a set of Reelights? Good review on bike radar but are they any good?

I'm starting a Surly Steamroller build and I'm thinking of having the frame powder coated. It's currently in the cream/pale green colour. I don't live in London so using Armourtex isn't really and option. I've contacted a local powder coating 'specialist' who's quoted me £80+ VAT to powder coat and apply a clear lacquer, and he says he will not need to strip the frame of it's original colour, just powder coat over it. Does this sound right? And is it safe to let a company who don't necessarily specialise in bike frames loose on my frame? The gallery on their website shows a variety of other products coated but no bikes.

The headset stack height means that once it's installed it will, in effect, add 28.8mm (usually has an upper and lower for both parts of the headset) to the length of the head tube, and the stem stack is the measurement from the top to bottom of the clamp at the steerer tube of the forks.

Cheers mate. I'll be getting the debit card out then!

Rusty - That should work fine. I've had a couple S3 headsets and recommend them. For the money, there's not much, if anything, that can beat them.
As the stem is 1 1/8" same as the headset, it should work fine, but just double check the frame has a 1 1/8" head tube, as think some of the earlier ones had an inch head tube.
Apart from that, looks like your parts list is pretty good for a complete novice!
What size frame you going for?

Thanks :) Going for a 56, I'm 5'11-ish so hope that be about right. I was worried that the stack height of the headset is 28.8mm and the stem says 35mm fork clamp stack height. I don't really know what that means though!!

About to start building my Steamroller, so far I've decided on the following parts:
Crank-*Sugino Messenger RD2
BB- Shimano UN54
Wheels- Halo Aerorage
Stem- FSA OS115
Bars- Profile Airwing
Saddle- Charge Spoon

Wondering what headset to go for. I've heard the Cane Creek S3 is a decent choice. Being a novice though, I'm just wondering if it will be compatible with the stem. Can anyone help? :)

One thing to point out is that the Brother has a 1" / quill setup. So it looks cool but isn't as practical if you want to try different bar options, plus all the usual downsides of 1" threadless.

From what I can see there is nothing to justify the price increase over the surly. Although its worth mentioning that surly s used to be more expensive (c.£350). So that's really a call based on your budget / tastes. Brixston cycles should have a steamroller built that you can test ride.

As you've already had one bike stolen that's something to consider. The on-one is really cheap and practical. Racks, 'guards, tyre clearance, disc option. The paints known for being a bit sh!t and the finishing on the welds isn't as neat as it could be, but bang-for-buck its hard to beat.

You should also look at both the recomended locks thread and how to lock your bike thread.

I didn't clock that price - at £215 it's got to be the Surly all the way.

http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/m4b103s280p8221/SURLY_Steamroller_Frameset/

That's a bargain.

Thanks for the replies guys. I think with the price and the feedback from here and the 'Roller thread I'm going to bite the bullet and get the Surly. I'll definitely be looking at the lock thread too, although the day my bike was stolen it was locked outside the local gym, but I'd left my U lock at work and only had an armoured cable lock to hand. Asking for trouble really. Thanks again for all the help, I'm sure I'll be back again when the frame arrives with plenty more novice questions (what BB, headset etc!)

Very helpful, damn iPhone lol

Thanks everyone, very hel

I reckon you'd be more suited to a 56 than a 59. I'm 6'2 and 58 is the best size for me. Although my steel frame is 61x57 because I like tall frames.

Will check out what size it is, think it's either a 55 or 56. They're £475 new, he wants £400 posted I believe.

Ok cheers mate I'll have a think and let u know

...and buying a Brother is supporting a small UK company!

What size do you need? I have a mate selling a brand new Brother frame in silver if you were interested.....

Not sure mate, I'm 5'11 so maybe a 59cm but really not sure, I need to try one out really I think? How much is he asking? I'm not in London though but could possibly sort something.

I don't have that much experience either to be honest, but i have looked into all 3

Depends on your wants and needs i guess, the Brother is the nicest looking and so on, On-one would be the most practical and versatile, surly is in the middle i guess.

And quality-wise are they similar, or would the On One or Surly be more likely to break on me?

I'm assuming that was a reply to my reply, sorry to hear about your bike to.

Both are good, the Brother has more typical track geometry, steeper angles, higher bottom bracket and a shorter top tube which would give a more aggressive and nippy feel, but its a steel frame that fits 28c's so its still pretty practical (but depends on how define practical). Then the Surly has geometry more like a road bike, the bb is lower and the top tube is longer, so i guess it would be a more relaxed positions (but also depends how you set it up) also has clearance for huge tyres or mudguards using P-clips, probably more practical but maybe not as fun as the Brother.

You may also be interested in the On-one pompino? the frame is on sale for £100 at the moment, has a bit of a mtb vibe but without the hole sluggish feel.

hope that helped.

Thanks that's very helpful, I'll definitely have a look at the Pompino frame at that price. I don't have a lot of experience with different frame geometries so I probably won't know the difference, although I'm definitely liking the look of the Brother.

Thanks again for the advice mate.

Not a lot tbf mate, I've always ridden mtb's but been looking to get something a bit more road oriented for a while, even before my bike was stolen. I'm looking to build on a relatively small budget and heard both were reliable steel road/track style frames. What would the advantages be of each?
Cheers mate, sorry for the lack of knowledge :)

Hi, noob here, been lurking for a while so thought it was time to post. I've decided to build a fixed gear commuter after my mountain bike got stolen. So far I've settled on either a Brother Steel Track Frame (£350) or a Surly Steamroller (£215). From searching the forum both seem to have good feedback. Obviously there's a bit of a difference in price, so my question is, how much better would the Brother be?

Cheers