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PM incoming for tyres

https://greenspeed-trikes.com/product/scorcher-tire-16-120tpi/ You asked for the fastest tyres, not the easiest to purchase.

Go Contact Urban if you are wanting big miles with reasonable speed. Kojaks are not fast in any way except looks.

Greenspeed Scorcher 349 are the fastest rolling but are difficult to get in the UK and 40mm wide. TruBlu 349 are slightly slower.

Even big roads can have huge potholes or really crappy asphalt patches or wheel-eating speedbumps. Roads can be in the middle of reconstruction without warning. Small roads are even worse and can disappear into sand. It is easier to make quick, reliable progress on big roads.

It was head on a swivel stuff and I found it stressful, particularly when it got dark and as we approached Mumbai on very busy major road flyovers without any shoulders. The junctions felt particularly worrying to me.

That deserves a longer answer than I can give here. I have only ridden a couple of Indian brevets, an overnight 200 in 2017 and the recent 300. My impressions are snapshots of a couple of locations and times, rather than anything comprehensive. India is a big country with a regional differences.

Given that caveat - traffic is mostly slow moving but focussed on gaining a few centimetres regardless of the consequences, pollution is ever-present and can be the worst you’ve ever experienced, the routes are mostly on major roads but tend towards flat (in UK terms), riders are friendly, helpful and welcoming and on a range of machines from cheap to flashy. Riding speeds are generally a little slower than I expected, particularly climbing speed. That might be different in a hillier part of the country. I am usually mid-pack or 1/3 from the front in the UK but finished in the front group at both brevets. There is quite a bit of conspicuous consumption in the society and the medical and IT sectors are somewhat over-represented in cycling. As cyclists, your social status is somewhere below cows but above pedestrians. The controls are fairly intensively monitored and may require ATM receipts, a brevet card stamp, a specific selfie or all of the above at the same time.

The expectation is that riders will have locally-compatible ATM cards and mobile/ WhatsApp access. You are required to join Audax India Randonneurs to enter a brevet, which is more difficult to do from outside the country. The phone number you provide is expected to be your WhatsApp contact. Email addresses may be given by the organiser but are not frequently monitored, in favour of a ride-specific WhatsApp group. At least for the Mumbai-based group I rode with.

I have ridden brevets in quite a few countries including Australia, Thailand, Israel, Greece, Germany, Portugal and Ireland. There is a small group of globetrotters that frequently ride brevets in unusual countries, mostly Americans and mostly riding 1200s. They could give a better overview.

I rode a 300 in India a few weeks ago and at each control, had to send WhatApp photos to a group created for the brevet. Brevet card, specific location, face, all timestamped in real time. This was on top of brevet card stamps and requiring ATM receipts at a couple of control locations. Pretty intensive monitoring of proof of passage.

Entered but the NHS has been having problems deciding whether DVT or infection or nothing. Why?

I happily used Galibier Grand Tour knicks for most of my long brevets (300-1200km) for the past year or so. I need flatlock stitching securing the chamois, which is surprisingly rare amongst the usual suspects. I prefer my Galibier knicks to the various Le Col knicks that I mostly used previously. Not a fan of Assos and can’t compare with Rapha. Not checked out Albion yet.

I sometimes cut the drops by 20-25mm when I fit bar end levers. If I don’t, occasionally the bar end lever gets knocked by my knee when trackstanding at lights, depending on bar shape/ positioning. The main reason for cutting is that I barely need to move my hand to shift when riding on the drops.

I found that I had to build up my riding after a nasty car/bike interaction. It took more than a year before I was at a similar level of confidence. I was back on my bike less than a fortnight after six weeks in hospital but only in very controlled circumstances and with no self-recriminations if I turned for home very early.

SA axles are traditionally 13/32” 26tpi. You won’t find those nuts from anywhere except Sturmey.

https://www.sturmey-archer.com/files/catalog/files/288/PART%20LIST%20-%20S2C.pdf

http://www.sturmey-archerheritage.com/files/view-1153.pdf

Finished quite a few 1200+ brevets. Start time is important when deciding on your strategy. It can be useful to be ahead or behind the ‘bulge’ of riders that can swamp the available sleeping accommodation. I tend to have issues riding between 2am and 4am, so I usually plan on sleeping during that period and preferably also sleeping before and after. Some folk ride straight through the first night to get a long way through the route by the end of the second day and then cruise short days to the finish. The standard PBP advice is race out and tour back. Building a safety margin on the first couple of days can be very useful in the last couple of days.

The Hypers were not very puncture resistant and were fairly slippery in the wet when I used them for commuting. Nice brevet tyres though.

A rear wheel would fit but a Brompton front hub is narrower than your Moulton is.

Moultons don’t fold and this model does not separate in half, like a lot of Moultons do.

It is a Sturmey Dynohub (trademark). About 1.8W at 6V.

I have 11sp Etap levers and derailleurs on my Moulton with Campag cassette, Shimano chain and brake calipers and TA chainrings. It works fine.

You want to replace the steel rims with Brompton Al rims anyway.

Yes, if your DIY is the appropriate distance.

The Mavic pin tool engaged all six holes at the same time. If you managed to undo a side with a normal pin tool, you were lucky. It is over 30 years since I replaced the bearings in a Mavic BB and the exact details are a little hazy. Unless the bearings are actually shot, just let them run. Anything else is silly.

http://www.cadre.org/bike_stuff/Mavic/Manuals/ZMS/Page2.jpg is an exploded diagram.

https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-1rmgckn/images/stencil/2280x2280/products/8919/104862/NOS_modolo_master_pro_brakeset_levers_-30__99852.1590026766.jpg?c=2 shows the pin tool amongst the full kit. The lockring tool engaged with multiple notches, rather than just one.

https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-1rmgckn/images/stencil/2280x2280/products/6703/79608/nib_nos_1990s_mtb_parts_xt_dx_lx_m739_m750_19793__24660.1530837516.JPG?c=2 might be helpful.

Some mindless folks fit a threadless BB without machining the shell and just tightening the clamping lockrings to buggery. That can mash the ends of the shell under pedalling loads.

Mavic threadless BB is a 45 degree chamfer, so should be fine. Not too many axle lengths available though.

I work in Kingston most weekdays and could loan you a crank puller, if you want to pick up/ drop off.

That model of Dahon has been out of production for decades and spare parts availability was always spotty last century.

Thanks for the heads-up as I was just about to do a deep dive. Happy you are sorted though.